Urgo Hotels and Resorts assumed management of Hotel Indigo Pittsburgh East Liberty, a restored boutique hotel in the heart of the city’s historic East Liberty neighborhood. As part of the management change, James B. Rizzo now joins the hotel as GM.
The Hotel Indigo has 135 guestrooms with spa-inspired baths; a stylish American tavern, Wallace’s TapRoom, including a seasonal, locally-sourced menu and Prohibition-era design influences; 2,240 square feet of meeting space for events of up to 100 attendees; and a 24-hour fitness center. Its East Liberty locale is five miles from downtown and just minutes from major corporations cultural attractions like the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History and a wealth of restaurants, boutiques and theaters. In June 2014, USA Today named East Liberty one of America’s 10 best up and coming neighborhoods.
“Hotel Indigo Pittsburgh East Liberty is an exciting addition to our management portfolio,” Donald J. Urgo, president and CEO of Urgo Hotels and Resorts, said in a statement. “It introduces the Intercontinental Hotels Group’s rapidly growing Hotel Indigo brand to the Urgo family while strengthening our presence in one of the nation’s most vital, resurgent cities.”
James Rizzo brings 14 years of hotel management experience to his new role as GM of the Hotel Indigo. He was previously GM of another Urgo-managed hotel, the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Washington, D.C. Downtown. He was recognized by Urgo in 2016 with a Top 3 Operations Award. For three years prior, he was director of sales and marketing with the opening team of the Hilton Garden Inn U.S. Capitol.
Rizzo served with Marriott International from 2003 to 2010, most recently as assistant GM of the Courtyard Washington, D.C./U.S. Capitol. Before that, he was a group strategy manager overseeing group room and catering operations for a portfolio of four full-service Marriott hotels in Northern Virginia. He launched his career with Marriott at the Residence Inn Philadelphia – Center City, where he rose to senior sales manager before taking on the position of director of sales at the Residence Inn Alexandria – Old Town. Rizzo earned a wealth of awards during his Marriott years, including the prestigious Chairman’s Circle Golden Circle Award in 2004 and 2005.