CHS DC/Baltimore Chapter Entertains SHA Faculty

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On Monday, January 6, 2020, the CHS Washington DC/Baltimore Chapter hosted their 2020 New Year’s Party with Special Guests Dean Walsh and SHA Faculty at the soon to be Canopy Embassy Row, opening on January 14, 2020. The event gave guests a first look at DC’s newest luxury lifestyle property and was attended by 27 SHA Faculty and over 70 alumni/guests. All were treated to great globally inspired, locally sourced bites from the hotel’s restaurant, Truno as well as craft cocktails (inspired by Death & Co) and local beers. Lastly, the chapter was proud to collect donations on behalf of Big Red Threads (an initiative to make professional attire more accessible to Cornell Hotel School students).

CHS DC/Baltimore Hosts SHA Faculty

CHS Rocky Mountain Chapter Holiday Party – 2019

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On Wednesday night, December 4, 2019, the CHS Rocky Mountain Chapter celebrated the holiday season at downtown Denver’s newest hotel property – the dual-brand Home2 & Tru by Hilton (the first of its kind). The evening included a tour of the 382-room hotel and merry socializing!

Attendee list: Cory Furst ’13, Ali Hoyt ’12, Chad Wemischner ’13, Lida and Neal Bringe, Josh and Raina Taillon ’11, Carolyn Falvey ’15, Heidi Ripley ’15, Jill ’96 and Scott Marble, Hannah Smith ’17, Tom McHugh ’14, Dan (MMH ’04) and Jodie Skodol.

CHS Rocky Mountain Chapter 2019 Holiday Party

CHS Nevada Celebrates the Holidays

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On Thursday, December 12, 2019, the CHS Nevada chapter celebrated the holidays at the home of Dr. Kelly McGuire ’07. Thank you to Jeff Weiss ‘10 and the team from Valencian Gold for an amazing meal! Both Kelly and Jeff exemplify what it means to be a Hotelie!

CHS Nevada 2019 Holiday Party

CHS Arizona Celebrates the Holidays

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The CHS Arizona chapter held their annual holiday brunch in December 2019. The event was hosted by Bill Nassikas ‘76 at the Hearth ’61 restaurant in one of his properties in Paradise Valley – the Mountain Shadows Resort.

CHS Arizona 2019 Holiday Brunch – Mountain Shadows Resort

 

CHS San Diego Holiday Party – 2019

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On December 11, 2019, the CHS San Diego chapter held a hugely successful holiday party.  Nineteen Hotelies and guests gathered at the Park Hyatt Avaira Resort in Carlsbad.  We were thrilled to have two Class of 2019 graduates and guests from Palm Springs in attendance.  Geoff Gray ’08 hosted the group and coordinated the great food and beverages which helped to spark holiday cheer for everyone.

In the picture below, standing L to R:

  • Steven Richitt
  • Tim Sarlund ’00
  • Patrick Singer ’78
  • Tracy Rodgers
  • Brian Rodgers MMH ’98
  • David Latimer ’02 ILR
  • Kelly Chess ’11
  • David Burke ’92 ENG
  • Debora Burke ’93 CALS
  • Victoria Hathaway ’16 CALS
  • Peter Carrera ’16
  • Geoff Gray ’08
  • Elle Gray Future Class of 2040
  • Natalie
  • Jack Piegza ’18

Front Row:

  • Doug Higgins ’04
  • Sarah Latimer ’05
  • Gabrielle DePetro ’19

Not pictured:

  • Lee ’73 and Randee Grossbard

CHS San Diego Holiday Party – 2019

Georgia Chapter Celebrates the Holidays – 2019

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On December 8, 2019 the Georgia Chapter of the Cornell Hotel Society celebrated the holidays at the home of Dipan (MPS ’94) and Bela Patel.  The group of 40 Hotelies and guests enjoyed a buffet of Indian food, along with food trucks serving pizza and tacos.

Instead of the annual gift exchange, this year we held a Cornell trivia contest.  Winners enjoyed prizes consisting of Cornell swag donated by Chapter President Sachin Desai ‘14 and hotel stays donated by D.J. Rama ’96.

