Across the country (and beyond), hotels have named new team members for positions covering sales, food and beverage, golf and conference services. Here are some names to know.
Fairmont Dallas
In Texas, the Fairmont Dallas has added two staff members to new positions: Benjamin De La Rosa has been appointed director of revenue management and Christina Mertz has been promoted to director of catering and conference services.
In his new role, De La Rosa will oversee all revenue management operations at Fairmont Dallas. He most recently worked as a revenue specialist at several Hilton properties, and before that, he was the housekeeping director at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront; and laundry supervisor, housekeeping supervisor and front desk supervisor at La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club in La Jolla, Calif. De La Rosa brings over 10 years of hospitality experience and leadership to his new position.
Before her promotion, Mertz was assistant director of catering and conference services. Reporting to the director of sales and marketing, Mertz will oversee catering and conference services for the 545-room hotel.
Mertz brings over 20 years of experience to the position, including experience from several previous roles in management positions in catering and conference service departments. She has previously served as the director of special events at Goldman Properties in Miami, senior catering and group sales manager at both The Setai and The Raleigh Hotel and director of catering and convention services at the W South Beach.
Atlantis Paradise Island
Atlantis Paradise Island in The Bahamas has appointed Gabriela Lam as VP of leisure sales and Ginny Long as director of national accounts.
Lam joins Atlantis with more than 15 years of experience in hospitality and revenue management for luxury leisure and corporate segments. Most recently, Lam was complex leisure senior sales manager of the new Mexican Pacific Resorts - Conrad Punta de Mita, and Hilton Los Cabos, and managed established and emerging international and domestic source markets. She received a degree in business administration from Miami Dade College, along with a Hospitality and Tourism Management Certificate from Florida Atlantic University and a Hotel Revenue Management Certificate from Cornell University.
Long has more than 25 years in the hospitality industry, working at several properties by Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. Most recently, she was the senior complex sales manager for Hilton Los Cabos and Conrad Punta de Mita, specializing in generating new business for the Midwest market and concentrating on corporate, association, incentive groups and specialty markets. She majored in hospitality management and business administration at Eastern Illinois University.
Pendry Park City
Pendry Park City (Utah), the first mountain resort from Pendry Hotels & Resorts, has added three new leaders to its team: Hotel Manager Raghu Addagada, Director of Food and Beverage Ashley Chaney and Executive Chef Fernando Reyes.
Addagada started working in hospitality more than 30 years ago at Oberoi Hotels and Resorts in India, where he held positions in various departments from stewarding to culinary and banquet operations. Since then, Addagada has worked at various properties including Fairmont Hotels throughout Canada and Ritz-Carlton hotels in both Toronto and Cancun.
Chaney brings more than two decades of restaurant and hospitality experience to his new role. Most recently, he was assistant director of food and beverage for Montage Palmetto Bluff. Before his tenure at Montage, Chaney held multiple roles at various luxury properties including Sea Island Resort in Georgia and The Eldridge Hotel in Kansas.
Reyes most recently was executive chef at Maravilla Los Cabos in Mexico. He also worked as executive chef at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco as well as executive sous chef at The Ritz Carlton in Hainan Province and JW Marriott Hotel L.A. Live in Los Angeles. As executive chef, Fernando Reyes oversees all culinary operations for Pendry Park City.
JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa
The JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Desert, Calif., named two new leaders for its golf division: John Wright as the director of golf and Todd Iacono as head golf pro.
An industry veteran with more than two decades of hospitality and golf experience, Wright joins the hotel from JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix, where he spent most of his career, starting with his role as director of golf, spa, tennis & retail, which followed his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University. His most recent position at that property was director of room operations and as director of club memberships.
Iacono joins the hotel from his most recent position as first assistant golf pro at Enagic Golf Club in Chula Vista, Calif., where he oversaw a staff of 12, coordinated tournament operations and provided instruction for members, public and juniors. In his new role, he will oversee lessons, the golf shop and merchandise as well as individual and tournament bookings.
Kona Village
Kona Village, A Rosewood Resort reopening this summer on Hawaii Island, has added several members to its executive committee: Valerie Ozaki as director of talent & culture, Nattha Chutinthranond as director of finance business partner and Daniel Kimura as director of engineering.
Ozaki will be responsible for the leadership and management of the property’s human resources department. She joins the Rosewood Hotels & Resorts organization from Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, where she most recently held the position of director of people and culture at the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Vail. Her professional background also includes the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina, Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Marriott King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel, Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel and Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows.
