HOTELAVE - Key Persons
Education
Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Admin, Real Estate Minor, Development Concentration
Adam has more than 5 years of experience involving hotel and aviation operations, as well as real estate development, asset management, and analytics. As an analyst, Adam is a member of our Advisory & Acquisitions team supporting owners, investors and lenders, providing tailored solutions and detailed analysis for a variety of hospitality and real estate equity and debt investment decisions.
Prior to joining hotelAVE, Adam was a Strategy, Planning & Analytics intern with Beam Living, Blackstone's New York City Multifamily portfolio, providing asset management support to the largest apartment complex in the United States. He also held internship roles in real estate development and operations with Blade Urban Air Mobility and a boutique hotel in Mystic Connecticut.
Education
Bachelor of Science, Hotel Administration, Cornell University; Minors in Real Estate, History, Asian Studies, and Africana Studies
Alex has 4 years of experience across the hospitality industry. At hotelAVE, Alex's responsibilities include underwriting hotel acquisitions, financial model development, benchmarking analysis, and assisting the asset management team.
Prior to joining hotelAVE, Alex had international hospitality experience working for Tatweer Misr, an Egyptian Hospitality Real Estate Development company where he performed financial feasibility analysis.
Alex also has Sales & Marketing experience from his time with the Kigali Marriott International in Rwanda.
Education
Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration, Cornell University
Andre has over 6 years of hospitality experience including operations, finance, feasibility, and analytics. At hotelAVE, Andre's responsibilities include underwriting hotel acquisitions, benchmarking analysis, preparing lender collateral reviews and litigation support advisory services.
Prior to joining hotelAVE, Andre was an analyst at Caesars Entertainment during which he performed financial forecasting, budgeting, statistical and operational analysis of various casino assets across the company's portfolio. Relevant projects while at Caesars Entertainment included creating a dynamic tool that analyzed the regional distribution of Caesar Rewards customers by Reward Credit balances and customer segment to determine hotel promotional strategy; an analysis of future pricing, measuring the impact of changing resort fees on FIT sources for a Laughlin, NV casino; and measured the statistical significance of A/B testing results of various marketing strategies.
Andre also worked at MGM Resorts International and Montage Laguna Beach in the finance departments. While at MGM he audited over 50,000 food & beverage charges daily.
"At hotelAVE, our team provides unique insights and innovative solutions for our client's assets."
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Analyst at Jones Lang LaSalle
Education
Bachelor of Science, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University
Andrés Ramirez has over 6 years of hospitality industry experience domestically and Latin America in operations, finance and acquisitions. As Senior Director of Asset Management, Latin America, Andrés responsibilities include advisory and asset management with a focus on Latin America.
Prior to HotelAVE, Andrés was a Director at Trinity Investments, overseeing Mexico's hotel portfolio. He provided asset management, performed financial models for new hotel acquisitions, and managed relationships between hotel team and financial partners.
As an Analyst at Jones Lang LaSalle, Andrés helped to structure and execute business in the Mexico City office. The scope of his work included creating asset valuations for properties across Mexico, selling assets using discounted cash flow, income capitalization, leveraging IRR, and developing pro forma financial projections and input financial data from P&L statements into valuation models. Previously, Mr. Ramirez was a Revenue Management Analyst for Hilton Villahermosa and Conference Center as well as the Four Seasons Mexico City. His duties included creating budgets and collaborating with the Directors of Revenue Management to optimize income.
Education
Master of Science, Real Estate Development, Columbia University
Bachelor of Science, Management Engineering, Ateneo de Manila University
Baldwin has over 20 years of hotel industry experience including national and international feasibility, development, contract negotiation, strategic planning, marketing, revenue management, and operations. As Senior Director Consulting is a specialist in hotel real estate market analysis, project feasibility/underwriting, and development strategy.
Baldwin has worked in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas, and with multiple lodging categories (luxury, upper-upscale, upscale and midscale).
Baldwin's firm responsibilities include advisory services, including acquisition underwriting, due diligence, lender services, and development of investment strategies for the firm's clients.
Prior to joining hotelAVE, Baldwin was Senior Vice President for Rockwell Land Corporation. He was formerly with Marriott International as the Director of Development & Feasibility. With Marriott, he focused on Brand/HMA Negotiations, Feasibility, Development Planning, Competitive Benchmarking and Product Positioning. Baldwin had also worked as the Corporate Director of Revenue Management for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group where he was responsible pre-opening revenue management for the New York, Washington DC, Prague, and Boston assets.
