Hotel Granduca Austin adds Chef Andrew Lewis to its talented culinary team as Executive Pastry Chef. Under the direction of Executive Chef Tom Parlo, Lewis will be responsible for overseeing all elements of the creative conception and development of confections at the property’s signature northern Italian restaurant, Visconti Ristorante & Bar.
The Westin Dallas Park Central, currently undergoing a complete renovation to unveil a sleek interior design and accommodations, is proud to announce Jeremy Berlin as general manager. With more than 15 years of diversified industry experience, Berlin has a proven track record of success in leading outstanding hotel performance and guest satisfaction.
The Hampton Inn/Homewood Suites Houston Downtown, an American Liberty Hospitality property, is pleased to announce Josh Decker as general manager for the brand new, 300-room hotel, which is expected to be complete in spring 2016.
Atlanta-based Hotel Equities (HE) added three new Regional Revenue Managers to the firm’s leadership team. Barbara Soucia is based in the Atlanta corporate headquarters’ office, Yanbo Zhu works from the firm’s regional office in Plano, Texas, and Mischa Moore is based in Louisiana. All three report to Drew Salapka, Vice President of Sales & Revenue Generation. Ms. Soucia, Mr. Zhu and Ms. Moore each work with a defined number of properties in the Hotel Equities’ portfolio to assist, support and direct pricing, as well as yield management and mix management, in order to maximize and grow RevPAR. They also conduct training for the Directors of Sales at their respective hotels.
The global hotel industry's leading cloud platform, SiteMinder, is pleased today to announce it has appointed Kevin O'Rourke as its new executive vice president of global sales.
JW Marriott Houston Downtown today announced the appointment of Cahal Mowery as director of group sales. With more than five years of group sales experience, Mowery comes to the luxury hotel from the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau (GHCVB), where he was a national account executive on the Convention Sales Team, tasked with attracting convention business to Houston. In his new role, he will be responsible for developing the convention and group travel market.
Sabre announced that Sean Menke, 46, will join the company, effective Oct. 5, as executive vice president of Sabre and president of Sabre Travel Network. In this role reporting to Tom Klein, Menke will be accountable for Sabre’s global distribution system, the world’s leading travel marketplace. Menke brings to Sabre more than 20 years of experience in executive leadership roles in the travel and technology industries. Most recently, he served as executive vice president and chief operations officer of Hawaiian Airlines. Previously, Menke was executive vice president, Resources at IHS, Inc., a global information technology company. Prior to that, he served as president and CEO of Pinnacle Airlines, president and CEO of Frontier Airlines, and executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Air Canada. Early in his career, he held leadership roles with United Airlines, Western Pacific Airlines and America West Airlines.
Lane has more than 15 years of food and beverage management experience and most recently served as a food and beverage director at Hotel ZaZa in Houston. In his new role, he will be responsible for ensuring flawless execution across all food and beverage outlets.
A Colorado native, Bruns brings decades of experience both in the kitchen and in management roles. Most recently, he served as Food and Beverage Director for Omni Houston Hotel, where he led the reconcepting of the property's fine dining restaurant, NOE Grille, to a locavore establishment focused on sustainability. Since the transition, NOE Grille has earned such honors as Zagat's "10 Best Hotel Restaurants in Houston" and Wine Spectator's coveted "Award of Excellence."
HVS announced that Michael Handy has been promoted to Vice President of the HVS Consulting & Valuation satellite office in Austin, Texas, operating under the umbrella of HVS Dallas.
A 28-year hospitality industry veteran, Segesta began his Four Seasons career as Director of Housekeeping at The Olympic Hotel in Seattle (formerly a Four Seasons hotel). Since then, he has worked at Four Seasons properties throughout North America – from Austin and Boston to Las Vegas, Vancouver and beyond – yet his approach remains the same: “People come to our hotels to be taken care of. Our job is to create moments that matter for our guests.”
Mr. Jay Marsella has joined the Marriott Marquis Houston as director of sales and marketing. In his role, Marsella oversees all sales and marketing efforts for the 1,000 room hotel and is tasked with driving pre- and post-opening momentum for the Marquis brand in Houston.
Hyatt Hotels announced the appointment of Michael Jokovich as area vice president and general manager of the award-winning Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa. As area vice president, Jokovich will oversee 11 Hyatt-branded properties throughout the central United States, stretching across Texas and as far north as Minneapolis. His role includes supervising and providing counsel to these hotels, while also managing the operations at the 491-room, Four-Diamond resort destination that is Hyatt Regency Lost Pines. He will continue to report to Jordan Meisner, senior vice president of field operations.
Patino joined Éilan Hotel & Spa from Marriott Plaza Hotel San Antonio, where she was Director of Sales & Marketing for the past three years. Previously she held a range of positions at hotel properties across the city, including Director of Events at Hilton Palacio del Rio Hotel and Director of Food, Beverage, Catering & Conventions and then Director of Group Sales at The Westin Riverwalk Hotel. She was honored with several awards over 12 years at The Westin Riverwalk, including Team of the Year in 2004; Best in Class for Supervisory Effectiveness from 2001-2007; and Manager of the Year in 2003. Patino also spent eight years as Director of Catering at St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio.
Jay R. Campbell has been named General Manager of the 448-room Hilton Houston Post Oaks located near the Houston Galleria on the beautiful tree-lined Post Oak Boulevard, in Houston, Texas.
Benchmark Hospitality International®, a leading U.S.-based hospitality management company, has named Troy Mathews general manager for Hotel Contessa. Greg Champion, executive vice president and chief operations officer for Benchmark Hospitality, made the announcement. Hotel Contessa is a Benchmark Resort located alongside the famed Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas.
Four Seasons Hotel Austin is excited to announce the appointment of Blake Miller as its new director of business travel. In this key role, Milleris responsible for negotiating, contracting and effectively managing relationships with local and national corporate accounts. A long-time Austin resident, Miller most recently spent 13 years as the director of corporate travel for the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel. Prior to the InterContinental, he was with the Omni Downtown as their director of business travel. Miller is very involved in the Austin Business Travel Association, among several other charities and industry organizations.
Lance Taylor has been promoted to general manager of the Spring Hill Suites Austin South. Previously, Taylor was the general manager at the Courtyard Austin North/Parmer Lane. Prior to his experience as general manager at the Courtyard Austin North/Parmer Lane with White Lodging, Taylor was the general manager at the Hampton Inn and Suites Lakeway in Texas. His previous operations positions also include director of front office operations at Dallas Marriott Las Colinas in Irving, Texas and director of hotel operations at the Radisson Hotel and Suites in Austin. Taylor also gained experience as a parking manager/guest service manager, contract manager and guest service supervisor throughout his hospitality career.
His most recent posts include the position of General Manager at the Hotel Palomar in Dallas, as well as the General Manager’s spot at the Tapatio Springs Resort & Spa in the Texas Hill Country. Wright has also held the top management role at Kimpton Hotels in Chicago and Seattle, as well as multiple positions at the luxury Swissotel in Chicago. He holds a BS degree in Health Sciences from Illinois State University.
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is pleased to welcome Joe Pagone as general manager and Jess Johnson as director of sales and marketing for its highly anticipated Hotel Van Zandt in Austin, set to open in summer 2015.As general manager, Pagone will oversee the opening of the hotel and is responsible for all personnel, business development, property operations and guest relations for the 319-room and 41-suite hotel located in the Rainey Street Historic District.