Thanks to Sachin for organizing the event.

Georgia Chapter 2019 Holiday Party

5th Annual Dubai Lodging Outlook 2020 Seminar

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On September 15, 2019, the Cornell Hotel Society, MENA Chapter, hosted the 5th Annual Dubai Lodging Outlook 2020 Seminar at Fairmont The Palm, Dubai.  The morning seminar started off with a macroeconomic overview and forecast presentation by Mohamed Abu Basha, Director, Head of Macroeconomic Analysis, at EFG Hermes, a prominent investment bank in the region.  Abu Basha’s presentation was followed by a presentation by Sarah Duignan, Director of Client Relationships at STR.  Sarah highlighted the region’s key lodging trends in addition to STR’s 2020 forecast of key metrics for Dubai.  The seminar was concluded with a panel discussion titled “The Impact of Expo 2020 on the Lodging Market for Dubai”, which was moderated by Tarek M. Daouk ’01, Founder and Managing Partner at Smartotels Group Holdings.  The panelists included: Yigit Sezgin, Chief Commercial Officer, Middle East & Africa, AccorHotels; Gillian Hamburger, Senior Vice President Commercial, EXPO 2020; Guido De Wilde, Chief Operating Officer, Middle East, Marriott International; Richard Thompson, Editorial Director, MEED; and, Philip Wooller, Area Director Middle East & Africa, STR.

Attendance at the event increased by 18% y-o-y, totaling 330 attendees.  Chapter co-President, Aditya Rajaram MMH ’11 led the planning the of the event, supported by co-President Tarek M. Daouk ’01 and a team at STR.  The event was sponsored by Fairmont The Palm and PSAV.

We raised $6,000 USD (33% y-o-y increase), which we plan to donate to the EMEA scholarship fund program.  Adi and I would like to thank all of you for your support and we look forward to hosting this event in future years.

Dubai Lodging Outlook 2020

 

CHS Germany Get Together

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On December 3, 2019, the CHS Germany chapter welcomed Cornellians and guests to the Flagship of Premier Inn in Frankfurt for a CHS Get Together and Site Inspection.

Filled with superb appetizers, snacks, wine from Villa Banfi and cozy conversation as only Hotelie’s can imagine.

A special thanks to Kerstin Gibert for hosting and providing us with interesting news of the spectacular expansion activities of Premier Inn in Germany.

We were pleased to welcome one new Cornellian in town, Inge van Ooteghem COO of Premier Inn in Germany.

During the nice get-together the open dicussions turned around the challenges of the take over of two dozen hotels in very short time and consequently the defiances in the sales with all new techniques.

CHS Germany Tours Premier Inn Frankfurt

CHS Tokyo Gathers Autumn Delights

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CHS Tokyo Chapter held a casual event Autumn Delights Party at Pullman Tokyo Tamachi on November 14, 2019.  We had a special guest speaker Mr. Johnny Shields, CTO of a restaurant reservation company TableCheck, who gave an interesting lecture on what’s happening in the restaurant industry lately.  About 50 Hotelies and their families gathered and enjoyed the lecture and great food.

CHS Tokyo Autumn Delight 2019

CHS Tokyo Autumn Delight 2019

2019 CHS General Meeting in New York

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On November 11th, the Cornell Hotel Society held their annual general membership meeting in New York City at the Gramercy Park Hotel. CHS President, Dexter Wood ‘87, gave an update on the society. Dean Walsh updated the group on school affairs and honored Ted Teng ‘79 for his contributions to the school. First Vice President, Anna Chung ‘13, hosted a panel of students to give a picture of student life today and help the society think about how they can further support students and recent graduates. We honored Phil Miller ’83 whom we lost suddenly earlier this year with memories and in song. His beloved wife, Yasamin Miller, was made an honorary Cornell Hotel Society member. The Society has set up to endowment funds to remember Phil and carry on his legacy. More information on the funds and directions to contribute can be found here: https://youneedtomeet.org/. The next general membership meeting will be held in Ithaca during HEC, March 13th, 2020.

President Dexter Wood ’87 Leads the 2019 CHS General Meeting in NYC