Education
Bachelor of Science, Hotel Management, Conrad N. Hilton College, University of Houston
Cate also worked as Revenue Specialist at Hilton Worldwide where she managed revenue enhancing strategies and owner relationships for more than 20 select-service Hilton hotels that generated $55M+ in annual revenue.
Education
Bachelor of Science, Business Administration & Finance, University of New Hampshire
Chris has over 15 years of hospitality and asset management experience. As Chief Operating Officer, Chris leads the company's execution of asset management and advisory services, working closely with the teams to exceed our client's expectations. During his extensive career, Chris has managed more than $10 billion of hotel investments including all major brands and many independent hotels, providing operational support/guidance, contract negotiations and direct oversight of more than $50m of annual capex.
Prior to joining HotelAVE, Chris was Senior Vice President of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, where he oversaw portfolio-wide initiatives for a 60+ hotel multi-billion dollar REIT. Chris joined Pebblebrook through the public merger with LaSalle Hotel Properties, where he was Vice President of Asset Management overseeing multiple portfolios covering major markets across the United States. At Pebblebrook, Chris oversaw a team dedicated to portfolio-wide strategies and initiatives, including establishing and leveraging strategic relationships within the industry, negotiating master agreements, contracts and executing multi-million value-enhancing initiatives.
Prior to his work with the publicly traded REITs, Chris worked at a third-party asset management firm overseeing a diverse portfolio including convention hotels, resorts and mixed-use properties for owners ranging from high net worth individuals, private equity to pension funds and municipalities.
Education
Bachelor of Science, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University
Cindy has over 30 years working in hotel real estate covering the full real estate life cycle - from ground-up development, adaptive re-use, acquisition, renovation, asset management and disposition. Cindy has worked on all sides of the business, including for a family office, a major brand company, two owner/operators, a public REIT, an insurance company and an advisory firm. At HotelAVE Cindy will work with her team to develop and implement operational, contractual and capital/ROI strategic initiatives to improve overall asset value as well as work on corporate initiatives for the benefit of our clients.
Prior to joining HotelAVE, Cindy was SVP of Asset Management for Junson Capital, an international family office, responsible for a $1B portfolio of 16 hotels and interim COO at Condor Hospitality Trust where she reported to a board of directors on a 17 hotel portfolio. At both, she developed strategic positioning statements, managed brand, operator and lender relationships, handled all regulatory compliance and oversaw capital planning and renovations.
As a leader on Starwood Hotels & Resorts' real estate team, Cindy was responsible for the development and implementation of strategic plans for the owned real estate portfolio, ranging from select serve, major convention to life-style and luxury hotels. Cindy oversaw the sale of $2B of hotel assets.
üPrior to joining Starwood, Cindy worked for HEI Hotels and Resorts as VP of Asset Management, New Castle Hotels & Resorts as Sr. Director of Development & Acquisitions, AETNA Real Estate Investments and HVS.
Education
Bachelor of Science, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University
Dan has over 30 years of hotel real estate asset management and investment experience. He has created value in many complex assets valued at over $5B. At hotelAVE, Dan is responsible for identifying and executing strategic opportunities for a portfolio of luxury, resort and boutique assets. He is based out of hotelAVE's West Coast office.
Dan joined hotelAVE after founding Clear Sky Hotel Advisors, a consulting firm specializing in hotel asset management, operations consulting, debt placement, and development consulting.
He held the Managing Director & Real Estate Portfolio Manager title at Barings, where he was responsible for setting, executing and achieving investment strategies for all hotel investments of a $1B portfolio of urban & resort hotels. While at Barings, he was very involved in operational asset management as well as negotiated and administered management and franchise agreements, loan amendments renovation and other major agreements.
Dan also held the positions of Senior Vice President or Vice President in asset management with Chartres Lodging, LendLease, Rockbridge Capital, and was a Development Project Manager at Hostmark Hospitality Group.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Asset Management
Education
Bachelor of Arts, Food Service Management, Johnson and Wales University
Associate of Science, Culinary Arts, Johnson and Wales University
David Butler has over 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry with a specific concentration in branded and independent hotels and high-volume food and beverage concepts. David and his team use their expertise to improve operational efficiencies by conducting area-specific analyses and observing how employees conduct their daily activities to improve overall workflow and remove process constraints. This work results in uncovering opportunities focused around reduced overall operational costs, increased ancillary revenues, and improved service. David is responsible for client satisfaction, ensuring execution of projects and enhancing company processes to improve project return to owners.
