Heavlin Management Company, a full-service hospitality management and consulting company, signed an agreement and assumed management of the four-story, 259-room Hilton Phoenix Airport Hotel in Phoenix. Located adjacent to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, HMC, which also manages the Holiday Inn & Suites Phoenix Airport and the Crowne Plaza Phoenix Airport, now manages more than 51 percent of full-service hotel rooms (781 rooms) in the Phoenix airport submarket.
“The company has been incredibly successful over the past 18 months growing its management portfolio and providing strategic operations improvement plans at our properties to elevate guest experience and owner value,” Frank Heavlin, president of Heavlin Management Company, said in a statement. “The addition of the Hilton Phoenix Airport Hotel brings our portfolio to seven properties, 550 employees and 1,208 guestrooms, in Arizona and Alaska. We are proud to offer superior management and guest experience representing prestigious brands as Crowne Plaza, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton and Holiday Inn & Suites and Choice.”
HMC announced top-level appointments for the Hilton Phoenix Airport Hotel including Sally Shaffer as GM. Most recently, Shaffer was GM at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country where she held the positions of board chair for Visit Santa Rosa and vice president of Sonoma County Lodging Association. She is returning to Phoenix where she was prior to California and where she held senior executive management positions at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge and the JW Marriott Camelback.
Twenty-year hospitality veteran Lynn Flosi joins as director of sales & marketing. Flosi most recently served as director of sales & marketing for the Crowne Plaza Airport North Hotel, where she played a role in the Crowne brand naming this property the Crowne ‘Newcomer of the Year’ based on guest satisfaction. She also was honored as HSMAI’s Hospitality Professional of the Year in 2014.
Hammad Akbar joins as director of food and beverage. An award-winning manager and 21-year industry veteran, Akbar most recently was the food & beverage director at the Crowne Plaza San Marcos Resort.
Other property leadership promotions and assignments include:
- John Carpenter, previously human resources for the Holiday Inn & Suites Phoenix Airport North, joins as director of human resources
- Ron Lindblad extends his career with Hilton Hotels and joins the Hilton Phoenix Airport as director of rooms
- Jason Fisk was appointed chief engineer
- Crystal Bensema was appointed controller
The Hilton Phoenix Airport Hotel underwent an $8-million renovation in 2015, upgrading all areas of the property. An additional $750,000 property improvement plan is scheduled to add modern conveniences and upgrades to the restaurant, bar and other common areas as well as parking lot improvements. The hotel has over 10,000 square feet of meeting/convention space including an amphitheater ideal for presentations. It also has a full service restaurant with room service, hotel bar, outdoor pool and meeting areas.