In 2025, the hotel industry saw many professionals making career moves and advancements. To recap the year's biggest hospitality personnel changes, this report zooms in on the C-suite executive changes that occurred last year.
Below is a roundup of C-suite changes within the hospitality industry that happened in 2025 — organized chronologically and based on CoStar News' reporting.
Kicking off 2025, New York-based hotel brand Ace Hotel Group and management firm Atelier Ace named Chris Penn as its new CEO on Jan. 8, 2025. Penn had most recently founded the lifestyle hospitality company and consultancy Do^2 and previously served as the managing director for the now-closed Ace Hotel London from 2013 to 2016.
Other January hires in the United States were Extreme Hospitality's Ryan Alpert as chief commercial officer on Jan. 8, 2025, and The Kessler Collection's Philip Wade as chief investment officer on Jan. 21, 2025.
January promotions included Dean Stambules, who became chief investment officer at Sage Hospitality Group on Jan. 27, 2025, and Conner White, who was appointed vice chair and chief investment officer at White Lodging on Jan. 21, 2025.
In the Europe, the Middle East and Africa region, a handful of hotel executives started the new year in new positions. Ayman Gharib was named CEO of Kisawa, the parent company of the eight one-, two- and three-villa Kisawa Sanctuary on Benguerra Island, Mozambique; Gonzalo Aguilar was appointed CEO, Europe and Americas, at Minor Hotels, succeeding Ramón Aragonés; Uzo Oshogwe was named managing director and CEO of Transcorp Hotels; Jan Ringertz took on the role of chief operating officer at Lisbon-based Octant Hotels, a division of Discovery Hotel Management; and Alastair Thomann joined hotel firm Edyn as CEO.
Two notable C-suite changes happened in U.S. hospitality in February: Spencer Hux returned to The Hermitage Hotel and Keswick Hall as chief sales officer on Feb. 20, 2025 and Holly Bohn Pittman was hired by Whim Hospitality as CEO on Feb. 6, 2025.
Atlanta-based Davidson Hospitality Group made a handful of C-suite appointments on March 18, 2025. Jason Rabidoux was promoted to chief investment officer, Michele Smith was promoted to chief accounting officer and Harris White was hired as chief financial officer.
Also in March, Mary Beth Cutshall joined Vision Hospitality Group as chief growth officer, and Jenna Fishel was promoted to chief commercial officer at First Hospitality.
In the EMEA region, Céline Vercollier was promoted to CEO at French hotel firm B&B Hotels in March from her role as chief financial officer, Ruby Hotels promoted Fabian Zellinger to chief growth and innovation officer, Julien Mattei was named chief investment officer at hotel firm A&O Hostels and Hyatt Hotels Corp. appointed Javier Águila as chief growth officer.
New U.S. hospitality hires in April included Adam Hayashi as chief revenue officer at Omni Hotels & Resorts, Anne Fischer as chief marketing officer at Schulte Hospitality Group and Greg O'Stean as chief development officer at Hotel Equities. In May, the new hires were Paul Isaacson as chief financial officer of Hospitality America and Jeff Knowlton as chief information officer at Peregrine Hospitality.
Dallas-based Remington Hospitality kicked off June with a new CEO in Ben Perelmuter. He joined the management firm from TPG Hotels & Resorts, where he served as president and chief operating officer since 2023. Essex Hotel Management also promoted John Kattato, who has been with the company for over 20 years, to chief operating officer in June.
Last summer in Europe, Alessia Meli was promoted to chief operating officer at Italian hotel and real-estate management firm Gruppo Ginobbi, which operates Rome’s 78-room Palazzo Ripetta.
Both Davidson and Hotel Equities again made changes to their C-suites in July. Davidson hired Jason Reader as chief operating officer on July 7, and Hotel Equities also named a new COO in Albert Smith.
However, the biggest news of the summer was the announcement that Marriott International's Chief Financial Officer Leeny Oberg would be stepping down, effective March 31, 2026. In the wake of Oberg's departure, Global Officer, Treasurer and Risk Management Jen Mason, who has worked on Marriott's financial team for 33 years, will become the company's new CFO on April 1, 2026. Shawn Hill, previously Marriott's chief development officer in the Asia-Pacific region excluding China, took on the role of executive vice president and chief development officer for the company as a whole on Jan. 1. 2026.
Also in July, Christian Charnaux returned to Hilton, where he has spent a large chunk of his career. He rejoined the hotel giant as executive vice president and chief development officer and shared his vision for his new era with Hilton in an article on CoStar News.
In September, CoStar News reported that Laura Trussell McKoy was promoted to chief creative officer at Omni Hotels & Resorts. She joined Omni in February 2007 as director of interior design. Additionally, Phil Andreopoulos was named the new CEO of London-based hotel firm Yotel after a more than 20-year career at Marriott.
CoStar News reported in October a handful of movers and shakers, including: Kathleen Hollis, who was appointed as chief growth officer at First Hospitality; Lou Lavaux, who was named as chief financial officer at Makeready; and Bill Stadler, who joined as chief investment officer at Dreamscape Hospitality.
Meanwhile in the EMEA region, Frank Veenstra was named chief development officer at Kempinski Hotels and Lily Wecker was appointed CEO at Aethos Hotels, according to CoStar News reporting in September.
In October, Patrick Short rejoined Dallas-based TPG Hotels & Resorts as president and chief operating officer and United Kingdom-based hotel management firm Kew Green Hotels named David Taylor as its new CEO.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts announced in November that its chief financial officer, Michele Allen, who served in the role since December 2019, decided to step down. Kurt Albert, treasurer and head of financial partnerships and planning, was named as the company's interim CFO.
Four C-level executive changes happened in the fourth quarter in the EMEA region, per CoStar News reporting. Barbara Biffi was named as chief brand officer at Kempinski Hotels and Martin Vossen was appointed CEO at Geneva-based Ultima Capital and hotel operator Ultima Collection. Additionally, Jessica Martino Enan was appointed as chief commercial officer at Auberge Collection. Lastly, Kempinski Hotels named Paul Lonergan chief operating and asset management officer overseeing the company's efforts in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Americas and Asia-Pacific excluding China and Mongolia.
In November, Virgin Hotels Collection announced it is looking for a new CEO after James Bermingham reportedly left the company. Joe Margison, Virgin's chief commercial officer and board member assumed the role in an interim capacity.
The U.S. had three more C-suite changes before 2025 wrapped up, including Arash Azarbarzin, who was appointed as CEO of Viceroy Hotels & Resorts. Peregrine Hospitality is responsible for the other two executive changes, naming Kristen Richter as chief commercial officer and Stacy Galligan as chief financial officer.