New battle lines were drawn on Thursday over a proposed San Francisco law to let people rent their homes or rooms to travelers. The City Planning Department made recommendations to toughen Supervisor David Chiu's proposal, a week before it will hold a public hearing on it. Meanwhile a group representing Airbnb hosts organized to campaign about the law and made suggestions to ease the rules.
Based in San Francisco and working closely with the Global Sales Office in New York, Kumiko will lead the global sales strategies for North America with the aim of growing the market and enhancing client engagement to drive revenue for the Group’s properties within and outside the region. In North America, Pan Pacific Hotels Group currently owns and/or manages four hotels and resorts – namely the three-time Green Globe certified Pan Pacific Seattle in the US as well as the multiple award-winning Pan Pacific Vancouver, Pan Pacific Whistler Mountainside and Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre in Canada. Most recently, Kumiko was Director of Business Development with Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts in San Francisco where she was responsible for representing and promoting more than 80 hotels worldwide. Prior to that, Kumiko garnered close to five years of sales experience with Hotel Nikko San Francisco and Marriott Northern California Regional Sales Office. Supported by a Global Sales network which now spans Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo, Sydney, New York, San Francisco and London, Pan Pacific Hotels Group is fast expanding its global footprint, with a growth focus on Asia Pacific.
Vishwas (Vish) BHATIA IMHI is now the President & Co-Founder of Hotelsoft Inc. a San Francisco Bay Area based company that offers full service revenue management and information technology services to hotels and other travel partners. It has received over $1 million in seed funding. Prior to this Vish was the VP of Revenue Optimization at Aston Hotels & Resorts, overseeing revenue management and distribution for 28 properties. Previously, he held senior leadership positions at Morgan’s Hotel Group, Miami; The Plaza Hotel, New York and at Oberoi Hotels & Resorts. Vish currently also serves on the HSMAI Revenue Management Advisory Board.
Megargle joins W San Francisco after successfully directing the Food and Beverage Operations at the AAA Four Diamond Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas. Prior, he was Pre-Opening Director and Director of Outlets at W New York - Downtown, where he executed the hotel's opening, hired and trained talent, and was responsible for maintaining quality assurance of all food and beverage operations, among several other initiatives. Before moving to New York, Megargle opened and operated several renowned independent and corporate establishments. His journey with Starwood began in Detroit, Mich. where he embarked on a successful venture as operating partner for 24grille, located in the Westin Book Cadillac. Megargle's dedication and genuine passion for the Starwood brand is displayed through his loyal career path and successes in creating and executing progressive programs at each of his properties.
San Francisco-based Commune Hotels & Resorts, parent company of Joie de Vivre Hotels, Thompson Hotels and tommie, announces a new partnership with Singapore-based Alila Hotels & Resorts to create a global, lifestyle hotel management platform.
San Francisco's hospitality industry has a lot of momentum in 2014, with visitation, occupancy, and per-key transaction prices at peak levels. What are the current development and transactions trends? How might the continued lack of new inventory combined with record average daily rates affect future demand? San Francisco's lodging market continues to surge with record double-digit RevPAR growth driven by growth in average daily rates. It ranks 3rd in the nation for occupancy rate.1 Year-over-year occupancy was up nearly 3% and ADR increased over 9% in 2013, leading to a RevPAR increase of more than 13% as compared to the prior year. San Francisco County saw $876 million in transaction activity in 2013, up from nearly $750 million in 2012.
With an extraordinary background working at five-star hotels, fine dining restaurants and high-volume catering venues at luxe destinations worldwide, Chef Belliard brings a breadth of experience in international cuisine and instinctive passion to his new role. Chef Belliard holds a Master’s Certificate in Hospitality Management from Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, as well as bachelor’s degree in culinary studies from Pullman Cabourg. He began his career gaining experience at an array of Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris, the Alps, and the Caribbean, and has worked closely with top chefs including Michel Rostang, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Nicolas Le Bec, as well as Eric Frechon, a legendary three-star Michelin chef based in Paris whom he worked alongside at Epicure at Le Bristol Paris. His first senior management role took him to Beirut where he served as Executive Chef at Le 5 Restaurant, a three Michelin-starred venture led by French celebrity chef Mathieu Pacaud.
Accounting professional Armando Rivera brings more than twenty years of experience to the InterContinental San Francisco as Assistant Director of Finance and Accounting. Before his recent appointment, he spent more than five years as Controller at the Embassy Suites & Resort in Palm Desert, where he was responsible for daily hotel accounting operations. Rivera also held positions as Controller at the Courtyard Marriott Riverside and Controller at Marriott Santa Fe in New Mexico. Riviera’s career exhibits a successful background in a variety of hotel settings, and implementing successful solutions.
Rising star Candace Palec continues her work with the InterContinental Hotels of San Francisco in her new role of Associate Director of Group Sales after having been appointed Senior Sales Manager a year prior. Palec has over ten years of sales, catering, and convention services experience among Four-Diamond rated hotels in the Bay Area including InterContinental Hotels of San Francisco, Mandarin Oriental, Hotel Vitale and The Claremont Hotel, Club and Spa. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Management from St. Mary's College of Moraga and an MBA in Management from Golden Gate University.
