Two new hotels in downtown Miami are targeting business travelers as an alternative to the Beach scene, but it could prove to be a tough market. Viceroy and its fellow upstart, Epic Miami, offer a white-collar take on the open-shirt ethos of South Beach's boutique hotels. They're targeting business travelers looking for the stylish setting of a boutique but within the more sedate environs of Miami's office district.
Benchmark Hospitality International has announced that Burt Cabañas, the company’s founder, chairman and CEO, has been appointed chair of the Industry Advisory Board at Florida International University’s (FIU) School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, located in Miami. Mr. Cabañas has a long-term relationship with FIU and the School of Hospitality, having received his Bachelor of Science degree from the university in 1976. Mr. Cabañas also holds the title of Honorary Community Professor for the School of Hospitality and has served on the School's Industry Advisory Board for several years, the last six as vice chairman. A long-term industry leader, Burt Cabañas is a founding member, past president, and former board member of the International Association of Conference Centers (IACC), the leading authority governing the conference center industry globally. In 1988, he was honored with the organization's Distinguished Service Award for his contributions to the industry. Active in many aspects of IACC during his term as president, Mr. Cabañas co-authored the "Uniform System of Accounts for Conference Centers." Burt Cabañas founded Benchmark Hospitality International nearly 30 years ago.
Jeffrey began his Marriott tenure as an assistant housekeeping manager at Marriott's Rancho Las Palmas Resort in California and quickly climbed the ranks. For the past seven years he served as general manager of the Griffin Gate Marriott Resort & Spa in Lexington, KY, where he grew sales 50%, oversaw a $12.5-million renovation and was recognized with the Regional Marriott GM Sales Leadership Award (2006-2007) and Marriott Hotels & Resorts GM Sales Leadership Award (2004). Other posts that Jeffrey has held throughout his rich hospitality career include general manager of Omaha Marriott Hotel in Nebraska; director of operations at Marriott’s Tan-Tar-A Resort & Golf Club in Missouri; food and beverage manager at Desert Springs JW Marriott Palm Desert Resort & Spa in California; and director of services at Marriott World Center Orlando in Florida. Jeffrey is a graduate of Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel Management.
Miami | Cambean Hospitality, a Miami Beach-based hospitality group that owns and manages four boutique hotel properties in the historic South Beach area, today announced the creation of Cambean Earth, a new brand that defines the sustainable systems and practices that are currently being implemented throughout their organization. The proprietary branding includes the development of a green mission statement and a visual identity system, which will serve to educate guests of Cambean properties about their environmentally friendly lodging practices. The branding materials, created by Florida-based Plan A Public Relations & Marketing, include a Cambean Earth logo that utilizes a graphic banana leaf in the shape of a "C" to represent Cambean. This logo will be placed throughout Cambean properties to identify sustainable materials and features that have been adopted to promote conservation of energy, water and other natural resources.
Pino is now responsible for the Marriott Vacation Club resort which is located adjacent to the 650 acre Doral Golf Resort & Spa, A Marriott Resort. Marriott’s Villas at Doral includes 141 two-bedroom villas overlooking the Great White Golf Course, a Greg Norman Signature Course. Each villa boasts a fully-equipped kitchen with granite countertops, spacious living and dining areas, luxurious bedding package, and multiple televisions with DVD players. A 22-year Marriott veteran, Pino began his career in 1986 in loss prevention at the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay where he was later promoted to director of loss prevention. Pino progressed to regional director of loss prevention for the Florida region in 1993 where his responsibilities included loss prevention for all North American Marriott lodging brands and Marriott Vacation Club International brands in Florida. Pino was later appointed to general manager at the Courtyard Fort Lauderdale Plantation in 2000 and two years later served as general manager at the Fairfield Inn Miami Airport West/Doral Area.
Miami |Cambean Hospitality, a Miami Beach-based hospitality group that owns and manages four boutique hotel properties in the historic South Beach area, today announced the re-launching of the historic Clifton South Beach. The 35-room hotel is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation and is scheduled to open in early 2009. When complete, the hotel will seek to become the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified hotel in Florida and the first LEED-certified historic hotel in the nation. The building has been designed to meet LEED Gold level certification.
Grove Isle Partners LLC is pleased to announce leasehold interest in the Grove Isle Resort & Spa located on Grove Isle in Miami, Florida. The leasehold has approximately 48 years remaining on the term and provides for a sharing in value with the lessee at expiration. The leased property includes: the four-diamond hotel featuring 49 elegant oversized guestrooms (each with private terraces and views of Biscayne Bay), 8,000 square feet of meeting space, the full-service SpaTerre, a 12 championship-court tennis center, and a Club component with on-and-off island memberships. The hotel is also home to Baleen Miami, one of the top rated restaurants in Miami.
Grand Heritage Management Company is pleased to announce a twelve-year management contract with Grove Isle Resort & Spa located on Grove Isle in Miami, Florida. With extension, the term could run for 22 years. The four-diamond hotel offers: 49 elegant oversized guestrooms (each with private terraces and views of Biscayne Bay), 8,000 square feet of meeting space, the full-service SpaTerre, a 12 state-of-the-art, championship-court tennis center, and a Club component with on-and-off island memberships. The hotel, ranked #2 of “Top Performers” by Lodging Hospitality, October, 2008, is also home to Baleen Miami, one of the top restaurants in Miami.
Healy brings more than 25 years of industry experience to the legendary resort and is responsible for assisting the managing director, along with overseeing day-to-day operations and service delivery. Prior to joining The Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club, Healy served as director of operations for the AAA Five Diamond Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle, Wash., and in several supervisory positions at The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz., including director of front office operations, front office manager, associate director of conference services and national sales manager. Healy has a bachelor’s degree in hotel & restaurant management from Moorhead State University in Minnesota and holds a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) accreditation.