Mr. Steven Belmonte

In 2002, Belmonte returned to his entrepreneurial roots and launched Hospitality Solutions, LLC, a full-service, nationwide consultation firm specializing in lodging industry issues at the hotel and corporate level. Drawing on over 30 years of experience and key contacts both in and outside of the industry, Hospitality Solutions was specifically designed to offer fundamental services in an era of corporate mergers and right-sizing. Services include: motivational speaking, expert witness services, arbitration, franchising assistance, product launches and development, complete asset management, property management and sales, marketing and training. Belmonte was recently elected to the Board of Directors of Arlington Hospitality (NASDAQ/NM: HOST) and also serves on its Audit and Compensation Committee’s.

Prior to Hospitality Solutions, for nearly 11 years Belmonte oversaw the Ramada hotel chain, which had over 1,000 hotels and nearly 135,000 hotel rooms throughout the United States. Major accomplishments included more than doubling the size of the chain, adding the Ramada Limited and Ramada Plaza Hotel tiers, and launching the bold "Ramada's In/Holiday's Out" advertising campaign. As part of his plan to solidly position the Ramada chain in the upper-mid-tier segment, Belmonte also masterminded the revolutionary customer service initiative, Personal Best Hospitality, which offered tuition reimbursement and a variety of other incentives to foster a career path in the hotel industry.

Belmonte’s commitment to give back to the industry where he made his career is also reflected by the positions he currently holds: Chairman of the American Hotel Foundation (AHF) and Vice Chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF). Indeed, his dedication to tomorrow’s hospitality leaders is underscored by his work at the AH&LEF where, as past Chairman of its Fund Development Committee, Belmonte led the "Annual Hospitality Fund" for two years raising record amounts of funds to support the development of lodging operations programs in high schools, resources for research projects and scholarship programs. Most recently, Belmonte chaired the AHF's ambitious "New Century Fund Campaign" in which a record $9.2 million was raised.

As Chairman of the Honorary Board with Childreach (formerly Foster Parents Plan) and recipient of its prestigious Humanitas Award, Belmonte’s passion for helping others has left a well-traveled path dotted with monuments of goodwill. In Africa, Belmonte spearheaded the construction of two medical facilities, a Food and Science Laboratory, a Youth Center in Cairo, and a new library for the Hotel and Tourism Institute in Zambia, Africa complete with an internet connection to encourage the training of aspiring hotel industry leaders. In recognition of his unwavering dedication, the Hotel & Catering International Management Association (H.C.I.M.A.) named Belmonte an Honorary Fellow for his support of the Hotel and Tourism Training Institute Trust in Lusaka, Zambia.

Belmonte was also at the forefront of a $100,000 donation to rebuild a school in the Dominican Republic destroyed by a hurricane. While there, Belmonte personally funded the construction of a massive playground and filmed fundraising commercials for Childreach. Acting as both Childreach sponsor and president of the Ramada hotel chain in the TV commercials, over $1.2 million in new sponsorships for the organization was raised in less than a year. Today, Belmonte continues as Childreach’s national television spokesperson. Further underscoring Belmonte's propensity to give, the American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat-al-Salam, a community of Jews and Arabs coexisting in peace in Israel, presented Belmonte with its first ever Ambassador of Peace Humanitarian Award for his charitable endeavors in the area.

For a combination of historic charitable and business accomplishments, Belmonte was also the recipient of the prestigious 2002 Lifetime Achievement Award bestowed by Roosevelt University in Chicago. Belmonte recently donated $100,000 to the AH&LEF, which was used to establish the "Steven J. Belmonte Scholarship Fund." Belmonte asked that $50,000 of this fund be earmarked for Roosevelt University’s Manfred Steinfeld School of Hospitality and Tourism in Chicago, $25,000 to a Steinmetz in Chicago and $25,000 to Randolph High School in New Jersey.

Prior to his position at Ramada, Belmonte was the President and CEO of Equity Hotel Corporation, a hotel management firm that he co-founded in 1984 and nurtured to become one of the top ten management companies in the industry. A variety of hotel brands made up the 35 property Equity portfolio, which, in addition to his diverse experiences as a franchisee and general manager, equipped Belmonte with a broad range of expertise in the franchised hotel industry.

Mr. Belmonte can be contacted at Stevenbelmonte@aol.com