LEDGESTONE HOSPITALITY - Key Persons
Charles Wetegrove joined the Ledgestone team bringing with him 31 years of hospitality and F&B experience. His passion for the industry has developed through exposure to a wide-range of positions that continue to be fueled by his "lead by example" attitude. As a result, Charles develops teams that exceed guest, owner and brand expectations.
Charles' experience in the industry includes Front/Back of House Management, Executive Chef, Sales and an award-winning General Manager/Regional Manager overseeing every aspect of hotel, and F&B operations across multiple brands and states. During this time, he earned several awards including, "Hotel of the Year", "Best of the Best", and "Top Performing in Quality Assurance", consecutive years in row. Charles specializes in operations, team development, hotel renovations, brand repositioning, and quality assurance to name a few.
Having worked with and representing hotel brands including Hilton, Marriott, Radisson, IHG, Red Lion, Best Western, Wyndham, Choice, and independent boutique hotels, Charles understands the challenges owners face in meeting the specific requirements for their brand while focusing on bottom-line financial performance.
Charles has sought to impact and advocate for the hospitality and tourism industries by his involvement, for over ten years, with the Southern Arizona Lodging & Resort Association. Through his dedication and service, he was trusted with the responsibility of Director, Treasurer, and finally served as Chairman of the Board for six years. His determination and focus provided the opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors with Visit Tucson over six years focusing on destination marketing. Additionally, Charles was the voice for hotel owners while serving on the Red Lion Hotels Corporation (RLHC) Brand Advisory Board.
Charles' dedication to hotel owners and the industry continues as an active Board Member of the Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association (AZLTA) that serves as the statewide voice of advocacy for Arizona's travel, tourism, sports and hospitality industry.
Javier was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. He is an award-winning hospitality professional with over sixteen years of experience. He began his career as a Hotel Houseman at a Best Western in Tucson and found a passion for the hotel industry.
Javier's career and experience have taken him through successful General Manager roles with Intercontinental Hotel Group, Best Western, Wyndham Worldwide, and Choice Hotels. Javier currently holds two hospitality accreditations that include Certified Hotel Administrator and Certified Hotel Industry Analytics. His hands on experience and in-depth knowledge of hotel operations, brands, and partnership building have allowed him to build robust teams, manage the rebranding of multiple hotels, and successfully oversee the new build project of a 100+ key hotel.
As the newest member to join the Ledgestone team, Javier brings with him an irrepressible level of hospitality standard excellence.
Jill began her career at Ledgestone Hospitality in January 2015. She serves as a main contact for the properties on general day-to-day business operations and questions, as well as performing all necessary duties for the hotels as the payroll administrator. Her responsibilities include working towards streamlining office operations, coordinating communications to owners and oversees all pending deadlines as related to legal documentation. She also provides administrative support to the President, Regional Directors and General Managers. Prior to joining the Ledgestone Hospitality team Jill worked in the financial gaming industry.
Upon graduating from St. John's University in New York with a Bachelor's degree in Communications, Kalee moved to Arizona into a whole new world. She got her first hotel job as a front desk agent, and after a few months, she fell in love with the industry. After working closely with her General Manager and Regional Directors, she was given opportunities to experience every position possible, including sales & marketing for various Ledgestone properties, allowing her to jumpstart her career and continue her journey in hospitality.
Kalee officially joined the Ledgestone Hospitality team in August of 2021 as a Task Force General Manager - filling in at properties in need of extra help. She thrives in those environments and is dedicated to ensuring that properties are set up for success, no matter what the task is.
Kelly Hunter's career started in Dallas, TX as a Front Desk manager and she was later promoted to assist in opening a large 800 room convention center property in Austin, TX. Kelly has had the privilege of working in many cities, different hotel markets, and vacation destinations in all the major cities in Texas. She also had the pleasure of living in the mountains in Breckenridge, Colorado Springs, Keystone, and the small town of Telluride. After working on property for so many years, Kelly started a position as Brand Support Manager for six Hilton brands at Hilton Corporate in Memphis, TN. She then moved on to learn the vacation rental side of the industry in Big Sky, MT outside of Yellowstone National Park. In 2022 Kelly was excited to receive an offer to return to Colorado, the place she calls home, and join the Ledgestone team. Kelly has 2 spoiled cats, and some of her favorite pastimes include a variety of crafts and refinishing antique wood furniture. She is an avid hiker and goes tent camping as much as possible during the summer. Fun fact about Kelly: "I have hiked to the top of Pikes Peak twice!".
