Hilton Orlando Announces Executive Committee

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. August 17, 2009

ORLANDO, FL, August 17, 2009 - The Hilton Orlando today announced the appointment of its executive committee. The committee, led by General Manager Doug Gehret, is made up of Director of Sales and Marketing Juan J. Garcia and several new hires, including:

Thomas Petrillo, resident manager

Sandra Ward, director of events

Chris Mueller, director of food and beverage

Anna James, director of housekeeping

Cesar Hernandez, director of revenue management

Jay Stirewalt, front office director

Kevin Toltzmann, director of engineering

Lori Brock, director of human resources

Francis Kahle, director of finance

"Our executive team is vital to the launch of the Hilton Orlando," said Gehret. "This group of professionals brings a combination of decades of experience plus a wide variety of skills and I'm confident our team will lead this new property to success in the Orlando market."

Scheduled to open in September, the Hilton Orlando is a smart choice for today's business and leisure travelers, offering world-class facilities and amenities for both. With a renewed focus on making responsible business choices, companies and organizations strive to make smart decisions when choosing both a hotel and destination for their meetings and conventions. Today's environment encourages a more serious, business-focused setting, yet the need to have fun and relax remains strong for reasons of health, productivity, and well being.

Designed with these important factors in mind, the Hilton Orlando features a discreet separation between 175,000 square feet of meeting space facilities and its recreational amenities, allowing each type of guest to experience the stay that meets their unique expectations. The new Hilton Orlando will also be the very first hotel to provide a covered open-air walkway to the Orange County Convention Center.

The new executive committee brings decades of hotel experience to the new hotel and the combination of each member's competencies forms the dynamic team responsible for the opening of the 1,400 room Hilton Orlando in September.

Thomas Petrillo will serve as resident manager and will oversee daily hotel operations to ensure flawless execution and delivery of hotel products and guest services. In his previous experience within Hilton Hotels as regional director of food and beverage for the Eastern United States, Canada, and Mexico, Petrillo managed food and beverage operations for approximately 60 Hilton properties in three countries. He has extensive experience in creating award-winning menu concepts that consistently cater to evolving consumer tastes. Most recently, Petrillo assisted with the reopening of the Hilton Cancun after Hurricane Wilma devastated the property in 2006. He was also involved with the openings of the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort, a 374-room beach front resort that opened in 2007, as well as the Hilton Baltimore, a 757-room full service hotel that opened in 2008.

As director of events and catering for the Hilton Orlando, Sandra Ward is responsible for overseeing the development of the event and catering management team including recruitment, training and succession planning. In her service leadership role, Ward manages daily departmental operations and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of high-profile, intricate conventions and special events taking place at the hotel. Previously, Ward was director of events for eight years at the Hilton Atlanta. Prior to joining the Hilton Hotels Corporation family, Ward worked with Marriott International for 18 years. During this time, Ward developed her experience and skills in event management in five different Marriott hotels in convention and catering management.

In the role of director of food and beverage for the Hilton Orlando, Chris Mueller's primary focus lies heavily on ensuring that overall food and beverage quality standards are being met at the hotel. Prior to joining Hilton Orlando, Mueller gained experience working in managerial positions at various Disney hotels and resorts for the past 17 years. Most recently, Mueller served as the catering and convention services director for Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., where he was in charge of maintaining financial goals for food and beverage and admissions and was recognized for his continuous excellence in meeting and exceeding financial standards for the resort.

Anna James will serve as director of housekeeping, responsible for the cleaning and care of the hotel's 1,400 guest rooms. She has extensive housekeeping departmental experience, most recently serving as assistant complex director of housekeeping for Walt Disney World's Swan and Dolphin Resorts where she was responsible for daily operations and property upkeep. Prior to joining Hilton, James worked with Millennium Hotels in their Nashville and St. Louis properties, serving as director of rooms in the Millennium Maxwell House in Nashville and as director of housekeeping at Millennium Hotel in St. Louis. James also worked as director of housekeeping at the Holiday Inn Select in Nashville and was responsible for the housekeeping operations of eight hotels across four states.

Cesar Hernandez brings more than 12 years experience with room reservations, call center operations, front office, e-commerce, sales and strategic marketing to his role as director of revenue management. Most recently, Hernandez worked as director of revenue management and distribution for the Las Vegas Hilton Resort and Casino, where he helped implement the Hilton Hotels Corporation's revenue management and central reservations system. Hernandez first worked with Hilton Hotels as assistant director of revenue management for the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. He then served as a dual property director of revenue management for the Doubletree Boston Downtown and the Doubletree Boston Bayside before returning to Hilton as director of revenue management at the Hilton Cancun Golf and Spa Resort.

As director of the front office, Jay Stirewalt will oversee all front office operations and guest services. Stirewalt first worked with the Hilton Hotels Corporation in 1995 at the Hilton Fayetteville in Fayetteville, Ark., first as a member of room service and later as front office supervisor. He then served as front office supervisor of the Hilton Rye Town in Rye Brook, N.Y., where he was responsible for maintaining proper and accurate check-in/out activity. At the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago, Stirewalt held the positions of front office manager, hotel night manager, and assistant director of front office, before becoming senior assistant director of front office, where he played an active role in the hiring process and completed the hotel's annual budget and monthly forecast. Most recently he served as director of front office operations at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.

Kevin Toltzmann will serve as director of engineering, responsible for continuously improving the appearance and operational effectiveness of the Hilton Orlando through preventative maintenance programs and capital improvements. He brings several years of experience with Hilton Hotels Corporation to his post, most recently holding the position of assistant director of property operations at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Honolulu, where he managed daily maintenance of the 2,904-room resort. Toltzmann also served as property operations manager of the Hilton Waikoloa Village in Waikoloa, Hawaii, where he was a member of the hotel's executive committee, responsible for 112 employees in the property operations department. As assistant director of engineering, Toltzmann led the engineering departments of both the Four Seasons Newport Beach Hotel in Newport Beach, Calif., and the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles at Beverly Hills.

Bringing more than 17 years experience to her role as director of human resources, Lori Brock most recently held the position of senior learning and professional development manager where she facilitated management development workshops for more than 5,700 leaders in three years as one of five regional managers across the United States. She joined Hilton in 1998 as director of human resources for the Hilton Salt Lake City Center, where Brock played a key leadership role during the 2002 Winter Olympics and successfully opened the Hilton Omaha, a convention center hotel, in 2005. Brock began her career as employment and benefits coordinator for the Westin Hotel in San Francisco before serving as human resources manager for Easton Technical Products, Inc. in Salt Lake City, and then as director of human resources at Starwood Hotel's Technology Center, also in Salt Lake City.

Francis Kahle will lead financial operations for the hotel, an important service component to both individual customers and groups. He brings 26 years of experience with Hilton Hotels Corporation to his role as director of finance. Kahle started his career in 1983 as a night auditor at the Hilton Meadowlands and worked his way up to the role of finance manager and later to assistant comptroller at the Five-Diamond Hilton in Short Hills, N.J. He has more than 10 years of experience as a leader of hotel finances, serving as director of finance for both the Hilton Newark Airport and the Hilton Rye Town in Rye Brook, N.Y.

Located on Destination Parkway at the crossroads of I-4, the Beach Line and International Drive, Hilton Orlando is in the heart of Orlando's famous attractions area and just minutes away from Pointe Orlando, Sea World Orlando, Universal Orlando, Walt Disney World and a 15-minute drive to the Orlando International Airport.