California hotels announce hirings, promotions

 A number of hotels in California announced hirings and promotions in the past month:

The Shay

The Shay, a Destination by Hyatt hotel in Los Angeles, appointed Lisa Arias director of sales and marketing. A 28-year Hyatt veteran, Arias previously served as regional vice president. A California native, Arias graduated from the University of California Los Angeles and worked with Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority as a consultant. She spent five years on the East Coast where she started her career in hospitality at Swissotel and Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston before migrating back West.

Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott San Diego-San Marcos

R.A. Rauch & Associates, a San Diego-based hotel management and consulting firm, promoted Dallas King to area general manager of the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott San Diego-San Marcos, the Homewood Suites by Hilton San Diego-Del Mar and the Hilton Garden Inn San Diego-Del Mar.

Dallas King joined R.A. Rauch in 2013 as a task force general manager for more than 20 properties and most recently opened the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott San Diego-San Marcos as GM. King previously held leadership positions at Pantai Inn in La Jolla, Calif.; the Marriott Courtyard and Marriott Residence Inn in Carlsbad, Calif.; and the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Temecula, Calif.

Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows 

The Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica, Calif., named Sam Jagger the property’s new GM, along with Amy Funke as director of marketing and Carla Ortiz as director of talent & culture. 

Jagger previously was the managing director and senior vice president of sales and marketing at Mr. C Hotels for 10 years. His experience includes overseeing several luxury properties in Miami, Las Vegas, Beverly Hills, and Los Angeles with the Morgans Hotel Group and Palms Casino Resort.

Funke brings nearly a decade of experience, having most recently opened and served as the director of marketing and communications at InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown and director of marketing at Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.

Ortiz most recently was director of human resources for Proper Hospitality in San Francisco.

Aloft Santa Clara

The 175-room Aloft Santa Clara appointed Tyler John to general manager and Khushnum Modi to director of sales.

Most recently, John served as general manager of The Last Hotel, part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, in St. Louis. Additional experience includes area general manager for The Lodge at Tiburon and Toll House Hotel, director of F&B at Winnetu Oceanside Resort in Martha’s Vineyard and regional director of food & beverage for HRI Lodging.

Modi joins HRI Lodging and the Aloft Santa Clara from the Marriott Fremont (Calif.), where she served as the assistant director of sales and business development for the past three years. Modi also spent several years as senior manager, convention sales, with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, as sales manager at the Fairmont San Jose and several years in sales with Hilton.

Vespera Resort on Pismo Beach

David Morneau is the new general manager at the 124-room Vespera Resort on Pismo Beach and Tara Johns is the hotel’s new assistant general manager.

With more than 15 years of hospitality industry experience, Morneau most recently was director of rooms at the Ojai Valley Inn and served in the same capacity at The Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago. He began his career at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and eventually worked his way up the ranks to director of housekeeping at the Fairmont Pittsburgh. He was a contributing professor at Chicago’s Kendall College and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in hospitality management from Johnson & Wales University.

Johns previously was the revenue manager at Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point and was also with Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage for nine years, where she worked in various capacities, including spa manager and director of the front office.

Pechanga Resort Casino

Tjeerd Brink is the new GM at Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula. Brink brings 30 years of experience in finance and the gaming industry to his new role.

Before joining Pechanga, Brink held vice president, chief financial officer and director positions at numerous casino properties in Las Vegas and St. Louis. He also served as controller for technology company Bennett Industries and senior internal auditor for one of the largest casino conglomerates. A certified public accountant, Brink worked for Arthur Andersen before entering the gaming industry. Before his promotion to general manager, he served as Pechanga’s interim GM.

W Los Angeles - West Beverly Hills

W Los Angeles - West Beverly Hills appointed Damien Hirsch to the role of general manager. With 18 years of experience, Hirsch has successfully held key leadership roles for multiple Marriott properties coast-to-coast including, Melville Long Island Marriott, Baton Rouge Marriott, Memphis Marriott East, Indianapolis Marriott North and Oklahoma City Marriott. Most recently, Hirsch served as the general manager of Le Merigot JW Marriott Hotel & Spa in Santa Monica, Calif.

Hotel Lulu

Hotel Lulu in Anaheim named John Chan hotel manager. Chan first entered the hospitality industry as a private branch exchange operator during his college years at a Japanese hotel brand in downtown Los Angeles. He then worked his way up to various revenue and operations management roles at Los Angeles-area hotels, including the Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites; DoubleTree by Hilton Los Angeles Downtown; Embassy Suites by Hilton Los Angeles, Glendale; and The Westin South Coast Plaza. Before joining Hotel Lulu, Chan served as manager of project management for ICO Group Companies, a real estate development and management company in Los Angeles.

Resort at Squaw Creek

Resort at Squaw Creek in Olympic Valley announced David Lockard as general manager. Lockard joins the property from Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine in San Diego. Lockard began his career with Hyatt in 1995 as a stewarding supervisor at Hyatt Regency Beaver Creek in Colorado. Throughout his tenure, he has held a variety of positions ranging from food and beverage manager to director of operations. Lockard has served as general manager at multiple properties, including Hyatt Centric Park City in Utah and Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine. He returns to the Lake Tahoe community after having served as director of food and beverage at Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino more than a decade ago.