Windsor Announces Recent Hires

To Lead Newly-renovated Embassy Suites Bellevue

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. October 14, 2008

BELLEVUE, WA, August 24 2006. Dave Dreher and Jim Cacabelos have some striking similarities. They are both Seattle-area natives, both have spent their 20 plus-year hospitality industry career deeply involved in their local convention and visitors' bureaux and both are Windsor Hospitality Group's recent hires to lead their Embassy Suites Bellevue after its complete renovation.

"What luck that we were able to bring together two such highly-regarded and well-respected hospitality professionals to lead our efforts at this property," says Mark Goeman, WHG's vice president of sales and revenue management. Dave Dreher fills the general manager position and Jim Cacabelos is the property's new director of sales.

Dave Dreher knows the ropes in his position. Having just spent the last four years as general manager in WHG's Embassy Suites Lynnwood, he knows the area's business climate and WHG's management protocol very well.

"Dave is known throughout the region and within our parent company, Windsor Capital Group, to be a great leader. The property team will also benefit greatly from Jim's vision and commitment to customer satisfaction," says Goeman. "Jim's reputation in our industry is one of integrity and grass roots involvement."

Dreher's enthusiasm about the polished property is obvious. As he says, "In terms of staffing the hotel right now, we have an all new management team and an all-new energy. They will each be essential to our success as we look to reposition the new Embassy Suites Bellevue within this very competitive East Seattle marketplace." With 4,000 additional square-feet of meeting space to accommodate their group business, that should not be difficult.

Dreher and the rest of the WHG team are clearly very glad to have Jim Cacabelos on board as the reborn property's director of sales. In Dreher's words, "We are also so pleased to bring Jim on the line, as he has served the local area for 20 years. He brings to this position all of that hospitality sales experience and most recently, four years of experience in the East Seattle/Bellevue marketplace, particularly in group and association business. He has developed quite a savvy for working with group business and in the Hilton and Meeting Professionals International cultures. Since Jim has been on board, I have yet to find anyone who is not ecstatic with our selection."

Cacabelos is from Seattle, but has spent a great deal of his professional life on the Eastside. Since 1998, he has taught the local Certified Meeting Professionals course. "I feel one of my strengths is as a teacher," he says. "That is a professional designation that is recognized by all of the hospitality industry organizations. My passion for teaching is one of my strengths that I will plug into this position&I want to bring to the team a certain level of professionalism that includes teaching everything from time management to the nuts and bolts of contract terms and negotiations."

Goeman and Cacabelos have worked together in the Seattle-area hospitality industry over the last several years as well, thus he too is very familiar with the WHG team. "When I got the position as director of sales at the East King County CVB," Cacabelos adds, "Mark Goeman interviewed me here in this hotel, because he was this property's GM in those days and was on the board at East King County CVB as well&And now, almost eight years later, we had the same interview for basically the same position in the same hotel. It is the professional cycle come full-circle."

Goeman echoes the same sentiment, adding "Together, Dreher and Cacabelos

are two pros who are going to take our newly-renovated hotel to new levels and it's going to be fun for all of us who have been involved with this property for many years to enjoy the ride with them."