Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) and PRISA Group and McConnell Valdés Consulting today announced the opening of Hyatt House San Juan, debuting as Puerto Rico's first extended stay hotel as well as the brand's first Hyatt House hotel outside of the continental United States. The Governor of Puerto Rico, the Hon. Alejandro Garcia Padilla, attended the hotel's ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Basu hails from The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico, bringing more than 23 years of nuanced experience throughout the luxury hospitality industry. Basu’s itinerant experiences in hospitality management pull from a myriad of destinations, rooted in his collegiate studies in India. His previous appointments entailed management positions at The Ritz-Carlton, San Juan Hotel; Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa; Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower, Panama; and his most recent position as hotel manager of The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), today announced the opening of the first Holiday Inn Express® hotel in the Condado district of San Juan, Puerto Rico. This 115 room hotel opening brings IHG's hotels in Puerto Rico to four including the recently renovated InterContinental® San Juan, Holiday Inn® Mayaguez & Tropical Casino and the Holiday Inn® Ponce & Tropical Casino hotels. With hotels situated in almost every key market throughout the region, IHG has over 80 hotels in Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
Hailing from La Concha Renaissance Resort where she spent six years as executive chef, Berríos pulls from a robust culinary history with additional positions held at venues such as The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park, The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta, The Ritz-Carlton, San Juan and Norwegian Cruise Lines where she worked aboard the Pride of Hawaii, Pride of America, Pride of Aloha and the Norwegian Wing.
Hilton Worldwide today announced the appointment of Pablo Torres to general manager of the 917-room Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where he incidentally began his hospitality career as a food and beverage management trainee back in 1992. Known as the birthplace of the piña colada and the city’s largest hotel, this AAA Four Diamond award-winning property is also a proud recipient of Green Key due to its environmental awareness and efforts. Torres most recently held the position of general manager of the 304-room Hilton Short Hills located in the suburban bedroom community of Short Hills, New Jersey. Previously, he served as general manager of the 288-room British Colonial Hilton Nassau in The Bahamas. Torres has more than 20 years of business development and operations experience in hospitality management. From middle to large-scale volume facilities, Torres has held a myriad of key positions with many internationally recognized hotel companies throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Within Hilton Worldwide, he has also gained ample experience working on projects in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Cruz returns to the San Juan Marriott most recently by way of the JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa and CasaMagna Marriott Cancun Resort, where he spent the last three years as director of sales and marketing. Prior to that he served as the director of sales and marketing at multiple Marriott properties including the Renaissance Jaragua Hotel & Casino (2001-2005), Miami Airport Marriott (2005-2010) and the Renaissance La Concha Resort & Casino in Puerto Rico. A native of Puerto Rico, Cruz received his bachelor's degree in hospitality from Purdue University, Indiana.
Hilton Hotels & Resorts announced today that the 571-room hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, formerly known as Conrad San Juan Condado Plaza, has been renamed and rebranded as The Condado Plaza Hilton. Joining more than 550 Hilton hotels and resorts in 79 countries across six continents, The Condado Plaza Hilton now represents the Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand's fourth hotel on the island.
he Courtyard by Marriott Isla Verde Beach Resort, the beach-front hotel destination in the Isla Verde section of San Juan, has announced the appointment of Natalia Luna as Director of Sales and Marketing.With over 13 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Luna most recently served as the group sales manager at the Embassy Suites San Juan Hotel & Casino where she was responsible for $1.3 million in group sales. Previously, Luna has held positions as the senior catering manager at the Hilton Miami Airport Hotel, and group sales manager at the Caribe Hilton Hotel in San Juan. Luna earned a master’s degree in International Business, and a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management from Florida International University. She currently resides in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announces that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into an agreement for a Hyatt House hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico with an affiliate of Island Hospitality Partners, LLC, a joint venture of PRISA Group and McConnell Valdes Consulting. Puerto Rico Tourism Company Executive Director Luis Rivera Marín, PRISA Group President Federico Stubbe Jr. and other government officials attended a groundbreaking ceremony today, marking the construction commencement on Hyatt House San Juan, which is expected to open in fall 2014. Island Hospitality affiliates are also the owners of Hyatt Place Bayamón Hotel & El Tropical Casino and Hyatt Place Manatí & Casino, which are both currently under construction and expected to open in early 2014.
At the Isla Verde Beach Resort in San Juan, Tracy, as the new Director of Sales and Marketing, will create and oversee the hotel’s annual business and marketing plans, coordinate sales activities throughout the resort, work to maximize hotel revenue and expand corporate accounts, research the competition, and develop marketing and sales campaigns. Tracy has spent most of her hospitality career with Marriott International, managing their ExecuStay brand in Texas, increasing business in the Hispanic market, and utilizing social media networks to increase revenue. Previously serving as both a Sales Director and General Manager, Tracy brings a unique combination of experiences in both corporate and leisure travel to this leadership position.
