Here’s
a roundup of the top hotel executive moves of the past week.
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.