Vitelli's background in the hospitality industry includes holding several posts with several prominent properties. Prior to joining the Sheraton Los Angles Downtown, he was the Director of Group Strategy for seven hotels in New York City, including the Sheraton New York Times Square, W New York, W New York Times Square, W New York Union Square, W New York Downtown, Westin Grand Central and the St. Regis.
Greg Schmidt has been named the general manager of the hotel near MCAS Miramar. He previously served as the general manager of Residence Inn San Diego Rancho Bernardo/Carmel Mountain Ranch. Schmidt began his career with Marriott in 1987 as a server at Courtyard Nashville Brentwood in Tennessee. The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco in California hired him in 2000 for housekeeping and reservation sales. Four years later, he was promoted to assistant general manager at Residence Inn San Francisco Airport/Oyster Point Waterfront before attaining the general manager title at Courtyard San Jose Cupertino in 2006. Heading back to San Francisco in 2008 to work as the front office manager at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, Schmidt then decided to take on the sales manager role for the Western Mountain Pacific Sales Office.
Crescent Hotels & Resorts, the management company for Lake Arrowhead Resort & Spa, has announced the appointment of Steve Tremewan as Director of Sales & Marketing. Tremewan oversees all sales and marketing efforts for the resort, part of Marriott International's exclusive Autograph Collection of upscale independent hotels. Steve brings more than 25 years of hospitality sales experience to create innovative and effective initiatives for boosting revenues from group clientele and leisure travelers alike.
Newly appointed to the role of Banquet Manager at the InterContinental San Francisco, Sergio Olenich brings more than 20 years of experience around the globe to the team. Following a degree in Service and Management from culinary school in Italy, Olenich worked in a number of hotel and restaurant positions throughout Italy, Austria, and Germany, working both front-of-house and back-of-house. His first position in San Francisco was as Restaurants Manager for the Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel, where he supervised four outlets including the restaurant, cocktail bar, sports bar and room service. He joined the InterContinental Hotels Group team as an Assistant Banquet Manager at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins before stepping into a Banquet Manager role at the Westin St. Francis. For the last six years, he has worked for the InterContinental Hotels of San Francisco as an Assistant Banquet Manager.
InterContinental Mark Hopkins Front Office Manager David Valencia has nearly ten years of guest service and front office experience across three and four-star hotel brands. Prior to joining the InterContinental Mark Hopkins team in 2012, Valencia was based in Southern California, working as Front Office Manager for the Crowne Plaza in Ventura, Front Office Supervisor for the Hyatt in Westlake, and Guest Service Coordinator at the Marriot in Westlake. In addition to day-to-day operations, Valencia’s responsibilities include brand loyalty, social media monitoring, training, and more. He was named “Manager of the Quarter” at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins in October 2014 and currently serves on the hotel’s safety and community committees.
Jaap Boelens brings almost a decade of experience working within the food and beverage industry to his new role as Assistant Director of Food & Beverage at the InterContinental San Francisco. Boelens first joined the InterContinental Hotels Group team in 2007, working as Food & Beverage Outlets Manager at the InterContinental Los Angeles in Beverly Hills. He later held positions at the InterContinental London Park Lane and InterContinental Houston before moving to San Francisco as the Director of Outlets and later Food & Beverage Operations Manager for the iconic InterContinental Mark Hopkins. In his new role at the InterContinental San Francisco, Boelens will oversee all food and beverage operations, including the Michelin-star Luce restaurant, Bar 888, banquets, room service, and more.
Mr. Eichenberger joins Rosewood CordeValle after more than 13 years of management and training experience in the luxury hospitality industry. Most recently, he held the position of executive assistant manager at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa, where he worked directly with the general manager overseeing the hotel operation. Prior to that, Mr. Eichenberger held management roles at the Fancourt Hotel & Estate in George, South Africa, serving as the conferencing and banqueting manager before being promoted to food and beverage director.
Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, by Destination Hotels announced that Doug Phillips has joined its team as director of sales and marketing. A longtime hotelier with more than 30 years of experience, Phillips will help lead the repositioning of this historic property in San Diego, Calif. as it embarks on a comprehensive renovation project late next year.
Hilton Worldwide today announced the appointment of Colleen Huther to the position of general manager of the AAA Four Diamond Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Hotel & Resort. Nestled along the Central Coast, Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Hotel & Resort is the only all-suite resort in Southern California to sit directly on the beach. Most recently, Huther held the position of general manager of The Annapolis Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Annapolis, Maryland, managed by the Thayer Lodging Group. The property experienced tremendous growth and success under her tenure. Her role with Thayer expanded as a VP of asset management overseeing 11 full and select service hotels while continuing as general manager of The Annapolis hotel.
HOTELbeat, a provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based hospitality operations management solutions, is proud to announce that CFO and Co-founder Elvin Lai has been named Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year by the Asian Business Association (ABA) of San Diego. The award was presented at the ABA"s 24th Annual Scholarship and Awards Gala on October 15, 2014.
ADARA, the leader in leveraging global travel data to drive future business performance, today announced that Jie Cheng, Ph.D., has joined the company as its chief analytics officer. In this new role, Cheng will lead ADARA's data and analytics strategy to further build out the company's solutions in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Rick Corcoran, General Manager of the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa is pleased to announce the appointment of Sion Edwards as Director of Sales & Marketing at the iconic Sonoma Valley resort. In this role, Sion will oversee all group and transient sales, catering/conference services and marketing activities at the storied Inn.Sion boasts two decades of progressive experience in hospitality sales and catering/conference service, beginning his career in 1994. After joining Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in 2000, Sion held various leadership positions at sister hotels including the Fairmont San Francisco and the Fairmont Royal York. Most recently, he served as Director of Sales at the Fairmont San Francisco. A certified meeting professional (CMP), Sion holds a diploma in hotel management from George Brown College.
Most recently, Magor served as general manager of the Omni Dallas, where under his leadership, the luxury hotel garnered numerous accolades included Association Conventions & Facilities 2013 “Distinctive Achievement Award,” Corporate & Incentive Travel’s 2013 “Award of Excellence,” two coveted Gold Key awards from Meetings & Conventions Magazine and more.
Viceroy Hotel Group is pleased to announce Jami Kraus as the Director of Front Office at Le Meridien Delfina Santa Monica. Ms. Kraus, who has years of experience working with front desk operations for successful luxury hotels, is responsible for overseeing all front of house operations, training and managing front office managers and ensuring all front office systems comply with corporate policies and procedures. Ms. Kraus most recently served as the Director of Front Office for Omni Severin in Indianapolis, IN and the Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, AZ. She has previously held similar roles at The London West Hollywood and The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, CA. Ms. Kraus began her career at Hyatt Hotel & Resorts in Los Angeles, CA.
The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort, part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: HOT), announced today the appointment of Ian Pullan as the new General Manager. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Pullan brings 24 years of hospitality experience from premier destination hotels around North America and beyond.
Seasoned Human Resource professional, Cheryl King joins the InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco with more than 16 years of experience demonstrating leadership in human resource consulting and management. Before stepping into her new role as Human Resources Director at InterContinental Mark Hopkins, King managed all human resource activities for The Scarlet Huntington Hotel in San Francisco, which included the Scarlet Huntington’s Big 4 Restaurant and Nob Hill Spa. Prior to joining the hospitality industry, King held a number of human resources positions at companies throughout the San Francisco Bay Area from telecommunications companies to private consulting firms. King is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management as well as the Northern California Human Resource Association.
