With over 30 years of executive leadership experience spanning hospitality, accounting and finance, we deliver a customized and pragmatic approach to guiding our clients through the unique challenges of transacting in the private capital markets.
The Birch Creek Advisors Team
Chris Garratt
President and CEO
Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Chris Garratt has enjoyed a diverse career in the hospitality industry. Chris began his hotel career on the Las Vegas strip, serving as a National Sales Manager at MGM Grand’s Las Vegas hotel where he worked with clients whose conferences and events ranged from 20 to 15,000 people. Chris also served as Account Director at Visit Seattle, held leadership roles for the Sheraton Seattle Hotel, and oversaw a hotel portfolio of 7 hotels and 15 food and beverage outlets throughout the northwest as Regional Director for RL Hotels.
More recently, Chris was the Managing Director of Metis, Mergers and Acquisitions, leading the firm’s hospitality practice. In his time at Metis, Chris successfully advised his clients on over 30 capital transactions, all in the hospitality and wine industries.
Chris is an active member of the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association, the Washington Hospitality Association, and has served on executive committees for industry organizations MPI and PCMA. Chris graduated with distinction from Whitman College, with honors into Beta Gamma Sigma through his MBA from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington, and has a post-graduate certificate in Mergers and Acquisitions from Columbia Business School.
Chris is married and has three kids. He enjoys coaching his kids in sports and traveling the world with his wife. He can be found most weekends in the winter skiing with his kids and all other months playing golf, tennis, or cycling. An amateur chef forever in training, Chris dreams of one day going to culinary school.
Nishtha Rajbhandari
Business & Strategy Analyst
Nishtha Rajbhandari earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Whitman College in 2024 as a Davis Scholar. She also completed a program on Banking, Sustainable Finance, and the Circular Economy with the School for International Training in Switzerland.
At Birch Creek Advisors, Nishtha supports the firm’s hospitality-focused M&A and advisory practice, contributing to business development initiatives, market research, and strategic positioning for owner-operators and investors.
Prior to joining Birch Creek Advisors, she developed experience across research, consulting, and financial analysis roles in the travel and consumer products, economic research and policy, and healthcare and life sciences sectors. Her work reflects a growing focus on service-oriented businesses, informed by global exposure and cross-border engagements.
Get in Touch
Let’s start the conversation. At Birch Creek Advisors, your first meeting is always confidential, and always with our compliments. We strive to develop a tailor-made solution for exploring a sale or investment opportunity, and we can’t determine the right game plan for you, until we know more about your business and your objectives. Please click on the button below and tell us a little more about your situation and needs, or email us directly.