Lauren Glover, a hands-on training and development professional, brings a strong background in optimizing productivity, talent retention and employee satisfaction to her new role as Manager of Training and Human Resources. Glover joins the InterContinental team from the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center at the National Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland where she served as Training Coordinator. Glover holds a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication from Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD and a Master’s in Organizational Communication from Indiana’s Ball State University.
Seasoned hospitality professional Troy Smith brings twenty years of experience and a proven track record of success in all levels of hotel sales to his new post as Area Director of Group Sales. Already familiar with the InterContinental Hotels of San Francisco, he has spent the last seven years demonstrating his business savvy by exceeding sales goals every quarter for five years and posting impressive sales numbers across the portfolio. Smith holds a Bachelors of Science in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin and studied International Studies and International Marketing at the University of Copenhagen and University of Munich, respectively.
Martha Mary Flynn joined the InterContinental Hotels Group team in 2005 as the Revenue Analyst and Assistant Guest Service Manager at the Holiday Inn & Holiday Inn Express at Fisherman’s Wharf where she exceeded goals and demonstrated an extensive knowledge of the InterContinental brands, systems, and culture. Flynn continues her commitment to excellence in her new role as Revenue Manager of InterContinental Hotels of San Francisco. Prior to accepting her new role, Flynn’s professional background included positions held at Hilton and Marriott Hotels.
LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE:LHO) today announced that it acquired Hotel Vitale in San Francisco, CA for $130.0 million. The Company funded the acquisition with borrowings from its Senior Unsecured Credit Facility.
Chris Meadors has been appointed Senior Sales Executive at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, it was announced today by Frank Manchen, Director of Sales & Marketing. In his new role, Mr. Meadors will be responsible for the West Coast market (excluding Northern California). Prior to coming to the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, Mr. Meadors was most recently Senior Sales Executive at the San Jose Marriott. He joined Marriott Hotels & Resorts in 2006 and over the years has also worked in Marriott's San Francisco Regional Sales Office, at the Boston Marriott Quincy, and Courtyard Emeryville. He is a graduate of Boston University with a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Administration. Chris Meadors is also a Board Member and President Elect of the Northern California Chapter of the Professional Convention Management Association.
This month, Kokua Hospitality, LLC, a hotel management firm based in Chicago, celebrates its eighth anniversary with the addition of the eighth property under their umbrella, The Powell Hotel. The San Francisco hotel joins Kokua's roster of notable properties across the country, including DoubleTree by Hilton Chicago Magnificent Mile, The Allerton Chicago, Inn of Chicago, Aloft National Harbor, Embassy Suites Baltimore- Inner Harbor, and Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach.
The Palace Hotel, a Luxury Collection hotel, is pleased to announce Mark Sneen as the new Hotel Manager of the iconic San Francisco property. Mark comes to the Palace from the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa where brought his enthusiastic and visionary leadership to the entire team in his role as Resort Manager. Prior to his role as resort manager at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa, Sneen was the Director of Restaurants and Bars where he was a driving force of the team that spearheaded the award-wining Forbes Five Star, AAA Five Diamond Kai Restaurant culture and concept. Sneen received his Master’s in Business Administration (Executive Platform) from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Recently praised on a top 25 list by The Wall Street Journal, the school ranks high at number 13 among the best executive MBA programs in the world. Curriculum and field of study included a public policy class conducted in Washington D.C. and an international session in Austria and the Czech Republic.
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] today announces the sale of the 383 room InterContinental San Francisco Mark Hopkins1 (the "Hotel") to a joint venture between affiliates of Woodridge Capital Partners ("Woodridge") and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management L.P. ("Oaktree") for $120m gross cash proceeds. IHG will continue to manage the Hotel under a long-term management contract.
Prior to joining Commune Hotels, Lemmond oversaw the flagship The Standard, High Line. He is the former General Manager of The Standard, Downtown LA and The Standard Spa, Miami Beach - each was launched by Lemmond and his team. Lemmond's management of luxury boutique properties extends to Chamberlain, West Hollywood, Viceroy Santa Monica and Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica, which he also established. The Pennsylvania native began his hospitality career at the five-star, five-diamond The Rittenhouse Hotel in Philadelphia.
Thomas Klein is the Area Vice President and the GM of the famed Fairmont Hotel San Francisco in the US. He is hardworking and a self-proclaimed workaholic. He is personal and approachable. He says that wanting to go to the next level is in his DNA. Over the years and prior to his current position, he has worked for a number of great hotel brands, such as Hyatt, the Ritz-Carlton, and Swissôtels & Resorts. In addition to his job as a hotel executive, he is also active in hotel management education and charity organizations in the local community. His plate is so full that one has the feeling that somehow he manages to capture more than 24 hours a day!
David Lewin, General Manager of Hyatt Regency San Francisco, has announced the appointment of Stacey Edinger as the hotel’s Director of Sales and Marketing. Edinger replaces Judy Cronkhite who has transferred to the Grand Hyatt San Francisco.