Chutinthranond’s responsibilities will include the overall management of all finance, accounting and purchasing functions. She has held various hotel finance roles across the upscale boutique and luxury segments, most recently as director of finance business partner at Rosewood Washington, D.C.. Before this, she was with IHG Hotels & Resorts' Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, where she served as multiunit director of finance for the collection’s Hotel Rouge (now known as the Kimpton Banneker Hotel), Topaz Hotel and Mason & Rook (now known as Viceroy Washington D.C.). She began her hospitality finance career with Kimpton in Massachusetts at the Hotel Marlowe.
Kimura will be responsible for all aspects of the engineering department. He joins the team from Kukio Golf & Beach Club Kailua-Kona, where he was chief engineer. He has held several other roles across the Hawaiian hospitality landscape including director of engineering at the Grand Hyatt Kauai, director of engineering and interim GM at Kaanapali Beach Club and assistant director of engineering at the Hyatt Regency Maui.
Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel
The Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel has named Mark Dickerson as the property’s new director of sales and marketing. With more than 20 years of experience in hospitality, Dickerson will oversee all sales, revenue and marketing initiatives for the hotel and its food and beverage concepts.
Before joining the team, Dickerson held numerous leadership sales roles at hotels throughout the East Coast and Texas. Most recently, he was the area director of sales and marketing for Hilton and Hampton in Parsippany, N.J., a dual-brand property with more than 500 rooms. From July 2015 to December 2017, he was the director of sales and marketing at the Hilton St. Petersburg (Fla.) Bayfront. He also participated in several corporate task forces throughout his career, stepping in to help properties maximize sales efforts during need periods. Before working on-site at hotels, he was a VP of sales and marketing at InnQuest Software, a hotel software company.
CordeValle
CordeValle in San Martin, Calif., has promoted Chelso Barrett to lead golf instructor. In this role, Barrett will be responsible for managing all golf and pro shop operations, planning and executing club tournaments and outside events and overseeing golf instruction and player development programming.
A 2017 graduate and an NCAA Division 1 All-American at Texas Christian University, Barrett began his professional golf career competing on the PGA Canadian Tour in addition to attending qualifying schools for the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour. Following his time as a professional golfer, Barrett began teaching golf at Mississippi State University, where he worked closely with members of the men’s and women’s college teams on course management and swing technique. He joined CordeValle in 2021, after his work as a Master Club fitter at Parsons Xtreme Golf. Before his promotion, Barrett was the first assistant golf professional at CordeValle, supporting the head golf professional and GM with reporting and budgeting and provided counsel on merchandise buying plans for the pro shop while supporting golf instruction and programming.
Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort
Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Mirabar Beach, Fla., has appointed Laurie Frank as the property’s new executive director of sales. Frank will lead both the Sandestin and Hotel Effie group sales departments, overseeing both the group sales and conference services teams.
Most recently, Frank was the director of sales and marketing of the Hilton New Orleans St. Charles Avenue. Her background also includes time spent in task force and transitions with KD Solutions, Destination Hotels & Resorts, Melrose Hotel Company, The Doubletree Hotel, The Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton Premiere and the Royal Sonesta Hotel.
Kimpton Sylvan Hotel
The Kimpton Sylvan Hotel, an adaptive reuse boutique hotel in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, has hired Anika Glenn as its new director of sales and marketing. Glenn brings more than 15 years of industry experience to the Sylvan, most recently as the director of sales and marketing for the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Perimeter at Villa Christina.
Before her time at the Hyatt Regency, Glenn was director of sales and marketing at The American Hotel Atlanta Downtown, a Doubletree by Hilton.
The Hamilton Alpharetta
The Hamilton Alpharetta (Ga.), Curio Collection by Hilton has tapped Saleh Akley as the property’s new director of sales and marketing. With more than 20 years of experience in hospitality, Saleh will oversee all sales and marketing initiatives for the hotel and its on-site indoor and outdoor restaurant, Carrie’s Conservatory.
Originally from Dubai, Saleh started his trajectory in sales at The Westin Perimeter North in Atlanta in 2013. Before his role as corporate sales manager, he worked within various departments at lifestyle properties, including food-and-beverage and operations.
Before joining The Hamilton, Saleh was an area director of sales with Aimbridge Hospitality, overseeing revenue at two Hyatt Place hotels. In 2018, he helped open the Courtyard Atlanta Alpharetta Avalon, serving as director of sales until 2021.