Recently named Catering & Conference Services Director of the Year for Omni Hotels & Resorts, and Manager of the Year on the property level, Yojainna Otero is a study in how experience in multiple areas of hotel operations is a well-rounded and grounded path to success.
Director of catering and convention services at Omni La Mansión del Rio and Mokara Hotel & Spa—historic properties connected by the Instagram-tastic Selena’s Bridge over the famed San Antonio River Walk—25-year hotel and resort veteran Otero started her career in operations at La Mansión as a manager trainee, handling housekeeping, front desk, reservations and finally conference services. From there, she rose to assistant director of conference services before leaving for another San Antonio property to handle catering, weddings, social gatherings and groups. Otero found her way back to her career home in January 2023 after 14 years.
Her years of experience on the operations side remains indispensable to her current job leading the catering and convention services team.
“I thought I was going to be in the operations world for quite a bit, but then the director of catering asked me if I would be interested in joining, and it was just a whole different world to do meetings and events,” Otero said. “The key to continuing on my career path was the fact that I had that operations background, because you combine the best of both worlds to be able to do the meetings but understand the operations side of executing them.”
F&B Trends
As the leader of the two hotels’ catering and conferences operations, which includes restaurants Four Brothers, El Colegio and Ostra at La Mansión, Otero also has to be up on meetings and events F&B trends.
“I think the expectation of attendees and groups is they want to have that experience, not just traditional buffets and your plated ‘rubber chicken,’” she said. “They want to come in and have more of an immersive, interactive experience, so we actually created a Guacamole and Margarita Challenge as part of our menus last year, where we have the groups do teambuilding. They’re making their own guacamole and they’re mixing their margaritas and then they judge it and enjoy it with chips and queso to enhance it. It’s a whole experience with action stations and it gives them the opportunity to network as well. You’re not just going straight to a seat and talking to the same 10 people.”
Catering Advice for Meeting Planners
For Otero, the relationship between meeting and event planners and her staff is one of partnership.
“That sense of working toward the same goal, sharing their vision,” she said. “The big question I tell my team to ask meeting planners is, ‘What do you envision for your meetings?’ so we can partner with them to create customized menus for receptions and dinners, block the correct meeting space with the right meeting layouts and set everything up so that it flows right and it’s flawless when they get here. Be proactive, not reactive—it’s truly a partnership. Gone are the days of order taking. Tell me what your vision is so we can enhance it.”
Group Offerings
A River Walk experience is really a must-do for any group visiting San Antonio, and Otero’s crew is up for the challenge.
“We do barges—it’s a big, big trend here in town specifically,” she said. “We will load up a salad for a first course and you [cruise] for 15 minutes on the San Antonio River, see all the sights and then come back and we’ll do a dinner entree and dessert and some craft cocktails, and some music depending on the number of people.”
Otero added that groups can also opt to stay on the barges for another 35 or 40 minutes for additional F&B service.
Groups can also take advantage of the spa at La Mansión sister property Mokara Hotel & Spa for mimosas and light snacks, along with mini facials and massage chairs incorporated into meeting breaks.
Otero said groups, and especially those skewing on the younger side, also want to socialize around lawn games.
“We have a cornhole courtyard that we created where we do cornhole and Jenga,” she said.
Meetings Today LIVE! Shares Some Brotherly Love
Yojainna Otero and her catering colleagues figured large in Meetings Today LIVE! National, held April 28-May 1 in San Antonio and the Hill Country.
Following a tour of sister properties Omni La Mansión del Rio and Mokara Hotel & Spa, the group settled in at La Mansión’s Four Brothers restaurant for a sprawling buffet that featured a raw oyster bar from Ostra restaurant and a carving station portioning out ribeye roast, among various Tex-Mex cuisine favorites.
With Meetings Today LIVE! occurring right at the end of San Antonio’s signature annual event, Fiesta (which dates to 1891 and was created to celebrate the heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto), Four Brothers themed the gathering with a festive flair celebrating the destination’s unique blend of cultures.
Highlights included cornbread shaped like the state of Texas, an elote bar, live music and a cocktail machine that whipped out frothy, Meetings Today-branded mocktails dubbed the Seamless 12.
