Robert T. Foley – Chief Talent Officer
Bob Foley is one of the hotel industry’s most respected human resources executives. He is the former president and CEO of Travelodge Hotels and of the Educational Institute of the American Hotel/Motel Association. Mr. Foley held officer-level positions in human resources for more than 20 years with such industry leaders as Marriott, Sheraton, Beacon/Guest Quarters, and La Quinta Inns. At Beacon/Guest Quarters, Mr. Foley helped build an employee infrastructure that grew from start-up to 40 hotels in just four years, establishing innovative policies and procedures to support a groundbreaking “associates first” organizational culture.
Christopher Devine – Chief Financial Officer
Chris Devine joined the Company in 2007 and is responsible for overseeing all Pyramid’s finance, accounting, tax, reporting, treasury, risk management, information technology and legal/compliance functions. He has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, loan restructurings and working on equity and debt offerings for publicly-traded REIT’s. Chris previously spent nine years in public accounting working exclusively with real estate and hospitality companies. He was most recently a Senior Manager in the real estate group at PwC. He is a Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts.
John S. Hamilton – Senior Vice President, Business Development and Acquisitions
John Hamilton has 25 years of experience sourcing, evaluating, underwriting, and executing hospitality real estate and management transactions. He has been associated with such prominent firms as Promus Hotels, Carnival Hotels & Resorts, Doubletree Hotels, and Laventhol & Horwath. He is the former Senior Vice President, Business Development for Destination Hotels and Resorts (Lowe Hospitality Group) and was most recently President of Hospitality Management Liaison, a business development consulting firm.
Chris Pfohl – Senior Vice President, Acquisitions and New Business
Chris Pfohl has over 30 years of experience as the developer, owner, and operator of hotels throughout the United States. He has led the acquisition, development, and management contract process for over 140 hotels throughout his career while holding Senior Officer-level positions for Hilton, InterContinental, and DoubleTree Hotels. In addition, he has held positions with Bentley Forbes Hospitality Group, Promus Hotel Company, and the Beacon Hotel Group operating, asset managing, acquiring, and developing numerous hotels and resorts.
Jack Levy – Senior Vice President, Financial Analysis
Jack Levy has extensive expertise in the analysis and structuring of complex financial transactions in the hotel, real estate and leisure industries. He is the former Executive Vice President, Treasurer, with Pebble Beach Company and former Senior Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions with Promus Hotel Company, Doubletree Hotels Corporation and The Beacon Companies of Boston.
Jim Merrill – Senior Vice President, Operations
Jim Merrill brings more than 25 years of hospitality experience to his position as Senior Vice President of Operations. He began his career with the Sonesta and Hyatt Corporations and then worked at Guest Quarters Hotels (later Doubletree, Promus and Hilton Hotels) until joining Pyramid in 2004. He gained extensive operations experience working in several General Manager positions and then assuming multi-unit/regional responsibilities. Before assuming his present role he worked as Pyramid’s Vice President Southeast Region and Vice President of Asset Management in the Resort Division overseeing the Marriott and Ritz Carlton Resort portfolio.
Chuck Freije – Senior Vice President, Operations
Chuck brings over 25 years of hospitality experience to Pyramid. He has been a General Manager with Doubletree Hotels and both an Area Managing Director and an Area Vice President with Doubletree and Promus Hotels. He was General Manager of Colorado’s largest hotel and convention facility and an Area Managing Director for Hilton Hotels. Since joining Pyramid, Chuck has had experience as an Area Managing Director and most recently as Vice President of Operations for Pyramid’s multi-branded Northeast region. Chuck is a past President of the Denver Hotel and Lodging Association, served on the board of Directors for the Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau and was on the Executive Board of the Denver Urban League. As Senior Vice President of Operations, Chuck is responsible for the operational performance of central and western properties, brand relationships and new project conversion.
Steve Henderson – Senior Vice President, Operations
Steve Henderson has over 30 years of hospitality experience. Before joining Pyramid in 2010 her served for 10 years as Vice President of Operations for Sunstone Hotels and Regional Vice President of CSM Lodging. Steve also spent 12 years at Promus/Doubletree Hotels where he worked as Area VP of Operations, General Manager, and in acquisitions and transitions. He began his career in Food and Beverage, where he acquired extensive experience in free standing restaurant, bar and banquet operations.
Edgar Nugent – Senior Vice President, Hotel Accounting
Ed Nugent is a senior hospitality executive with more than 25 years of financial management experience. His 20-year tenure with Marriott Corporation took him from Texas to Panama to Saudi Arabia and Germany. Prior to joining Pyramid Hotel Group he was a partner in his own hospitality consulting firm, where he counseled hotel owners and investors seeking development support.
Edward Riley, AIA – Senior Vice President, Project Management
Ed Riley has over twenty years of diverse experience in real estate development, architecture, planning and construction management. A licensed architect, Mr. Riley has provided senior leadership for companies including Intrawest Placemaking, Bertino & Associates, and Marriott International. Prior to joining Pyramid, he was the Vice President of Development for Intrawest Placemaking in Reno, Nevada.
David Newhart – Senior Vice President, Resorts & Asset Management
David Newhart comes to Pyramid Hotel Group with 35 years of hospitality experience, including senior level positions in operations and finance. At Doubletree Hotels he worked as Vice President and Hotel Operations Comptroller and Regional Vice President of Operations. For the last ten years Mr. Newhart was General Manager of Philadelphia’s Hilton Inn at Penn which he opened and successfully ran as a AAA Four Diamond property.
Jeff Weggeman – Senior Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Ecommerce
Jeff Weggeman has a deep and diverse experience in the hospitality industry. In addition to working as General Manager and Director of Sales & Marketing at a number of conference centers, he has also served as Vice President Sales, the Americas for Dolce, VP Sales & Marketing for Aramark and RVP Sales & Marketing for HEI Hotels. He is a graduate of the hospitality program at Widener University.
Richard Holtzman – Senior Vice President Resort Operations
Richard Holtzman has over 30 years of hospitality experience with a strong emphasis on resort management and extensive knowledge of the Hawaiian Islands. He has held a number of executive level positions, including President of Kukui’ula Development Company, a resort residential community on Kauai; President of Grand Bay Hotels and Resorts, and President of Carefree Resorts. Most recently he was a principal of R.A. Holtzman & Associates, a resort-focused development, asset management and advisory company.