INTERNATIONAL REPORT—The teams at Domio, White Lodging, Margaritaville, and others are bolstering their rosters. Here’s a look at recent personnel shifts:
Domio Makes Two Executive Appointments
Domio has added to its executive leadership team with the appointments of Yasmin Kothari as VP of product and Noah N. Weiss as managing director of real estate investments for the brand.
Kothari will be responsible for creating products that help Domio operate more efficiently and help serve Domio guests in new ways. Kothari joins Domio after four years at Airbnb, where she built solutions for hosts to manage their businesses on Airbnb. As the managing director of real estate investments, Weiss will spearhead the expansion of Domio’s apartment-hotel portfolio nationally and internationally. Before Domio, Weiss was a director of acquisitions at Angelo Gordon, a $32 billion assets under management alternative investment manager.
White Lodging Names Two Regional Leaders
White Lodging named two regional leaders as part of a continued strengthening of its operations team. Brian Hutchins joins White Lodging as regional VP, urban & lifestyle, and Nicole Coghlan was promoted from general manager to regional director of operations, suburban select. Regional leaders oversee all operations for a portfolio of White Lodging hotel and restaurant properties.
Hutchins joins White Lodging from Wischermann Partners where he oversaw all hotels within the company’s portfolio as vice president of operations. Coghlan takes on her new role after serving as a general manager at White Lodging for the past six years. Prior to her latest role at the Hilton Garden Inn Hoffman Estates, she was a general manager at the Hyatt Place Chicago/Itasca for two years. Hutchins and Coghlan will be based out of White Lodging’s corporate headquarters in Merrillville, IN.
Margaritaville Names Shamim Lodin Director of Hotel Development
Margaritaville Holdings has named Shamim Lodin director of hotel development. Bringing more than 20 years of hospitality experience to the position, Shamim will lead the portfolio expansion for both the Margaritaville Hotels & Resorts and Compass select-service brands across the Americas region, including the Latin American and Caribbean markets. Previously working with brands such as Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Ritz-Carlton Hotels & Resorts and, most recently, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), Shamim brings years of experience in global sales in both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer sectors to Margaritaville.
New Strategy Chairs Join HTNG’s Global Strategy Team
HTNG has two new strategy chairs to join its global strategy team and lead the staff recruiting and engagement pillar and the newly launched distribution pillar. Hyatt Hotel Corporation’s Director of IT—Hotel Openings Mark Retnam and VP of HR ASPAC Katie Carter have been elected to serve as strategy chairs for HTNG’s staff recruiting and engagement pillar. The mission of this pillar is to improve technology and its use to increase staff engagement, to make staff members’ lives easier and to generate greater productivity while also making careers in hospitality operations and IT more attractive.
Loyyal Adds Ken Hamlet to Board
Loyyal, which applies blockchain technologies to loyalty and incentive programs, has appointed Ken Hamlet, former CEO of Holiday Inns Inc., to its board. During his nine-year tenure as CEO, Holiday Inns Inc. launched or acquired brands such as Hamptons Inns, Embassy Suites, Homewood Suites and Residence Inns, and had more than 19% market share worldwide and more than 4,000 hotels in 53 countries, according to the company. In addition, Hamlet coordinated the purchase and integration of Harrah’s Gaming Corp. into the Holiday Corp. system. Hamlet also serves on the boards of Venue Book, an online hotel booking company, and is a partner in Green Hospitality Partners, a hotel group focused on secondary markets.