2 CALIFORNIA LODGING NEWS 414 29th Street Sacramento, CA 95816 916.444.5780 www.calodging.com EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR Hee-Won Lim- Grosvenor Pacific Palms Hotel VICE CHAIR Dhruv Patel Ridgemont Hospitality IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR Tom Patton, CHA Ramada by Wyndham Santa Barbara SECRETARY/TREASURER Cormac O’Modhrain Sunstone Hotel Investors GOVERNMENT & LEGAL RELATIONS CHAIR Javier Cano JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE AUDIT & INVESTMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR Laurenne Douglas Pacific Plaza Hotels, Inc. 2023 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Kristi Allen Ensemble Real Estate Solutions & Investments Laura Lee Blake AAHOA Justin Boutwell Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Javier Cano JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE Vipul Dayal Days Inn San Francisco Airport West Laurenne Douglas Pacific Plaza Hotels, Inc. Ross Gimpel Encore Terri Haack Lowe Enterprises Investors Jon Handlery, CHA Handlery Union Square Hotel Niles Harris InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Nic Hockman Disney’s Grand Californian Matt Humphreys Hyatt Regency San Francisco Daniel Kuperschmid Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego Mark LeBlanc Aimbridge Hospitality Franck Legrand Cornell Hotel De France Michelle Millar University of San Francisco Michael Pace InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel Bijal Patel, CHA Coast Redwood Hospitality Bimal Patel, CHA Hotel Zico Perry Patel Radiate Hospitality Pragna Patel-Mueller Samata Management Joe Piantedosi Park Hotels & Resorts Chip Rogers American Hotel & Lodging Association John Spear Hotel Drisco Jeffrey Thurrell Fisher Phillips Wes Tyler, CHA Chancellor Hotel on Union Square Mike Tweeten Ace Parking Management Bobby Walia Marriott International Corporation ADVERTISING & DESIGN LLM Publications 503.445.2220 | 800.647.1511 www.llmpubs.com Design & Layout Sales Representative Katie Jo Stewart Grandt Mansfield grandt@llmpubs.com Copyright © 2023. Al l Rights Reserved I AM HONORED TO HAVE been selected as the chair of the California Hotel and Lodging Association for 2023, and to take the mantle from Tom Patton, CHA after his outstanding and dedicated work as chair in 2022. This year is historic in two ways. First, CHLA will be celebrating its 130 year anniversary later this year. It was on November 15 back in 1893, that 36 visionaries organized the first statewide association of California innkeepers as the Southern California Hotel Association, to share ideas and socialize. Back then, Los Angeles had just set a record when its population topped 50,000; San Diego was a town of 16,000. I have seen some of the old photos from meetings over 80 years ago. Let us just say, CHLA, California, and hospitality all have come a long way since then. The second historic mark for 2023 is that I will be the first Asian-American woman to be CHLA’s chair. This speaks volumes about the strength of California hospitality, and the diversity of CHLA’s members that in turn represent the amazing diversity of our members and our state. I am grateful for the opportunity and very mindful of the work done by those that came before me to make this moment possible. In recent years, we have seen CHLA—under the skillful guidance of President and CEO Lynn Mohrfeld, step forward leaning into advocacy on issues critical that often define how our hotels operate. As the general manager of an independent hotel, I saw first-hand the benefits of being a CHLA member during the global pandemic. Within a month after COVID shut down the state, CHLA distributed its operational guidance, one of the first in the state for any industry. It was an essential resource for me and my team at the Pacific Palms Resort. We quickly came to depend on CHLA’s updates so we could manage and prepare to reopen safely. That moment crystallized for me the two subjects I plan to focus on as chair: the diversity that makes us strong, and the membership growth that will translate that strength into success for us on so many fronts. MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR Hee-Won Lim-Grosvenor CHLA Chair continues on next page I am grateful for the opportunity and very mindful of the work done by those that came before me to make this moment possible.
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