Before joining Post Script, David operated hundreds of hotels. He was a Vice President of Operations at StepStone Hospitality, where he was responsible for the company's full-service managed hotels and assisted with company F&B projects and initiatives. As VP of Operations at Prism Hotels and Resorts, he supported the hotels with strategic sales and marketing plans, cost containment, and service improvement directives to rapidly improve competitive position in the marketplace. His hotel portfolio included 10 hotels, totaling $100M in annual revenues. Dave's other experiences included Area Director of Operations for Lodgian and numerous general manager positions with Bristol Hotels & Resorts. David has relationships and experience with multiple brands, as well as lifestyle and independent hotels and resorts.
David graduated from Johnson and Wales University with a Bachelor of Science in Restaurant Management and Food Services.
Education
Bachelor of Science, Hotel Administration/Management, Michigan State University
Eliot has more than 7 years of hospitality experience including operations, sales and marketing, revenue management and asset management. As Director of Asset Management, he currently supports branded urban asset assignments in multiple markets. His responsibilities include revenue management and sales strategy, hotel repositioning and redevelopment, and value creation through strategic asset management.
Prior to joining HotelAve, Eliot was Senior Analyst at Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, where he worked on a diverse portfolio including branded and independent urban properties and resorts within the United States.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor - Senior Vice President Sales & Marketing
Felicia Fisher has over 30 years of industry experience and is a member of hotelAVE's team when developing sales and marketing strategies, business assessments and audits, and sales team deployment and goal evaluations. She focuses on creating enterprise value by developing innovative revenue plans and using fact-based sales and marketing to drive brand performance.
Felicia's entrepreneurial venture, UPSIDE, works exclusively with hotelAVE to bring a sophisticated approach to driving revenues. Felcia spent 19 years with Loews Hotels, rising through the ranks from Director of Marketing to Senior Vice President of Sales and Strategic Planning, the top-ranking sales, marketing strategy and revenue executive. 60% of Loews business is group demand and her responsibilities included the Loews Miami (1,000 rooms) and the Royal Pacific (1,000 rooms). She also was responsible for transitioning the new assets into the portfolio. During her tenure at Loews, she won numerous awards including the company's highest honor, the coveted Chairman's Award.
Felicia began her hospitality career with Four Seasons. She had a successful career in Washington, D.C., working with independent hotels and various franchise brands. Her specialty was repositioning and turning around under-performing assets.
Education
Executive MBA in Hospitality Administration, Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne
Graduate Certificate, Hospitality Industry Studies, New York University
Bachelor of Arts, Economics and Urban Studies, University of Pennsylvania
Job Titles:
- Corporate Operations Manager
- Senior Director
Education
Bachelor of Science, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University
Jennifer has more than 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry. At hotelAVE, she leads corporate initiatives as a project manager, while remaining involved in asset management.
Prior to joining hotelAVE, Jennifer held positions in finance, including budget review, contract compliance and cash management. She has worked in hospitality operations, both corporate and independent, Sales and Marketing, Business Operations and accounting systems implementation.
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor - Senior Vice President
Jill has more than 30 years of hospitality industry experience, including 11 years at Hyatt Hotels Corporation and 16 years of prior hotel asset management experience before joining hotelAVE. Jill is actively involved in the asset management of several assets and is responsible for working with owners and managers to improve asset performance, identifying value enhancement opportunities through market research and maximizing asset value and client objectives.
While at Hyatt, Jill lead the asset management function for all hotels owned by Hyatt, including in JV structures, representing over 27 hotels and 7,900 rooms. She not only executed her operational asset management expertise, but also ran numerous disposition processes and refinancings. In her capacity, she liaised with multiple divisions inside of Hyatt. Prior to Hyatt, Jill worked with LaSalle Hotel Properties where she was responsible for 9 hotels located throughout California, including budget approval, capital project execution and funding of capital draws. Her portfolio at Morgan Stanley included Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and Starwood hotels; during her tenure she pursued a property tax appeal and successfully received a $4M assessment reduction. Jill started her career at Deloitte & Touche LLP and HVS.
Jill is also a frequent guest speaker at the NYU Hotel Investment Conference, UCLA, New York University and the Lodging Conference.
Education
Bachelor of Science, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University
John has more than 7 years of hospitality experience including operations and development. As an associate, John is a member of our advisory team and also provides strategic asset management support to a portfolio of full-service hotel properties. His responsibilities include preparing operational reviews and strategic plans, conducting ROI analyses, monitoring key trends in the overall portfolio, supporting revenue management, and underwriting hotel acquisitions.
Prior to joining full-time, John was a summer analyst with hotelAVE. Here he created a universal web presence analysis template, enhanced and restructured the asset takeover manual, and assisted in various analyses of consulting and acquisition projects. Prior to that, he interned with the Nantasket Beach Resort where he worked closely with the Front Desk and Engineering team to streamline communication procedures and maximize operational efficiencies.
