Going Places

Florida

• Robert Villalta was appointed director of operations for Naples Bay Resort, which opened last February in Naples. Villalta was previously general manager at the Glen Cove Mansion Hotel and Conference Center in Glen Cove, N.Y. He has served as corporate director of operations for the Amsterdam Hospitality Group, overseeing properties in New York City, Miami and Charlotte, N.C. Villalta was also general manager of The Dream Hotel, in New York City.

• Charles Armstrong joined Atlanta-based NYLO Hotels as senior vice president of franchise development. Before joining NYLO, Armstrong served as Southeast regional vice president of development for Hyatt Select Hotels Group, overseeing franchising for select-service brands. He was part of the team that launched Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites in 2005 and 2006, respectively... Atlanta’s The Mansion on Peachtree, a Rosewood Hotel & Residence named Steve Houser director of sales and marketing. A 20-year veteran in the hospitality industry, Houser has held sales and marketing positions for hotel brands such as Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Radisson Hotels & Resorts, Adam’s Mark Hotels and Swissotel/Raffles International Hotels & Resorts. In addition, Houser also served as vice president of sales and marketing for the Georgia Aquarium.

• Rio Mar Beach Golf Resort, Casino & Spa, A Wyndham Grand Resort named Jeremy Marquard director of sales and marketing. Previously, he served as director of group sales for the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa and the Diplomat Golf Resort in Florida, and prior to that was the director of group sales at the Westin & Sheraton Grand Bahama Island at Our Lucya.

• Dallas’ Hilton Anatole Hotel appointed Jay Best to director of sales and marketing. Best brings more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry, including nearly five years at the Anatole Hotel when it was a Wyndham Hotel property. Most recently, Best served as the director of sales and marketing at Cheyenne Mountain Resort and Country Club of Colorado… Young Yoon was promoted to director of operations for the Warwick Melrose Hotel in Dallas. Yoon was named manager of the year for the Warwick Melrose Hotel in 2006. Before joining the hotel, Yoon worked at Sheraton and Renaissance Hotels in Dallas, as well as at the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott in Seoul, South Korea… The Corpus Christi CVB appointed several local community leaders as new directors of the board and made several reappointments. General manager for the Holiday Inn Emerald Beach, Bill Morgan was reappointed to the board and has served since 2000. Robert Tamez and Foster Edwards were also reappointed to the CCCVB board at-large. New appointments include Michael Womack and Mark Schaberg who will also serve from 2008-2010. Womack has been the executive director of the South Texas Botanical Gardens & Nature Center in Corpus Christi since 2006. Schaberg is the owner/operator of Brewster Street Icehouse and Concrete Street Amphitheater.

• Visit Fairfax, the county’s official tourism agency, hired Barry Biggar as CEO. Biggar was formerly president and CEO of the Bryan-College Station CVB.