Hotel executive moves: Atrium, First Hospitality, RLJ, Schulte

Here is a compilation of the most important executive moves of the past week in the hotel investment world, alphabetically (by company):

ActivumSG names exec. St. Helier, U.K.-based ActivumSG has hired Adam Tutka as director within its global client solutions and capital formation team. Tutka brings over 14 years of real estate experience within the fund management and private equity space. During this time, he helped amass and manage over £5 billion of AUM for a diverse mix of global institutional investors. Before joining ActivumSG, Tutka served as a senior director at Greystar, and most recently, he was the director of capital markets at Thriving Investments.

New Atrium CEO. Alpharetta, Georgia-based Atrium Hospitality has announced several senior leadership promotions. Rob Mangiarelli has been promoted to CEO after serving as president. A founding executive committee member at Atrium Hospitality, Kimberly Furlong has been promoted from chief commercial officer to president. In her expanded role, she will oversee both the commercial and operations teams. Lars Schrader, who began his Atrium Hospitality career as a general manager in 2019 and was promoted to vice president of operations in 2022, has been elevated to senior vice president of operations. Atrium also announced that General Counsel Seth Ruzi will retire at the end of 2025 after more than three decades in the hospitality industry. He will consult on special projects.

New exec at Castle Peak. New York City-based Castle Peak Holdings has appointed David Goldstein as managing director of strategic operations. Goldstein brings over two decades of executive experience in hospitality operations, asset management, and private equity-backed platform oversight. Most recently, he served as head of North America hospitality on the strategic operations team at KSL Capital Partners. He has also served on the board of directors at several hospitality development companies, including Davidson Hospitality Group, Outrigger Hospitality Group, Tortuga Resorts and Hersha Hospitality Trust.

EasyHotel names new exec. Madrid-based easyHotel has appointed Guillermo Burgers Díaz as its first operations director for Spain. Díaz joins easyHotel with over 20 years of experience in hotel operations, real estate asset management and team leadership. He has held senior roles with Hilton, Conrad, AC Marriott and Steigenberger, gaining further expertise in consulting and real estate through positions at Deloitte, HomeSelect and Azora.

New exec at First Hospitality. Chicago-based First Hospitality has appointed Kathleen Hollis as chief growth officer. Hollis joins First Hospitality from Evolution Hospitality, the lifestyle division of Aimbridge Hospitality, where she served various roles since 2014, most recently as the senior vice president of business development.

Global Asset Solutions names CCO. Global Asset Solutions has named Leanne Reddie chief commercial officer in its Singapore office. Previously CCO at Chedi Hospitality, Reddie has 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry, including senior roles with Emirates Airlines, Jumeirah Group, and Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. Her experience spans Europe, the Middle East, Africa, China and Asia Pacific.

Kasa names CCO. San Francisco-based Kasa has appointed Kelly McGuire as its new chief commercial officer. She brings more than two decades of leadership experience in revenue strategy, analytics, and commercial transformation. Most recently, she served as managing principal, hospitality at ZS. She also worked at MGM Resorts International and Wyndham Worldwide.

New execs at L+R. London-based L+R Hotels has hired Amrita Makkar as director of commercial strategy and Philip D’Antoni as director of sales, North America, strengthening the group’s global commercial leadership. Makkar has worked at Principal, Standard and Virgin Hotels, while New York–based D’Antoni has 20-plus years in luxury hospitality, including Edition Hotels and RB Capital.

MGM names C-suite execs. Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International has appointed Ayesha Molino as COO and Gary Fritz as chief commercial officer and president of MGM Digital. Fritz will assume his new role immediately, while Molino’s appointment is effective January 1, 2026. Molino will replace current COO Corey Sanders, who the company previously announced plans to retire on December 31 after more than 30 years of service. Molino is currently president and COO of ARIA and Vdara. She is also the company’s chief public affairs officer. Molino joined MGM Resorts in January 2017 from the U.S. Senate, where she served as first counsel and later chief counsel to former Senate Majority and Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). Fritz is currently president of MGM Resorts International Interactive and is also a member of the Board of Directors for BetMGM and LeoVegas. He has led multi-national companies on global strategy and expansion plans, including Expedia and McKinsey & Company. 

New CFO for RLJ. Bethesda, Maryland-based RLJ Lodging Trust has named Nikhil Bhalla as CFO, effective immediately. Since joining the company in 2015, Bhalla has held a variety of leadership positions, most recently serving as senior vice president of finance and treasurer. Before joining RLJ, Bhalla served as vice president of equity research at FBR Capital Markets & Co. and also worked at Host Hotels & Resorts and CB Richard Ellis.

Schulte names CFO. Louisville, Kentucky-based Schulte Hospitality Group (SHG) has named Brian Fitzgerald its CFO. Fitzgerald brings more than 30 years of financial leadership to SHG, including 22 years with Brown-Forman Corp., where he held senior finance roles, including chief accounting officer and treasurer.  

Starwood names new VP. Stamford, Connecticut-based Starwood Hotels has named Stéphanie Segaux as vice president, development – EMEA. With over 12 years of luxury hospitality development experience, she will lead expansion initiatives across Europe and the Middle East. Her international experience spans multiple markets.