Education
Master of Science, Hospitality Industry Studies, New York University
Bachelor of Science, Conrad Hilton College, University of Houston
Education
Master of Business Administration (MBA), Olin School of Business, Washington University in St. Louis
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA), Finance, Northeastern University College
Jonas has over 25 years of experience in international hotel consulting and luxury operations. As a Miami-based Senior Vice President at hotelAVE, he supports investors, developers, operators, as well as brands with diverse mandates, including the development of market-entry, product, and corporate strategies, commercial diligence, financial modeling, mixed-use facility programming, and litigation support. Jonas also supports hotelAVE's asset-management team with a focus on upper-upscale and luxury properties in Florida, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Prior to joining hotelAVE, Jonas was a Director in the Hospitality & Leisure Consulting practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers. During his tenure at PwC, he executed a wide array of engagements across the lodging, resort-residential, condo hotel, leisure amenity, and cruise sectors in North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean.
Job Titles:
- CHAM, CHA
- Senior Advisor - Senior Vice President
Education
Master of Business Administration, College of Business, Loyola College
Bachelor of Science, Mary Washington College
Kim has more than 35 years of experience real estate experience and 25 years of asset management experience driving hotel performance to achieve superior returns over multiple investment cycles. As Senior Vice President, Kim works with her team and leverages her expertise to develop and execute strategies that result in value creation opportunities. She proactively works with the property management teams to achieve and exceed performance objectives, including RevPAR penetration targets and operating budget results. Core strengths include a deep accounting knowledge, contract interpretation, and the transaction process and requirements.
Prior to hotelAVE, Kim served as Vice President of Asset Management at Thayer Lodging, Brookfield Hotel Properties. At Thayer, she was most recently responsible for asset managing seven hotels representing $300 million of asset value. She successfully asset managed over 20 hotels during her 19 year tenure, having earned the reputation of handling the firm's most challenging assets. She also led the conversion and management of franchise contract negotiation (including credit enhancements) for multiple properties, including the conversion of the Wyndham Miami Airport to Sheraton and the conversion of the Palomar Dallas to the country's first Curio Collection hotel. Kim negotiated and documented loan modifications and purchase and sale agreements, ran diligence processes, finalized closing statements and effectively transitioned new management and ownership for numerous properties. While at Thayer, she also served as Vice President of Acquisitions and Corporate Controller.
"It is great to be part of such a strong, competent, and knowledgeable team"
Education
Bachelor of Science, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University
Kristin Knox-Attar, brings over 20 years of hospitality industry experience to her role as Senior Vice President at hotelAVE. Kristin joined hotelAVE in 2006 and has helped dozens of clients create value through identifying and executing strategic opportunities. Kristin is based out of hotelAVE's West Coast office, located in Orange County, CA. As Senior Vice President, she is responsible for the asset management of multiple assets including luxury, resort and boutique properties. She specializes in working directly with hotel management companies on all owner-related decisions and activities, including: budget review, renovation planning, capital expenditures and management oversight. Ms. Knox-Attar also participates in consulting and due diligence assignments as well as new business development.
Prior to joining hotelAVE, Kristin worked for Edge-Star Partners Inc., a joint venture with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, and developed a proposed 4,000-room W Las Vegas Hotel, Casino and Residences. There, she participated in all aspects of the development with a focus in strategic planning, market research, financial analysis and condo-hotel rental program structuring. She also served with Hilton Hotels Corporation in their Feasibility and Investment Analysis department, conducting project feasibility analysis and market research for their owned and managed hotels. Previously, she held operational positions with Hilton Hotels in Finance and Front Office.
Liya has more than 10 years of hospitality experience including asset management, investment, and strateg ic advisory. As a Senior Director, she provides asset management services for a portfolio of hotels.
Prior to joining HotelAVE, Liya was a Director of Strategy at WATG, where she led strategic advisory projects for global hotel and mixed-use developments, and performed economic and market trend analysis to guide internal strategy. Prior to WATG, Liya has extensive hotel asset management, advisory and investment experience with a number of domestic companies, leveraging data analytics, benchmarking and financial modeling to optimize operational and financial results.
Job Titles:
- Director, Business Analytics
- Manager at TravelClick
Education
Bachelor of Science, Economics, Pennsylvania State University
Lloyd also served as Director, Business Analytics for Choice Hotels and Sr. Manager of Performance Strategy and Planning in the Americas corporate office for IHG.