Kelsey Berres, an innovative and driven accounting professional, joined as the Controller at Ledgestone Hospitality in May 2017. Kelsey strives to learn new ways of doing things and enjoys taking on new challenges. She is a team leader with over 8 years of management experience. She started her accounting career at a mid-sized accounting firm in the twin cities. She worked directly with many small businesses in a variety of industries but her focus was in the service, construction, and real estate industries. She has over 4 years of experience in federal and multi-state tax compliance as well as compiling, reviewing, and auditing financial records of corporate clients and producing financial statements. Kelsey maintained many client relationships over her years at the firm and was a key member of their small business client service department. During this time, Kelsey received her CPA designation in 2015.
Kelsey graduated from St. Cloud State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting, a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and a minor in Real Estate. Kelsey is also a member of the Minnesota Society of CPA's.
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner
- Partner
- President
Kenneth Garvin is the President and Managing Partner of Ledgestone Hospitality, LLC. Ken along with his partner formed Ledgestone in 2009. This new management company quickly gained a reputation for consistently producing operational and marketing turnarounds. As president, he oversees the strategic direction and growth of the company.
Michael has been in the Hospitality field for over 30 years. He began his career by getting a degree in Culinary Arts and was a Chef for 6 years. Transitioning to hotels while getting a Hospitality and Tourism degree, Michael was involved in many full-service properties. Joining White Lodging Services in 1993 and staying with them for 23 years, he was involved with Marriott, Hilton, IHG, and Starwood in various roles. He was the Corporate Director of Openings and Acquisitions where he was part of a team that would help expand the company's growth. Michael has also been in corporate roles where he has excelled in helping the organization grow and implement systems and processes for long term excellence. In his free time, he loves spending time with family, especially his 8 grandchildren. He shares his passion for the Minnesota Vikings with his children.
Michael grew up in the hotel industry working almost every position in the field, collecting invaluable hands-on expertise and respect for the importance of the most valuable asset in hospitality - its people. By the time he was 23 he owned and operated four hotels in three states. Michael went on to form Lodging Consultants, Inc., a hospitality consulting firm that culminated in the representation of hundreds of hotels including four of the top-ten hotel management companies in the U.S.
Mike's past property experience includes Hilton, Marriott, IHG, Sheraton, Red Lion, Best Western, AmericInn along with several renowned independent and luxury boutique ventures. While an executive for Northcott's management company, he developed and chaired the board charged with creating an entirely new hospitality internet marketing strategy and eCRM system for a national hotel brand. Michael has also helped create the branding and identity for several independent hotels and leading artisan restaurants and beverage outlets.
A few of Michael's career highlights include implementing one of the first computerized hotel property management systems (for PC's), developing the identity and entire branding initiative for one of the country's finest luxury boutique hotels, La Bellasera Hotel & Suites; opening the AmericInn Hotel & Dole Specter Conference Center, and chairing several major initiatives for national hotel brands and developing a Business Improvement District in Paso Robles, California that is now providing over a million dollars annually for the promotion of tourism. His properties have also won numerous national awards for hospitality websites, service rankings, and marketing initiatives.
Job Titles:
- Advisory Board - Legal Counsel
Ryan is husband to a beautiful wife and 4 wonderful children. His family spends most of their time attending their numerous sports activities. They enjoy soccer, baseball, gymnastics, being outdoors and simply spending time together.
Ryan's journey into hospitality was very unexpected. After graduating college in WI, Ryan moved to UT to pursue a career in International Regulatory within the corporate side of direct sales. After 10 years in the field, he knew that is not where he was meant to be. He went back to school to pursue his Master's degree in Sports Law. While in school, he took a position as a night audit agent, which seems to be where everyone gets their start, and found the field of Hospitality. Over the past 5 years, Ryan has worked in a variety of positions within the hospitality field including positions within IHG, Hilton and Marriott.
In January of 2021, Ryan joined the Ledgestone team as a Regional Director and currently oversees hotels in California, Nevada and Texas.
Tom joined Ledgestone in December 2017 and brought years of experience in the hospitality industry with him. He worked for AmericInn/Three Rivers Hospitality, as the Accounting Manager, for over 20 years. He oversaw all aspects of accounting for the hotels including financial statements, cash flow management, budgeting, and many cost comparisons and expense control analysis reports.
At Ledgestone, Tom oversees the accounting for 14 - 15 properties preparing monthly financial statements and monitoring cash flow. Tom also assists with numerous special projects from reporting needs to budgeting and forecasting.