PEOPLE update as of April 3, 2018

Morguard Corporation is
pleased to announce the appointment of Denis Gilles to the position of general manager for the company’s Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites by Hilton,
Ottawa Downtown development. Gilles brings over 25 years
of national and international operational experience with brands such as New
World, Regal and Hilton. He most recently held the position of general manager
for SilverBirch Hotels, a position he held in four different properties across
Canada for the brands Quality, Hampton, Homewood and DoubleTree. 

Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI) has
expanded its Global Sales team with the addition of David Almond as regional vice president of sales – Midwest U.S. & Canada. Based in ALHI’s Global
Sales office in Chicago, Illinois, he now leads and oversees ALHI’s
Global Sales teams located in Chicago; Kansas City, Missouri; Louisville,
Kentucky; and Toronto. 
Prior to joining ALHI, Almond served as
the director of sales and marketing for the 792-room InterContinental Chicago
Magnificent Mile, a member of ALHI’s portfolio. Previous to that
he served as area director of sales and marketing for Starwood Hotels of
Downtown Chicago, with area responsibility for the Sheraton Chicago, Westin
River North, Westin Michigan Avenue, W Chicago Lakeshore, W Chicago City Center
and the Tremont Hotel. His extensive experience also includes serving as director of sales for Hiltons of Chicago, where he represented Hilton Chicago,
Palmer House Hilton, Hilton O’Hare, Conrad Chicago, Drake and Embassy Suites
Lakefront.

Former
Avis executive Murray Hennessy will take the reins as chief executive officer for Great
Wolf Resorts. Hennessy is familiar with the family-friendly collection of indoor water
park resorts, having served as advisor to Great Wolf Resorts’ senior management
team during his tenure on the company’s board of directors. He was
serving as interim CEO following the departure of Rubén Rodriguez in December
and now officially assumes the permanent role. Hennessy’s previous positions include CEO for Avis Europe and, more recently, CEO of the United Kingdom’s
largest online train ticket retailer, Trainline. In addition to his role on
Great Wolf Resorts’ board, he has served as chairman of the board for a number
of companies including the United Kingdom’s division of the popular restaurant
chain TGIF and the out-of-home specialty advertising firm Talon Outdoor. 

Omni
Hotels & Resorts announced the promotion of Peter Strebel, a 30-year-plus
veteran of the hospitality industry, to president effective immediately. The
former chief marketing officer and senior vice president of sales has been
appointed to the role after providing 20 years of senior leadership to the
brand. In his previous role as
chief marketing officer and senior vice president of sales, Strebel was charged
with driving business development strategies to increase revenue and capture
market share for the luxury hotel brand. 
Prior to this role, Strebel
was the senior vice president of operations for Omni.

Ryan McNeil has now joined Sheraton Centre Toronto hotel as
executive steward. Previously, he was
chief steward with Westin Hotels and Resorts’ Prince Hotel property, with responsibility for hiring and/​or train qualified staff to produce the right degree of public satisfaction, confidence and prestige in the service and
quality of the property. He worked for two years at Old Mill Toronto as chief steward. McNeil also spent
two years at G6 Hospitality as general manager of a property in Carollton,
Tex., and five years as general manager for a Choice Hotels property in Port
Hope, Ont. 

Wyndham Hotel Group has welcomed a new franchise veteran to Wyndham’s executive bench. Tad Wampfler is the company’s new senior vice-president, global sourcing, design and construction. In this new role, Tad
is leading a transformation of the company’s sourcing, design and construction
organization and overall approach to how Wyndham Hotel Group leverages vendor
and partner relationships in service to its franchisees and its managed hotel
portfolio. Most recently serving as chief procurement officer at Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Wampfler’s more than 30 years’ experience leading
major, global supply chain strategies and operations for franchisers including Wendy’s
International and the Dunkin’ Brands made him an ideal fit for this
role.