Southern hotels make management moves

Hotels in a number of Southern cities have named new general managers, operations managers and directors of sales and marketing.

Aloft Asheville Downtown

McKibbon Hospitality appointed Brandon Miller general manager of Aloft Asheville (N.C.) Downtown. Most recently, Miller served as GM of McKibbon’s Aloft Tallahassee (Fla.) Downtown. That was preceded by a two-year stint as operations manager. Before his time at Aloft Tallahassee, Miller spent 11 years at the Nashville Airport Marriott filling a variety of positions, including front-office manager and senior room operations manager.

Hyatt Place and Hyatt House

HRI Lodging announced the appointment of Patrick J. Sorge as GM and Arsen Khodosov as director of sales and marketing for the first dual-branded Hyatt Place and Hyatt House in Tampa, opening early 2021.

Sorge joins HRI Lodging from Hyatt Hotels Corp., where he most recently served as regional VP of sales and marketing and regional director of field marketing, Northeast/Mid-Atlantic for a combined 12 years. Previously, he served as director of sales and marketing at several Hyatt-branded properties including the Hyatt Regency Boston, Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh International Airport and Hyatt Regency Buffalo.  

Khodosov brings more than 10 years in the hospitality industry. He previously served as task force director of sales with Crescent Hotels & Resorts. Other positions include regional director of sales and marketing with Chesapeake Hospitality, director of sales and marketing with Westmont Hospitality Group, and leadership roles with McKibbon Hotel Management.

JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District

The Kessler Collection introduced Mark Castriota as the new managing director of JW Marriott Savannah (Ga.) Plant Riverside District. He has more than 21 years of experience in the hospitality industry, starting his career with Marriott Interntional. His most recent position was managing director for the Hard Rock Hotel in Universal’s Orlando Resort. 

Mansion on Forsyth Park 

Mansion on Forsyth Park in Savannah, Ga., appointed Kathryn Day general manager. Day was part of the hotel’s opening team in 2005. She brings more than 16 years of experience in the hospitality sector, having most recently worked at Hilton Atlanta as the general manager. 

Hyatt Centric Beale Street Memphis

Sarah Titus has been appointed general manager of the Hyatt Centric Beale Street Memphis (Tenn.) and Nicholas Janysek has been named director of sales, marketing and events.

Titus has more than 15 years of industry experience, having held various front-of-house, back-of-house and managerial positions. She began her hospitality career at the Hard Rock Hotel Universal Orlando, where she worked her way up from a front-desk agent to assistant guest services manager. She then moved to the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago and worked with Marriott, Hilton and Preferred Hotel Group. Most recently, she was the hotel manager of the Chicago Association Hotel by Hyatt.

Janysek began his hospitality career in 2007 as an event coordinator at Doubletree Guest Suites Austin (Texas) before working with various Marriott, Embassy Suites and Renaissance hotels in Houston and San Marcos, Texas. Since then, he has held managerial positions at two Hyatt hotels in Ohio and Maryland. Most recently, he was director of sales, marketing and events at Hyatt Regency Cleveland at the Arcade.

Kimpton Banneker  Hotel

The upcoming Kimpton Banneker Hotel in Washington, D.C., which is managed by Valor Hospitality Partners, appointed Raeshawna Scott general manager and Dennis Hernandez director of sales and marketing.

Scott brings 18 years of hospitality experience to her position. She has been with Kimpton Hotels for 10 years and has held various leadership roles, including director of housekeeping, front-office manager, assistant general manager and general manager, becoming part of the Valor Hospitality Partners team in September 2019.     

Hernandez brings 30 years of experience to the property. Before joining The Banneker, he worked with a wide range of global brands including Viacom/MTV, Ace Hotel Group, Cvent and Hilton Hotels. 

Wild Dunes Resort

Wild Dunes Resort, a Destination Hotel in Charleston, S.C., named John D’Angelo director of resort operations. D’Angelo previously served as the opening general manager for Grand Hyatt Nashville. Before that, D’Angelo was the opening resort manager at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar and helped to open both the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center and the Hyatt Regency Trinidad. He also served on the executive committees of Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, Hyatt Regency Bellevue on Seattle's Eastside and Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort and Spa in Florida.

The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach in Miami has a new general manager. Photo credit: The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach

The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach and the Ritz-Carlton, Bal Harbour

Jacqueline Volkart has been appointed dual general manager at The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach and the Ritz-Carlton, Bal Harbour, both in Miami. Most recently, she served as general manager at The St. Regis San Francisco. Volkart joined Marriott International in 1990 as the director of catering and conference services at Casa Magna Resort in Cancun. She then joined The Ritz-Carlton, Cancun as director of meetings and special events. From there, she went on to serve in hotel and general manager roles at The Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne, The Ritz Carlton, Battery Park, The Ritz-Carlton, Coconut Grove and The Ritz-Carlton, San Juan.  

The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale

The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) named Bosther Kusich GM. Kusich has been the property’s interim GM for the past six months after being director of operations for four years. Before joining The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale, Kusich held numerous senior leadership positions in operations at Marriott International. He began his career at the Aruba Marriott & Stellaris Casino and eventually transitioned to the U.S., where he assumed operational responsibilities in several properties, including the Doral Golf Resort & Spa, and Ritz-Carlton properties in Florida, Hawaii and Phoenix.

The Seagate 

The Seagate in Delray Beach, Fla., promoted Karl Bublitz to executive director of The Seagate and hired Koji Akaboshi as GM and Jessica Gonzalez as director of marketing of The Seagate Hotel & Spa. 

Bublitz, who has served as GM of The Seagate Country Club, The Seagate Beach Club and The Seagate Residences, now is executive director of The Seagate, encompassing the Hotel & Spa, Beach Club, Country Club and Yacht Club. H

Akaboshi is responsible for overseeing the overall operation of The Seagate Hotel & Spa. Akaboshi is fluent in English, Spanish, and Japanese. He holds a bachelor of science degree in hotel and restaurant management from the University of Denver and a master’s degree in hospitality management from Florida International University.

Gonzalez most recently worked as corporate communications manager for Hilton Worldwide in the Caribbean and Latin American region.  

Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village 

The Westin Cape Coral (Fla.) Resort at Marina Village appointed Marwan Haddad director of hotel sales. Haddad brings nearly two decades of global sales and marketing-related experience to his new role, with the majority of his career spent with Marriott International. Before joining The Westin Cape Coral Resort, Haddad served as sales leader of the International, Airlines, Tour & Travel U.S. Account Sales Organization for Marriott.

Lake Nona Wave Hotel

Suzie Yang has been hired as the general manager of the new Lake Nona Wave Hotel in Orlando. Yang brings nearly three decades of hospitality management and leadership to her role. She rejoins the CoralTree team after overseeing the asset management for six hotels in Arizona, California and Washington, D.C. Before her role as an asset manager, Yang was the area general manager of several CoralTree properties in the San Francisco Bay area, including Galleria Park and Hotel Del Sol.

Kinley Chattanooga Southside

Vision Hospitality Group named Michael DiMaria GM of the upcoming Kinley Chattanooga (Tenn.) Southside. With a decade of hospitality experience, DiMaria most recently served as general manager of Vision Hospitality Group’s TownePlace Suites and Residence Inn by Marriott in Nashville. Before joining Vision Hospitality Group in 2017, he held several different roles throughout the industry.