A number of national and international hotel companies have named new executives in recent weeks. Here are some names to know at a range of businesses driving the hospitality industry.
Hilton
Hilton has named Katherine Lugar EVP of corporate affairs, starting in April. She most recently was CEO of the American Beverage Association. Before that, she was the president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association.
Hilton's corporate affairs department includes the communications, government affairs and Environmental, Social and Governance functions globally for the company. Lugar will report to Christopher J. Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton, and serve as a member of the executive committee.
In addition to her roles at the ABA and AHLA, Lugar was EVP of public affairs at the Retail Industry Leaders Association. Before RILA, Lugar led government relations for Travelers Insurance, was VP of legislative and political affairs at the National Retail Federation and worked on Capitol Hill. She currently serves on the boards of the Bipartisan Policy Center, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and So Others Might Eat.
Graduate Hotels
Graduate Hotels has appointed Andrea Melotti the brand’s EVP of operations. Melotti will drive strategic support across Graduate Hotels’ more than 30 hotels in the U.S. and U.K.
Most recently, Melotti was VP of hotel and casino operations at Hard Rock International, where he spent 18 years playing an integral role in the brand’s growth and expansion from six to 42 hotels and resorts.
Before joining Hard Rock, Melotti spent several years growing through the management ranks at the InterContinental London Park Lane and the InterContinental Carlton Cannes. He moved to Miami Beach in 2000, working as managing director overseeing The Sagamore Hotel South Beach and The Raleigh Miami Beach. Both properties played a substantial role in the solidification of South Beach as an international travel destination.
My Place
My Place Hotels of America has added Jeff Thomas as VP of marketing and Bruce Sneller as VP of leadership development to its executive team. The hires are part of a bid to bolster its support for its franchisees through additional investments in traditional, digital and social marketing efforts as well as leadership development at the property level. Both executives report directly to Matthew Campbell, COO and chief legal officer of My Place Hotels.
Thomas has more than 20 years of experience in hospitality marketing, having led teams at Radisson Hotel Group and G6 Hospitality. In his new role, he oversees My Place Hotels’ marketing team and drives company performance through the strategic planning and execution of all branded marketing initiatives. Some of his responsibilities include developing and implementing digital marketing strategies to increase brand awareness and drive customer acquisition and retention, leading and mentoring the digital marketing team, and managing and optimizing the company's marketing partners. Sneller oversees a team tasked with developing training and programming for My Place Hotels’ Quality Assurance Program and My Place University.
Atrium Hospitality
Michael Panzer has joined hotel operator Atrium Hospitality as SVP of capital investment strategies. In his new role, Panzer will oversee the development of Atrium Hospitality’s design and project management strategies to facilitate the company’s capital investment objectives. He also will oversee the capital planning function and facilities management of all properties managed by the company and affiliates.
Panzer brings more than 15 years of international management experience spanning the hospitality, entertainment and retail industries to his new role. Before joining Atrium, he was VP of design and construction at G6 Hospitality, where he oversaw end-to-end operations for project management and brand standards of more than 400 owned and more than 1,110 franchised properties.
Raines
Hotel development, management, and investment company Raines has named Brittney Jones vice president of strategic partnerships. She’s responsible for executing a strategy to support the overall vision of Raines and playing an active role in driving the company's growth.
With Raines for nearly a decade, Jones most recently was the company’s first-ever VP of sales, marketing and revenue management where she generated new sales opportunities by developing and maintaining relationships in local communities and the hospitality industry. She added revenue management to her responsibilities in 2020 after taking on sales onboarding and support of new and existing hotels as the company’s sales director in 2019. She began her hospitality career with Raines in February 2015 as the sales director of Hotel Florence in Florence, S.C.
HREC
Hotel real estate advisory firm HREC Investment Advisors named Chris Stein SVP. Based in the company’s Denver office, Stein will be specializing in hotel property and mortgage brokerage.
Over the past 10 years, Stein has spearheaded the purchase, sale and evaluation of more than $4 billion in institutional lodging assets throughout North America. Stein graduated from the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, moving into operations at the Venetian Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. He transitioned from operations to real estate, joining HREC’s consulting division in 2001, and was with the firm when it launched its brokerage and investment banking group. In 2012, he joined Highgate Hotels as VP of acquisitions & development and spent the last seven years as a VP in a variety of roles with Stonebridge Companies, including acquisitions, business development and asset management.
Kolter Hospitality
Hotel management, development and acquisitions company Kolter Hospitality has hired Sara Martinez as VP of sales and marketing. Martinez will oversee top-line revenue, leading and advancing commercial initiatives and strategy for Kolter Hospitality’s portfolio.
Martinez has more than 20 years of industry experience in operations and sales leadership with managed, owner-operator and third-party management companies across the Midwest, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Before joining Kolter Hospitality, Martinez held senior roles as corporate director of sales training and development, regional VP and VP of sales.
Maybourne Hotel Group
Maybourne Hotel Group—operator of Claridge’s, The Connaught and The Berkeley in London as well as The Maybourne Beverly Hills (Calif.) and The Maybourne Riviera (France)—named Roland Fasel COO as of April. In his new role, Fasel will be responsible for the commercial success and quality of the current portfolio of hotels and will help to spearhead a program of international expansion.
Fasel has almost 30 years of global experience within the hospitality industry. His most recent role was with the Aman Collection, where he was COO for the past six years, and before that, an eight-year tenure at The Dorchester Collection, where he was both GM of The Dorchester as well as regional director for The Dorchester Collection, overseeing new openings and development of the brand.
Mission Hill Hospitality
Mission Hill Hospitality, a select-service and extended-stay hotel investor, named Catherine Hance the company’s new general counsel. Hance joins Mission Hill from Denver-based Davis Graham & Stubbs, where she was a partner in the firm’s real estate group for more than 20 years. Her practice covered all areas of real estate transactions, including real property acquisition and disposition, development, leasing, financing, land use development and zoning as well as formation of entities for real estate development and investment, with a focus on hospitality-related transactions. She was named a partner in the firm after serving as an associate for four years. She began her legal career at Frascona Joiner & Goodman in Boulder, Colo.
Hance is a member of the American, Colorado, Denver and Colorado Women’s bar associations. She is a past chair of the Colorado Bar Association’s Real Estate Section Council and currently serves on the Colorado Bar Association’s Title Standards Committee. She is a current member of the board of trustees of Mile High United Way, having served as chair of the board from 2020-2022.
Valor Hospitality Partners
Valor Hospitality Partners appointed Steve Cesinger chief capital officer as well as Brandon Hatfield chief investment officer and global principal.
Cesinger will continue to build and nurture Valor’s strategic relationships across the world and develop further opportunities for its capital partners.
Hatfield will focus on leading a Global Underwriting platform. He will also establish a team responsible for assisting global co-founder and CEO Euan McGlashan to double the size of Valor’s portfolio around in the world in the next three to five years.
Highside Companies
Highside Companies, a Colorado-based real estate company, has recently added a number of new hires including Brent Gray as VP - controller, Patrick Tyson as VP - investments and Matt Shannon as VP - development.
His past experience includes joint venture controller for Atlas Real Estate, where he managed all aspects of accounting and finance and controller and CFO at Northstar Commercial Partners.
Tyson will have oversight of day-to-day real estate deal execution and ownership of each project’s profit and loss as well as asset management. Before joining Highside, Tyson was a senior associate for Ascentris, a Denver-based real estate private equity firm.
Shannon will be responsible for the management of ground-up new development including project feasibility, due diligence, entitlements, budgeting, scheduling, design and construction team coordination. Before joining Highside, Shannon was a construction and development executive at Westfield Company.