Hotel executive moves: Choice, Eight Form, Marriott, PM Hotel Group

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

New exec at B&B. Paris-based B&B Hotels’ Central & Northern Europe division has appointed Deniel Frey as chief commercial officer. Frey has over 18 years of leadership experience at hotel groups, including Axiom Hospitality and H-Hotels, and brings expertise in revenue strategy and data-driven decision-making.

Cain hires former Six Senses CEO. London-based Cain International has appointed Neil Jacobs as a consultant to support the growth of its luxury investment platform and provide advice across Cain’s hotels and luxury assets. Cain’s portfolio includes assets in Miami, New York City, London, Beverly Hills, and Courchevel 1850. The firm has held partnerships and investments with Aman, Delano, Raffles, Six Senses, Soho House, and Rosewood Hotel Group. Jacobs recently launched Wild Origins, a full-service creative advisory collective, following a 13-year tenure as CEO of Six Senses.

Choice names new CCO. Choice Hotels International has appointed Joshua Sloser as chief commercial officer, effective immediately. Sloser brings more than two decades of leadership experience to Choice Hotels, spanning a career in the hospitality, restaurant, and travel industries. Most recently, he served as global senior vice president, customer and commercial innovation at McDonald’s. He has also held several leadership positions for airline and travel companies, including America West Airlines, Cendant, Ciber Consulting and Travelocity.

Eight Form hires Demuth. Santa Monica-based Eight Form has hired Zach Demuth as head of strategic growth and asset management. Demuth joins Eight Form from JLL, where he served as global head of hotels research, advising many of the world’s largest hotel investors on strategic capital allocation. Previously, he spent over a decade with Marriott International, specifically in revenue management for the enterprise’s luxury brands.

New exec at Extreme. Scranton, Pennsylvania-based Extreme Hospitality has appointed Analia Bobadilla as corporate director, accounting. For more than a decade, she has managed financial operations for multi-unit hotel and restaurant groups, overseeing profit and loss reviews, budgeting, forecasting, cash management and capital expenditure processes across diverse hospitality brands.

G6 names new franchise leadership. Dallas-based G6 Hospitality, the parent company of Motel 6 and Studio 6, is adding new team members to its franchise development team: Gregory Jones, Jay Vekaria, Swaraj Gaikwad and Sachin Sachdeva. Sachdeva is responsible for driving franchise growth across the Midwest region and earlier led business development for Oyo across the U.S. and Canada. He has previously spearheaded Oyo’s growth as country revenue head in Indonesia and Malaysia. Vekaria is responsible for growing G6 brands in the Northeast region. Before joining G6 Hospitality, Vekaria worked across the hospitality, fintech, and private equity sectors. Jones leads the Western region and brings over two decades of experience in hospitality leadership, having managed operations, revenue growth and franchise development across multiple hotel groups in the U.S. Gaikwad leads New Mexico and South Texas. Before G6 Hospitality, Swaraj led business operations and growth at Oyo U.S. 

Marriott names new South Asia exec. Marriott International has appointed Kiran Andicot as senior vice president, to lead its South Asia region. He has nearly 30 years of experience leading teams across various hospitality disciplines in India and South Asia, encompassing hotel operations, consultancy, planning and feasibility, as well as development. He joined Marriott’s development and feasibility team in 2006, rising through the ranks over his 19-year tenure. In his role leading development in South Asia, Kiran has been instrumental in delivering growth momentum in India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, signing more than 220 hotels for the region.

MGM COO retiring. Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International announced that COO Corey Sanders will retire from the company after more than 30 years. Sanders has agreed to remain COO through the end of 2025 and will serve as an advisor to the president and CEO through the end of 2026. MGM said it intends to name a new COO later this month. Before serving as COO, Sanders held the positions of CFO and treasurer for the company.

PM names new SVP of development. Chevy Chase, Maryland-based PM Hotel Group has appointed Evan Morick as senior vice president of development. He has over 20 years of experience in hotel development, acquisitions, and asset management, and most recently advised Douglas Development Corp., where he oversaw asset management for a multi-hotel portfolio and supported the company’s hotel investment strategies. Before his advisory role, Morick worked at Procaccianti Companies, Kokua Hospitality, Rim Hospitality, Hilton, and MeriStar Hospitality Corp.

Remington grows CALA leadership. Remington Hospitality made two leadership appointments to support the strategic growth of its Caribbean and Latin America (CALA) division. Matthew Grauso joins Remington as vice president of Operations – Caribbean, while Benito Benitez has been promoted to vice president of Operations – Latin America. Grauso brings nearly three decades of experience in resort and luxury hotel operations, with 23 years dedicated to Hawaii. Benitez, who has been with Remington since 2019, has supported the company's growth across Mexico and Latin America. The expanded CALA leadership team will oversee hotel operations, supporting owner objectives, and enhance Remington's presence in CALA.

Starwood names SVP of design. Stamford, Connecticut-based Starwood Hotels has appointed Gonzalo Bustamante as senior vice president of design. Bustamante’s experience spans both boutique hotels and global groups. He previously was the executive vice president of design and development at MGM Resorts International, where he oversaw multi-billion-dollar projects across multiple continents. He also worked at Rockwell Group.

Swire names new ops head. Hong Kong-based Swire Hotels, a division of Swire Properties Ltd., has named Mark Passmore as its head of operations. Through his 19-year career with Swire, Passmore has held several leadership roles at the company. Most recently, he served as director of operations for Chinese Mainland.

Waramaug names new VP. Miami-based Waramaug Hospitality has appointed Alec Ulnick as vice president of acquisitions. Ulnick brings more than a decade of experience in hospitality real estate, with a focus on acquisitions and investment management across institutional platforms. Most recently, he worked at Peregrine Hospitality (and its predecessor, KSL Resorts), where he was involved in acquisitions and portfolio strategy. Earlier in his career, he held roles at Hotel Asset Value Enhancement (HotelAVE).

White Lodging names regional VP. Merrillville, Indiana-based White Lodging said Jason Druso has rejoined the company as its newest regional vice president. He worked for White Lodging from 2015 until early 2025. His most recent role at White Lodging was as vice president of food & beverage, and before that, he served as vice president of restaurants. Before joining White Lodging, Druso worked for Winegardner & Hammons and held management positions at some of the largest and most successful steakhouses in the country.