Education
Master of Business Administration, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
Bachelor of Science, School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University
Loren brings over 25 years of experience in the commercial real estate industry. He is a member of hotelAVE's executive committee that determines the strategic direction and endeavors of the company. Loren spearheads many initiatives at hotelAVE, including sourcing acquisitions, expanding the firm's capital relationships, and growing the asset management and advisory business lines. In addition to these responsibilities, he oversees the firm's advisory practice, takes an active role in executing consulting engagements, developing his associates, and directs the publication of the hotelAVE Hospitality Dashboard, published quarterly.
Before joining hotelAVE, Loren was a Managing Director at PRP Real Estate Investment LLC, where he was charged with sourcing and closing the firm's US opportunity fund investments in office, multifamily and industrial properties. In addition, he served on the firm's investment committee and was integrally involved with the creation of the firm's other investment initiatives including the launch of a GSA leased property fund. Prior to joining PRP LLC in 2008, Loren was a Senior Investment Officer in the real estate group at Fidelity Investments, providing joint venture equity financing to acquire and develop over $1.25 billion of commercial property across all sectors. Before joining Fidelity, he consulted in the Kenneth Leventhal and Company of Ernst & Young on a variety of commercial real estate assignments including distressed and nonperforming loan portfolio pricings, appraisals, underwriting analyses and lease structuring. Prior to Ernst & Young Kenneth Leventhal, Loren was a Senior Associate at Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) where he performed audits and reviews on the venture capital, mutual fund, hospitality and real estate industries.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Operational Effectiveness
Education
Bachelor of Commerce, Finance, Australian National University
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, Australian National University
Mark has more than 15 years of industry experience including in the US and Europe, across the finance, technology and operational effectiveness disciplines. His focus is on leveraging the insight in good data to determine optimal business strategies and change management approaches.
Prior to joining HotelAVE, Mark worked for Hilton worldwide for over a decade. In Hilton's EMEA region he developed and deployed several portfolio-wide initiatives for the first time, including: Operating KPI performance benchmarking, a zero-based "hotel operating model" for labor, and an enhanced budgeting and forecasting hotel pack.
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Finance
Education
Bachelor of Science, Accounting, Rhode Island College
Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering and Telecommunication Systems, Azad University
Maryam has more than 10 years of experience in accounting. As Vice President of Finance, she oversees the operations of the accounting department, and is responsible for budgeting, forecasting, internal control, financial analysis, and payroll.
Job Titles:
- EVP, President Operational Effectiveness
Education
Executive MBA, Baylor University
Bachelor of Science, Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University
Michael brings 30 years experience delivering industry-leading returns and guest service to hospitality owner and manager stakeholders worldwide. At hotelAVE, Michael leads the Operational Effectiveness division, hAVE OE, and is a member of the Executive Committee focused on forward-looking opportunities to enhance our hotel portfolio.
Prior to joining HotelAVE, Michael founded R5 Hospitality and provided professional services in operational effectiveness (OE), due diligence, new builds, technology utilization/implementation and customized approaches to many of the top hotel management companies in the world, including Hilton , Marriott and Four Seasons as well as independent owner operators.
Prior to founding R5 Hospitality Solutions, Michael was Global VP Operations for Hilton Hotels and Resorts and co-founded the Hilton Center for Operational Excellence. He led and had oversight of the Global Operational Effectiveness initiative with teams in the Americas, EMEA and APAC and implemented the OE methodology in all owned, leased, JV and many of the managed estate for Hilton.
Michael has practical, hands-on experience as General Manager, Regional VP, VP Asset Management, SVP Owner Representative, and Partner in Luxury, Upper-Upscale, Airport, Convention, Resort and Downtown US properties and abroad.
Education
Bachelor of Science, Hotel Administration, Cornell University
Michele has 3 years of experience across the hospitality industry in asset management, business development, and operations. At hotelAVE, Michele's responsibilities include underwriting hotel acquisitions, financial model development, benchmarking analysis, and assisting the asset management team.
Prior to joining HotelAve, Michele was a student at the Nolan School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, where she was a part of the Hotel Leadership Development Program at the Statler Hotel. She gained experience in the food and beverage department and trained other students to become leaders in the hotel.
Michele interned at The Bernstein Companies, where she worked on an acquisition of a Delaware hotel, assisted on due diligence for acquisitions and dispositions, and witnessed the development of the new Marriott HQ and Hotel.
Michelle Russo knows hotel operations inside and out. She has some changes she'd like the sector to make.
Job Titles:
- Director of Investment Accounting
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor - Executive Vice President
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President of Revenue & Distribution
Job Titles:
- Senior Advisor - Senior Vice President
Job Titles:
- Vice President of Hotel Real Estate Accounting