Hersha Names Thomas D. Reese President
PHILADELPHIA, PA, November 20, 2006. Hersha Hospitality Management, a hotel management company of over 50 nationally franchised, midscale and upscale hotels in the eastern United States, today announced that Thomas D. Reese has been named president of the company. All of the company's operational and administrative functions at the corporate and property levels will be under Reese's leadership.
Reese spent the majority of his 28 year career in executive operations with Marriott International, most notably as general manager of the 1,824 room Marriott Marquis in New York City from 1984 to 1993, and subsequently, as senior vice president responsible for management of more than 100 hotels for all Marriott brands in the New York, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Region (including New York City, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Delaware). Among his many contributions and awards at Marriott, Reese established their Japanese and European markets and was twice named Marriott's General Manager of the Year. Reese initially joined Marriott as a controller for full-service hotels, and ultimately, for the Northeast Region, including New York City.
Reese more recently has served as executive vice president of operations at Interstate Hotel Corporation, overseeing a portfolio of more than 80 upscale, full-service hotels across all leading brands throughout the United States, Canada and Russia. His direct reports included five regional vice presidents of marketing, revenue management, quality programs, national sales, and food & beverage. Reese since has focused on development, investment and strategic assistance for hotel projects that range from repositioning and re-branding opportunities to the construction and purchase of new hotels.
"Tom brings to Hersha Hospitality Management a wealth of experience and leadership in all facets of hotel management, particularly with respect to service excellence, full-service operations, food & beverage, and yield management," said Jay H. Shah, executive director of Hersha Hospitality Management. "He is a seasoned hotelier who will bolster our existing full-service capabilities and raise the bar with respect to our culture of operational and service excellence at every property under management. His experience in and understanding of New York will be invaluable to the growth of our fastest growing cluster, with five hotels under management in Manhattan, six hotels under management across Long Island, JFK Airport and northern New Jersey, and numerous other hotel development projects in New York City.
Reese earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pa., previously served for three years as chairman of the Times Square Business Improvement District, and currently serves on the board of directors for the New York City Hotel Association, New York State Hotel Association, and the AXA Group of Insurance Companies.
Hersha Hospitality Management is a hotel management company providing operations and development services to upscale and mid-scale hotels with strong, national franchise affiliations in the eastern United States. The company currently provides hotel management services and asset management services to more than 50 hotels in the top markets in the nation, including metro Boston, Connecticut, New York City, New Jersey, Philadelphia, metro Washington D.C., and Atlanta. For more information, please visit www.hershahotels.com.
Certain matters within this press release are discussed using forward-looking language as specified in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and, as such, may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results or performance to differ from those projected in the forward-looking statement.