Danny Gorden brings over twenty two years of experience working as a strategic financial leader for multi-property environments and hotels within the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) portfolio to his new role as Director of Finance at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco. He first started working with the company in 1992 becoming Controller in 1994, taking part in the rebranding of the Harvey Hotel in Addison, Texas to a Crowne Plaza property. He later led the Crowne Plaza through the same transition in Dallas, before assuming the role of Area Director of Finance and Accounting for three Dallas area hotels. He later held Director of Finance and Accounting roles at the InterContinental Hotel in Houston and the Crowne Plaza Suites in Dallas before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, accepting a position as Director of Finance and Accounting at the Holiday Inn Fisherman’s Wharf and Holiday Inn Express Fisherman’s Wharf, where he spent the last three years.
Simultaneous to Bill Rock's move to Park City, Vail Resorts announced that it has promoted Beth Howard, vice president of mountain dining and clubs, to be general manager of Northstar California Resort, also effective November 1, 2014. Howard began her career with Vail Resorts in 1985 as a college intern at Beaver Creek, which led to a 30-year career with the company. In 2010, Beth was promoted to vice president of mountain dining and clubs where she has had operational oversight of mountain dining across all of the company's resorts, including more than 100 restaurants and eight private mountain and golf clubs.
Haack will continue to be based at Terranea Resort and lead all aspects, including the real estate division, of the 102-acre luxury destination located on the pristine coastline of Rancho Palos Verdes. In addition, she will also continue her integral role within Destination Hotels as a senior executive and a valued shareholder of Lowe Enterprises. In 2007, Haack was named executive vice president and managing director of Terranea to lead development for the $480 million resort. With Haack’s skillful leadership and support of a world-class team, the resort navigated the challenges of the economic downturn to open in 2009 and ultimately achieve unparalleled success. Celebrating its five-year anniversary this year, Terranea has received numerous prestigious awards and accolades, including being named one of the 500 Best Hotels in the World by Travel + Leisure; being recognized on the prestigious Gold List of the World’s Best Hotels and Resorts and as one of the Best Places on Earth by Conde Nast Traveler; and receiving the Platinum Choice Award from Smart Meetings; the Gold Key Award from Meetings and Conventions and the Pinnacle Award from Successful Meetings. Terranea is also recognized as the “Top Employer in Los Angeles County,” from Los Angeles News Group, an award that Haack cherishes as it relates to the culture and environment that she and Lowe Enterprises and Destination Hotels have created for the more than 1,250 associates at Terranea. Haack has also been the architect of repositioning Terranea within the lifestyle industry, expanding the resort’s brand footprint by building strategic alliances with partners such as Lexus, University of Southern California and Fox Sports, TOMS, ONEHOPE, and Trump National Golf Club. She was instrumental in guiding the resort to being accepted into the American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts and Virtuoso Travel Network. In addition to the resort’s national acclaim over the past five years, Haack plays an instrumental leadership role in serving the community and the industry she loves. Currently, Haack serves on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors for the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA), representing the national resort segment and is the incoming Chairman of the California Hotel & Lodging Association. Additionally, she is a founding board member of the Women In Lodging Executive Council and is the incoming Chairman. Haack is also the 2014 Chairman of the AH&LA Educational Foundation and a member of the Executive Committee of the AH&LA Resort Committee. In her community, she actively contributes her time and energy to a variety of non-profit organizations as well as serving in leadership positions in business and civic clubs and organizations. Haack joined Destination Hotels in 2002, as executive vice president and managing director of Wild Dunes Resort in S.C., where she orchestrated the planning and implementation of a major renovation and expansion that encompassed a $200 million master plan of the resort and core community. Prior to arriving at Wild Dunes, Haack was executive vice president and managing director of Anheuser-Busch, Inc.’s Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, V.A., and served on the board of directors of Preferred Hotels and Resorts Worldwide comprising a prestigious international group of hotel and resort owners and operators. She also repositioned Kingsmill in the marketplace and completed $50 million in master plan improvements. Prior to Kingsmill, Haack spent more than a decade managing hotels and resorts across the country.
Pace joins Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa following a three year position as director of sales & marketing at Colorado's Cheyenne Mountain Resort, where she was recognized last year as "Director of Sales & Marketing of the Year" for Benchmark Hotels & Resorts.