The Duke Hotel Newport Beach (Calif.) appointed Brian Keys to GM, Lynne Difrancesco to director of sales and marketing and Michelle Norville as director of revenue management. The team brings extensive professional experience and relationships in the Newport Beach area to the hotel, which will be rebranded as the Renaissance Newport Beach in 2018.
Keys joins the hotel with more than 20 years of hospitality experience, having worked in hotel management at a number of prominent Southern California properties, including Beverly Hills Marriott, Crowne Plaza Beverly Hills and Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa.
Difrancesco comes to The Duke Hotel Newport Beach with a hospitality background in strategic, financial and operational management. Previously, Difrancesco held positions with Remington Hotels in Orange County and Marriott International. She has also been a community advocate, helping raise funds for multiple Orange County causes and nonprofits including Talk About Curing Autism, Children’s Miracle Network and Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
Norville’s hospitality work experience in the Orange County market includes holding a variety of leadership roles for Interstate Hotels & Resorts, in addition to being the director of revenue management for Westin Long Beach and Travel Holdings. She’s been instrumental in developing and implementing pricing strategies that have maximized profits, and is an expert in team building, demand analysis, report development and yield management.
The Duke Hotel Newport Beach is located in the middle of Orange County, Calif., and is known for its upscale, lifestyle vibe and inviting surrounding. The property consists of 444 guestrooms, and has more than 35,000 square feet of both indoor and outdoor function space. The meeting and event spaces include two large ballrooms, 13-20 breakouts of varying sizes, four outdoor dining areas, including a roof top pool deck, a water feature and a fire pit.