Follows Army hotel privatization with essentially the same business entities that are now operating Army hotels.

Navy, Marine Corps continue to own and operate hotels on their bases.  

The Department of the Air Force has selected a commercial partnership team for the Commercial On-Base Lodging initiative.  
 

The deal was struck in May of 2026 after the Ari Force announced its intention to privatize lodging a year earlier.  

The Navy and Marine Corps continue to operate hotels on their bases and have not outsourced either the physical plant or operations.

Centinel Public Partnerships, LLC and IHG Hotels and Resorts was chosen to execute a 50-year lease.   IHG brands include Holiday Inn, Staybridge, Crowne Plaza, Kimpton, and Candlewood Suites.  

A provider of privatized military housing and lodging, Centinel will serve as the owner, property developer, builder and asset manager. IHG, one of the world’s leading hospitality companies, will act as hotel and management operator. 

In announcing the deal, Centinel said it will elevate on-base lodging accommodations to better meet the needs of today’s military and support mission-readiness by providing high-quality hospitality to service members, families and other official travelers.

Actus Lend Lease was a major developer and privatized housing partner for the U.S. military. In early 2025, Lendlease sold its entire U.S. military housing and lodging portfolio to Centinel Public Partnerships, an entity backed by institutional clients of Guggenheim Partners. 

The Army privatization program has come under criticism by the Government Accountability Office and by the American Federation of Government Employees.  In its report, GAO said that: “Privatization included constructing new hotels, and it has improved on-base lodging. But improvements have taken longer than expected and plans have changed — information not included in reports to Congress.”  “We also found Army estimates likely overstate how much this effort reduced costs,” wrote Elizabeth Field, the report’s author and director of defense capabilities and management at the GAO.

In 2022, AFGE called for the Army to transfer their hotels back into the Federal inventory instead of outsourcing more hotel operations.  AFGE said that   “the privatized lodges overpromised and underdelivered and the taxpayer footed the bill through the back door in higher per diem rates. Further, facility modernization lagged.”   The union also said that Army lodging privatization “was not found to meet expectations for facility restoration and resulted in higher per diem rates for Army personnel. Both of these misguided provisions would result in substantial job losses to the Morale, Welfare and Recreation workforce we represent.”

In 2023, ALA expressed its concerns about a proposal in Congress to privatize all hotels in the Department of Defense.  At the time, ALA said: DoD’s Office of Personnel and Readiness is already undergoing reforms to these programs that will ensure their modernization and eliminate any reliance on appropriations.  ALA further stated that: “Overseas lodge operations rely on the support bases of operations located in the United States” and that overseas hotels are still Federal operations.  

And the Congress’ own spending police, the Congressional Budget Office cited major costs of privatization, approaching $5 billion.
 

Actus Lend Lease (and later just Lendlease Americas) was a dominant joint venture that was heavily involved in the Department of Defense’s Residential Communities Initiative (RCI). Over decades, they designed, built, and managed tens of thousands of homes and multiple hotels across military bases in 26 states and Puerto Rico.

In early 2025, Lendlease Group officially exited the U.S. military housing business by selling its portfolio (comprising over 32,000 homes and 70+ hotels) for $320 million.  

The portfolio was acquired by a team of industry veterans. The new, wholly owned operating business was named Centinel Public Partnerships and is owned by institutional clients of Guggenheim Partners Investment Management.  

Today, Centinel manages these military and lodging communities. To handle day-to-day operations, they partner with organizations like Winn Residential Military Housing Services and IHG® Army—and now also Air Force Hotels

Centinel and IHG have worked together to serve military communities through the Privatization of Army Lodging program since 2009, with a portfolio of 70-plus hotels and 12,000-plus hotel rooms across 40 installations.

The Air Force anticipates lease finalization and operational transfer to Centinel Public Partnerships and IHG Hotels and Resorts by fall 2027.  

The Air Force is implementing a phased approach to ensure continuous lodging operations and minimal disruption. 

The first group of 23 installations slated for transition includes:
Altus Air Force Base, Okla.; Barksdale AFB, La.; Beale AFB, Calif.; Buckley SFB, Colo.; Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.; Dobbins ARB, Ga.; Edwards AFB, Calif.; Eglin AFB, Fla.; Goodfellow AFB, Texas; and Hurlburt Field, Fla.   Also, JB Andrews, Md.; JB Charleston, S.C.; JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.; Little Rock AFB, Ark.; MacDill AFB, Fla.; Maxwell AFB, Ala.; Nellis AFB, Nev.; Robins AFB, Ga.; Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C.; Shaw AFB, S.C.; Sheppard AFB, Texas; and Travis AFB, Calif.
 

“The Department of the Air Force is committed to a seamless transition for this first group of installations,” said Michelle Robey, Commercial On-Base Lodging Program Management Office chief.

“Our ultimate focus is to recapitalize these assets and deliver an enhanced quality of life for our Airmen, Guardians and their families,” she noted.