Destination Hotels Execs Join Forces to Oversee Reinvention of Historic Town and Country Resort

. September 23, 2015

SAN DIEGO, CA. September 23, 2015 - Two veteran hospitality executives with more than five decades of industry experience between them are poised to combine talents once more to oversee the massive $80 million renovation of San Diego's landmark Town and Country Resort & Convention Center.

Tapped again by Destinations Hotels, Michael Slosser and Paul McCabe are the masterminds behind the $27 million renovation and repositioning of the Southern California boutique-style L'Auberge Del Mar, A Destination Hotel. Slosser spearheaded the transformation from a dark and dated inn into a warm and inviting coastal retreat while McCabe launched its resoundingly successful Kitchen 1540 restaurant, garnering critical and public acclaim.

Next up, the duo has been tasked to reinvent Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, a Mission Valley mainstay.

Originally a 46-room motor inn situated amidst open farmland, the property - built in 1953 by Charles H. Brown, a pioneering developer of Mission Valley - was owned and operated by the family-run Atlas Hotels for decades. Last year Lowe Enterprises and AECOM Capital formed a joint venture with Atlas Hotels, Inc. to own, operate and reposition the aging property. Soon after, Destination Hotels assumed management of Town and Country Resort, appointing Slosser as vice president and managing director of the 935-room resort, in addition to Paradise Point Resort & Spa and L'Auberge Del Mar.

Slosser and McCabe are now applying the same vision and ingenuity they created for L'Auberge Del Mar on a much larger scale to Town and Country, and they are keenly focused on transforming the 62-year-old property into the ultimate meeting, leisure and urban oasis resort. Once completed in early 2018, the reimagined hotel will feature 688 rooms, nearly 200,000 square feet of meeting space, three new restaurants in a 10,000-square-foot food and beverage facility, a 5,000-square-foot spa and an 11,000-square-foot lobby with an arrival bar overlooking a new 2-acre water attraction - providing an idyllic environment to “work, live and play.”

Slosser, a 14-year member of the Destination Hotels executive team, is well equipped to reposition this San Diego icon. Throughout his career, he has succeeded in envisioning, rebranding, designing and transforming many hospitality assets - ultimately improving financial performance for investors. “We plan to create something much different than a typical branded hotel - this will be an urban, campus environment designed to attract sophisticated meeting planners and discerning leisure travelers,” he says.

“This is the biggest venture I have ever taken on,” adds McCabe. “I will be using everything I've learned to date to make this happen.” In his new role as executive chef, McCabe is charged with reconceiving the resort's entire food and beverage operations - developing menus and concepts for four new restaurants.

Honing his skills at top resorts and restaurants throughout California and Arizona, McCabe has the culinary chops to meet this latest challenge. He was most recently the executive chef at Phoenix's Royal Palms Resort and Spa, A Destination Hotel - where he revamped the signature restaurant, T. Cooks, winning Phoenicians over with his clean, simple style. Long known for his creativity and innovation, McCabe has helped reinvent such venerable San Diego eateries as Delicias, Top O' the Cove and Anthony's Star of the Sea.

McCabe's kitchen apprenticeship started in 1984 under Michel Banchet at the former famed Jean Bertranow's L'Ermitage, known as the genesis of French fine dining in Los Angeles. His impressive resume includes serving as executive chef at Five-Star L'Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills, where McCabe was head of all culinary operations including business and social catering, meeting and group functions and in-room dining - playing an integral part in the hotel's extensive $60 million renovation completed in 1998. Prior to that, he spent three years at the prestigious award-winning Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Ariz. where he worked his way up to executive chef at fine dining Yavapai Restaurant.

Both McCabe and Slosser thrive on bringing new life to older, landmark properties. The transformation of Town and Country Resort is the most ambitious in the hotel's colorful history and a formidable endeavor, but this enterprising and energetic duo has the savvy, smarts and vision to get the job done - and get it done beyond expectations.

About Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, A Destination Hotel

Built in 1953, the 43-acre Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, A Destination Hotel, is poised to undergo a massive $80 million renovation and when complete in 2018 will emerge as San Diego's ultimate meeting, leisure and urban oasis - with 700 rooms, 200,000 square feet of meeting space, a 10,000-square-foot lobby complex, three new restaurants, a 5,000-square-foot-spa, a new parking garage and an expansive water park/pool area. The anticipated two-and-a-half year project will get underway in January 2016 and is the resort's most ambitious renovation to date. Over 62 years, Town and Country Resort has anchored Mission Valley and grown into the largest privately owned convention and meeting hotel on the West Coast. The hotel is now owned by a partnership comprised of AECOM Capital, Atlas Hotels and Lowe Enterprises. For more information, visit www.towncountry.com.

About Destination Hotels

Destination Hotels (Destination) is a collection of luxury and upscale independent hotels, resorts and residences across the United States. Offering authentically-immersed and enriching experiences, each property is individual at heart, yet connected by a commitment to drawing upon the best of each location. Highly distinct, the Destination experience is always memorable and matchless; guests will feel the locale in a genuine way through each property and during the engaging moments cultivated both in and outside of them. Continuously growing with more than 40 properties from coast to coast, the award-winning portfolio features 20 renowned golf courses, 20 indigenous spas, and 110 exceptional bars and restaurants. Destination Hotels are true to our place; diverse by design. For more information, visit www.destinationhotels.com. Follow us on Twitter: @Destination. Like us on Facebook: DestinationHotels.

Media Contact:
Marguarite Clark
Marguarite Clark Public Relations
[email protected]
(949) 295-2801

Business Contact:

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