Executive Shuffle

A pair of prominent operators, Aimbridge Hospitality and Charlestowne Hotels, made notable changes to their executive ranks this past week with key appointments designed to help them continue their respective growth momentum.

Dallas-based Aimbridge Hospitality—which now represents the largest third-party management company in the U.S. with some 1,500 properties in its portfolio—announced the appointment of Michael J. Deitemeyer to CEO. He will succeed co-founder Dave Johnson, effective January 1, 2021. Since October 2019, Deitemeyer has served as the global president of Aimbridge Hospitality, overseeing the merger with Interstate Hotels & Resorts, where he served as CEO.

Dave Johnson will assume the newly created role of executive chairman where he will focus on transformational growth, including capital markets, M&A, and new business opportunities. In his new role as President and CEO, Deitemeyer will be responsible for all of the company’s business segments and will report to both Johnson and the Board of directors.

“With the successful merger of Interstate behind us and Mike’s partnership in running the business over the past year, this is the ideal time to transition the role of CEO,” said Johnson in a statement. “I have been so impressed with Mike’s ability to gain the trust and alignment of our leadership team and bring fresh new thinking to the business.”

In addition, the company announced that industry veteran John Caparella has been appointed president of Evolution Hospitality, the lifestyle, luxury and independent hotel subsidiary of Aimbridge.

In his new role, Caparalla is responsible for managing all facets of the Evolution Hospitality division, which includes a robust development pipeline of soft brands and independent lifestyle properties. Caparella has more than 35 years of experience in the hotel and entertainment industries. His most recent roles include serving as CEO of VSS Southern Theaters, the nation’s 7^th largest theater chain, and as principal at Redmont Hospitality, which was focused on asset management, due diligence, distressed property analysis, and management.

He previously served as President and COO for The Venetian, The Palazzo and Sands Expo complex responsible for the 7,094 room, integrated resort to include 2.25 million sq. ft. of exhibition and meeting space overseeing hotel, casino, food and beverage, entertainment, retail, human resources, finance, marketing, sales, and convention facilities. Prior to that, he was EVP and COO for Gaylord Hotels, where he was responsible for operations, human resources, training, sales, and marketing efforts for four of the largest, most operationally complex hotels in the country.

“John’s notable background, experience, and inspirational leadership will be extremely valuable in spearheading our operations and results in the lifestyle vertical, capitalizing on tremendous growth opportunities in this space,” said Deitemeyer in a statement. “As we continue to leverage the scale of Aimbridge Hospitality to uniquely add value for owners, we remain focused on enhancing our expertise across all hospitality verticals as a key differentiator.”

Meanwhile, Charleston, SC-based Charlestowne Hotels promoted Matt Barba to its corporate team as vp, operations. Barba will lead the third-party management company’s operational strategy of all property management departments, including food and beverage, for a growing portfolio of some 50 independent hotels. He brings nearly 30 years of hospitality experience to his new role with the last decade dedicated to expanding recognition for Charlestowne’s growing management capabilities.

As the company’s regional director of operations for four years, Barba managed multiple properties within the company’s portfolio, spearheading a number of new openings and transitions. He has been with Charlestowne for almost 10 years.

As vice president of operations, Matt will assert Charlestowne’s commitment to operational excellence and refine the company’s tailored service approach for each property in the portfolio, according to the company. This includes improving communication channels among internal corporate teams, identifying operational growth opportunities, strengthening service culture, developing new creative programs to enhance the hotel guest experience and further elevating Charlestowne’s growing food and beverage program.

“Matt’s tenure and dedication to elevating our work with independent hotels has been critical in Charlestowne’s evolution. He’s held leadership roles within each of our departments before they even existed, helping to define our corporate structure and influencing our individualized approach to property management,” said Kyle Hughey, Charlestowne’s EVP and COO, in a statement. “With his return to the corporate team, Matt can now apply his extensive boots-on-the-ground knowledge across our entire portfolio.”