Michael Herrmann, regional director of operations for IHG Caribbean and general manager at the InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino, announced the appointments of Jackie Raccuglia and Lissette Carlo as director of e-commerce and field marketing and account director of meetings for the InterContinental San Juan and the Holiday Inn Resorts in Aruba and Jamaica, respectively.
Garcia most recently served as general manager, Harvard Hotel & Club of New York.
Sa has enjoyed a long and successful career within the InterContinental family, having held positions at the InterContinental New Orleans as well as the InterContinental Rio de Janeiro. Sa earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel Management and Restaurant Administration at the Universidad de Caxias do Sul in Brazil. Sa brings with him years of experience providing world renowned first class service of InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, while also having worked in Puerto Rico for several years he understands exactly how to make every meeting a successful one.
Chin brings a wealth of experience and is results-oriented with 23 years of experience in sales and marketing, mostly in the hospitality industry. Prior to his appointment he was Director of Sales & Marketing for two years in the pre-opening phase of the newly opened 500-room Sheraton Puerto Rico Convention Center Hotel & Casino. Chin is no stranger to the InterContinental San Juan; he held the position of Director of Sales & Marketing from 2002-2007. Prior to working at the InterContinental San Juan, Chin held the position of Director of Sales at the former Westin Rio Mar Beach Resort & Country Club in Rio Grande. He also worked as Director of Sales at the former Wyndham Old San Juan Hotel & Casino, former Crowne Plaza Hotel & Casino in Isla Verde and the Sonesta Hotel Beach Club & Casino in Aruba. Chin speaks fluent English, Spanish, Dutch, Papiamento, Chinese and Portuguese. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of South Florida.
Michael Herrmann has been appointed General Manager at the InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino, a AAA 4-Diamond Resort in Isla Verde, and Regional Director of Operations in the Caribbean for InterContinental Hotel Group’s (IHG) Latin America-Caribbean Division. Herrmann replaced Sharon Kilmartin at the InterContinental San Juan, who was promoted to Regional Director of Operations for the 189-room InterContinental Stephen F. Austin and the 485-room InterContinental Houston Hotels. Prior to his appointment he was Director of Operations for IHG Southwest Asia Division, responsible for all managed and franchised hotels in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, including hotels under construction or in pre-opening stage. The IHG Southwest Asia portfolio consisted of four InterContinental, three Crowne Plaza and six Holiday Inn hotels as well as 31 new management contracts for hotels under development, construction or in pre-opening phase. Previous positions within the company included Regional Director of Operations in Indochina and Bangladesh and General Manager at the InterContinental Bangkok and Holiday Inn Bangkok in Thailand. He also served as Regional Director of Operations in the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia and was General Manager at the Hotel InterContinental Manila in the Philippines.
Morgans Hotel Group Co. today announced a long-term management agreement for the San Juan Water and Beach Club Hotel, a 78-key beachfront hotel in Isla Verde, Puerto Rico. Among other awards, San Juan Water and Beach Club Hotel has been listed on Conde Nast Traveler’s Gold List as one of the “World’s Best Places To Stay” and has been number three on Conde Nast Traveler’s top ten list of Caribbean/Atlantic hotels.
Mulero, who has over 20 years of experience in food and beverage operation, is responsible of overseeing a team of 135 employees, 15 managers and supervisors including the culinary team. Mulero also previously served in 2004 as assistant director of food and beverage at the InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino. Prior to his appointment at the InterContinental San Juan, Mulero served as the Food and Beverage Director at the Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel & Casino. In 2008, Mulero was awarded Restaurateur of the Year by the Puerto Rico Hotel & Tourism Association. Mulero began his career in the hospitality industry as Restaurant and Bar Manager at the Condado Plaza Hotel & Casino in 1986; he later became the Banquet Supervisor and Assistant Banquet Manager at El San Juan Hotel & Casino.
Miller began her career in 1994 as the Catering Manager at the Condado Plaza Hotel & Casino and subsequently held various management positions in the hotel catering and convention operations. Prior to joining the InterContinental San Juan, Miller held the position of Director of Conference Services at the Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa in Rio Grande for two years. Previous to this, she was the Director of Catering and Convention Services at the Caribe Hilton. Miller was honored by Wyndham Hotels as its Top Performer in 2003 and Rising Star in 2000. She graduated with a double major from Texas A&M University with bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration and History.