Kokua Hospitality Expands Management Team
San Francisco Property Management Firm Taps Phil Tufano Partner and Executive VP and New Onsite Mana
SAN FRANCISCO, CA. June 28, 2007. Signaling its commitment to significantly expanding its property management operations, Kokua Hospitality, LLC, a San Francisco-based property management company, has named 25-year hotel management and repositioning leader Phil Tufano as partner and executive vice president, and appointed new onsite management for the three destination Chicago hotels it is renovating and repositioning for San Francisco-based Oxford Lodging Advisory & Investment Group, LLC (OLAIG).
A 21-year veteran of the Global Hyatt Corporation, most recently general manager of the 966-room Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront, Tufano will help strengthen the emerging Kokua Hospitality brand, which has assumed management responsibilities for the OLAIG-owned 443-room Allerton Hotel on Chicago's Michigan Avenue, 495-room Chicago City Centre Hotel & Sports Club, and 357-room Inn of Chicago Magnificent Mile.
Kokua Hospitality also announced that Birgit Radin has joined the company as managing director of both the Chicago City Centre Hotel and Inn of Chicago Magnificent Mile, and Andrea Mayer and Nichole Benolken have been named general manager and hotel manager of the Allerton and Inn of Chicago Magnificent Mile properties, respectively.
Collectively, the four hotel veterans bring more than 80 years of hospitality management, hotel repositioning, sales and marketing experience to their new positions at Kokua Hospitality.
"We've been impressed by the fact that Kokua Hospitality was created specifically by lodging management and operational experts as a management company with an investors' sensibility," explained Maki Nakamura Bara, Oxford Lodging partner and co-founder. "Phil's expertise in property management and brand and property repositioning should propel additional company growth, while the appointments in Chicago will help Kokua continue to reposition these high-profile properties."
Tufano will split his time between the Chicago properties and Kokua Hospitality offices in San Francisco and Jacksonville, Fla. The Jacksonville resident was stationed in 12 different cities in the U.S. and Caribbean during his 21 years with Global Hyatt, amassing experience with luxury, urban, convention and all-suite properties. He has served in a senior management capacity at a number of high-profile Hyatt properties, including the Grand Hyatt New York; Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Fla.; Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort & Casino; Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa in San Antonio, Texas; Hyatt Regency Bethesda in the Washington, D.C., area; and Hyatt Regency Suites Atlanta Northwest.
A graduate of the Farleigh Dickinson University School of Hotel & Restaurant Management in Rutherford, N.J., Tufano has taught hospitality management classes at the college level. He is current president of the Jacksonville Hotel/Motel Association, past president of the Montgomery County, Md., Convention & Visitors Bureau, and has served on the board of numerous convention and visitor bureaus, and the Hospitality and Tourism Management Board of Advisors at the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech University.
As managing director of the Chicago City Centre Hotel & Sports Club and Inn of Chicago Magnificent Mile, Radin oversees the management and marketing of both properties under the Kokua Hospitality brand umbrella. Offering more than 30 years of hospitality management and repositioning experience, she comes to Kokua from the Westin Ft. Lauderdale where she was general manager. The Germany native began her hotel management career in South Africa before joining Westin Hotels & Resorts in the United States and eventually working with Westin, Starwood and other properties in Denmark, Norway, Chicago and San Francisco.
A 19-year hotel veteran, Mayer began her career with Marriott Hotels, Resorts and Suites in 1988 in New York and has since held management positions for the company in operations, food and beverage, sales and marketing. She has also served as general manager at multiple Marriott properties, and was named 2001 General Manager of the Year for Marriott's Midwest Region. Most recently, she oversaw ownership transition, rebranding and repositioning of Chicago's Hotel 71 and Hotel Blake for The Kor Group.
Benolken joined Kokua Hospitality in 2006 as the Inn of Chicago Magnificent Mile's director of operations and was instrumental in the property's rebirth into a boutique hotel destination, now nearing completion. The DePaul University graduate has more than 10 years of hotel and hospitality industry experience, including numerous sales and operations management positions in the Chicago area.
Kokua Hospitality is currently overseeing more than $45 million in renovations at the three Chicago hotels it is managing for Oxford Lodging. For the Holiday Inn City Centre, acquired by Oxford Lodging earlier this year, Kokua has initiated a $20-million renovation and repositioning of the property into the Chicago City Centre Hotel & Sports Club.
That deal came on the heels of last year's acquisitions of Chicago's Allerton Hotel and Inn of Chicago. For the Allerton Hotel, Kokua is relocating the hotel lobby back to its original 2nd-floor setting to reunite it with the existing bar and restaurant, and converting the third floor into an elaborate ballroom and meeting space for weddings, banquets and formal events.
Kokua's interior renovation of the Inn of Chicago Magnificent Mile is infusing contemporary, boutique-hotel elegance into the classic 1928 property to re-establish it as one of the city's premiere business and leisure destinations. Upon rechristening in July 2007, the redesigned hotel will feature a new lobby and public spaces, reappointed guest rooms and bathrooms, 58 new executive guest rooms and 1,100 additional feet of meeting space including an executive boardroom.
About Kokua Hospitality, LLC
Kokua Hospitality is a property management firm affiliated with Oxford Lodging Advisory & Investment Group, LLC, of San Francisco. Purposely created by lodging management and operational experts as a management company with an investors' sensibility, Kokua Hospitality blends the attention to detail of a customer service entity with the rigors of a real estate investment concern. The name (pronounced "koh-kooh-ah") is Hawaiian for "to serve." Based in San Francisco, Kokua Hospitality manages a growing portfolio of hotels and resorts nationwide.
About Oxford Lodging Advisory & Investment Group, LLC
Oxford Lodging Advisory & Investment Group, LLC is an advisory and investment firm focused on the investment, asset management, property management and renovation of high-quality lodging assets. Oxford Lodging's principals have been responsible for over $6 billion of lodging investments and have asset managed over 100 upscale and luxury hotels, resorts and conference centers. The firm is currently responsible for a $4.4-billion, 14,000-room portfolio of luxury and upscale hotels, conference centers and resorts located throughout the United States and Japan. Oxford Lodging's principals and employees are direct investors in 75% of this portfolio. Oxford Lodging is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Tokyo. For more information on Oxford Lodging, please visit www.oxfordlodging.com.
Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is a global leading lodging company based in Bethesda,Maryland, USA, with more than 4,200 properties in 80 countries and territories. Marriott International reported revenues of nearly $14 billion in fiscal year 2014. The company operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts under 19 brands, including: The Ritz-Carlton®, BVlgari®, EDITION®, JW Marriott®, Autograph Collection® Hotels, Renaissance® Hotels, Marriott Hotels®, Delta Hotels and Resorts®, Marriott Executive Apartments®, Marriott Vacation Club®, Gaylord Hotels®, AC Hotels by Marriott®, Courtyard®, Residence Inn®, SpringHill Suites®, Fairfield Inn & Suites®, TownePlace Suites®, Protea Hotels® and MoxyHotels®. Marriott has been consistently recognized as a top employer and for its superior business ethics. The company also manages the award-winning guest loyalty program, Marriott Rewards® and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® program, which together surpass 50 million members. For more information or reservations, please visit our website at 
