A number of hotels and resorts across the country (and beyond) have named new GMs in the past few weeks. Here are a few names to remember.
Delta by Marriott Virginia Beach Waterfront
Crescent Hotels & Resorts appointed Neville Erasmus as general manager of the 295-room, all-suite Delta by Marriott Virginia Beach (Va.) Waterfront.
Erasmus most recently was the general manager of the Renaissance Asheville Downtown Hotel. He was also general manager of Atlanta's Château Elan Winery & Resort, where he oversaw a $25 million renovation. Erasmus has held positions across Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and the United States, including managerial roles at the Warwick Hotel in Denver and the Liberty Hotel in Boston.
The Georgian Hotel
The Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif.; appointed Bre Smith the new GM. The new position follows the restoration and re-opening of the oceanfront property in April, where Smith first joined the team as Director of Operations.
Smith joined the 84-key property with more than 15 years of experience in hospitality and management. Her hospitality journey began in 2004 while attending Loyola Marymount University. She started at The Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey, Calif., and then worked across properties spanning Palm Beach, Fla.; Las Vegas; Boston; San Francisco; Abu Dhabi; Maui, Hawaii; Los Angeles; and Puerto Rico. She was director of restaurants at the Beverly Hilton in California, the director of guest relations at the Ambassador Chicago, director of hotel operations at the Hollywood Roosevelt; and later the corporate director of guest services at Triumph Hotels in New York. Most recently, Smith was the director of food and beverage at Soho House Chicago.
Hilton Los Cabos
Hilton Los Cabos, Mexico, appointed Raul Aguilera as the resort’s new general manager. An industry veteran with more than two decades of experience, Aguilera joins Hilton Los Cabos from Hilton Tampa (Fla.) Downtown and Embassy Suites Downtown where he was complex general manager.
Before joining Hilton Los Cabos and his former position in Tampa, Aguilera was general manager of Hilton Miami Airport and oversaw a $6 million property renovation for the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Va.
Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Shaun Robinson is the new general manager at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront. He joins the hotel from the Hilton Anaheim where he oversaw more than 1,000 team members as general manager, a position he held since 2011.
Throughout his tenure with Hilton, Robinson has held a number of leadership roles including general manager at several Hilton Hotels & Resorts properties including the Hilton Anaheim, Calif.; Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa, Calif.; Doubletree by Hilton San Diego/Del Mar; and the Hilton Scottsdale (Ariz.) Resort & Villas. He’s also held a variety of other executive leadership roles from resident manager to director of catering in hotels across San Diego, Irvine, Minneapolis and Beverly Hills. While at Hilton Anaheim, he oversaw a $100 million renovation project.
Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront
Jeff Thompson is the new GM of the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville (Fla.) Riverfront. In his role, he will oversee the 951-room hotel, with 116,000 square feet of function space, three on-site restaurants, a to-go market and pool bar.
With more than 18 years of experience working in the hospitality industry, Thompson has worked at hotels around the country including Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe, Nev.; Hyatt Regency Chicago; Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago; and Hyatt Regency Indianapolis. His most recent position was GM of Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach, Fla.
The InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta
The InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta appointed George Terpilowski as GM. In his new role, Terpilowski will oversee all aspects of the 422-room property.
Terpilowski started his career at Grand Heritage Hotels, managing The Brazilian Court in Palm Beach, Fla.; The Union Station Hotel in Nashville.; and The Clift in San Francisco. From there, he was appointed GM of the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Va. After joining Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in 2002, he held several leadership roles including GM of the Fairmont in Washington, D.C., and managing director of The Fairmont Southampton in Bermuda with regional oversight of the Hamilton Princess, Fairmont Royal Pavilion in Barbados and the Fairmont Mayakoba in Mexico. He most recently worked at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston where he also had regional oversight of Raffles Boston and The Plaza Hotel and Sofitel in New York and Sofitel Philadelphia at Rittenhouse Square.
Le Meridien St. Louis Clayton
Matt Korsos is the new general manager at the Le Meridien St. Louis Clayton. Korsos has more than 20 years of hospitality leadership experience at hotels like at Magnolia Hotel (CoralTree Hospitality) in St. Louis and Hancock Hotel (First Hospitality Group) in Findlay, Ohio.
Originally from San Antonio, Korsos started his hospitality career as a bellman in 1998 and worked his way up over the last 20 years from a bellman to room operations, housekeeping, food and beverage, sales and finally general manager. Korsos started his general manager career in 2016 at Hotel Deco XV (Aparium Hotel Group) in Omaha, Neb., where he helped to increase room revenues by $300,000 over the previous year and cut labor expenses by a third. In his most recent role at Magnolia Hotel in St. Louis, he helped to move its Tripadvisor rating to #5 in the market and built budget to exceed 2019 topline revenues.
The Memphian
The Memphian, the only hotel in Memphis, Tenn.’s Overton Square, appointed Bobbie Peppers as the new GM. In her new role, Peppers is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations for the 106-room boutique property and is instrumental in the management of the hotel’s two onsite restaurants Tiger & Peacock and Complicated Pilgrim.
Peppers brings nearly two decades of hospitality experience to The Memphian, including time as senior sales manager at Sheraton Music City Hotel in Nashville; associate director of sales at Omni Hotel & Resorts in Louisville, Ky.; director of sales at Hu Hotel & Aparium in Memphis; and most recently, director of sales at The Memphian.
Montage Laguna Beach
The flagship Montage Hotels & Resorts property, Montage Laguna Beach, named Anne Marie Doyle as hotel manager. A resort team member since 2018, Doyle will return to operations after nearly two decades in sales and marketing positions in the U.S. and Ireland. Before transitioning into sales and marketing roles, Doyle held several operational positions in Ireland and England and brings thirty years of industry experience to her appointment as hotel manager. In her new role, she will lead day-to-day operations of the oceanfront resort, including oversight of rooms, food & beverage, spa and security.
Doyle initially joined Montage Laguna Beach in 2018 as director of sales and marketing and assisted in operations of the resort between general managers during the toughest challenges of the pandemic. She arrived at the flagship Montage property from The Ritz-Carlton, Bacara, Santa Barbara, Calif., where she was director of sales and marketing and helped transition the former Bacara Resort into a Ritz-Carlton. Doyle was the director of sales and marketing for many luxury properties on both sides of the Atlantic, including The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage, Calif., and properties in Ireland and England including The Ritz-Carlton, Powerscourt in County Wicklow; Fitzpatrick Lifestyle Hotels in Dublin; The Shelbourne Dublin, A Renaissance Hotel; and Marriott Druids Glen Resort in Newton Mount Kennedy. She also was special events manager at Cliveden House, A National Trust Hotel Taplow, Berkshire, England, and held positions with Conrad International and Copthorne Hotels.
Thompson Palm Springs
Thompson Palm Springs, set to open in California later this year, will be guided by Jeffrey Miller as the hotel’s debut GM.
Bringing nearly two decades of industry experience to his role, Miller was general manager for the Andaz Scottsdale (Ariz.) Resort & Bungalows where he spent three years curating wellness and creative experiences, refining the culinary offerings and driving awareness in the local, regional and national markets.