I was recognized by HotelBusiness.com as one of seven, up and coming under 30, rising stars in the Hotel industry.

1. up & comers
34 | December 15, 2015 | hotelbusiness.com
T
he editorial staff of Hotel
Business has selected seven
rising stars in the hotel
industry and interviewed them
about their career starts, current
responsibilities and plans for the
future. From top positions at hotel
development and investment firms
to a VP of global brands to a general
manager, these selected individuals
have already made an impact on their
respective companies and, we believe,
are poised to fulfill leadership positions
within the hospitality industry.
In fact, who knows what the future
brings? Maybe these Up & Comers will
one day be on Hotel Business’ annual
Ten to Watch list.
In the meantime, we’re always
interested to know who you think
is a professional on the rise. Maybe
it’s someone you’ve worked with, or
someone who currently works for
you. Let us know. Send me a note at
christinat@hotelbusiness.com.
—Christina Trauthwein
One of the tenets Michael Goldwasser,
the 29-year-old general manager at
the 132-room Residence Inn Orlando
Airport in Florida, manages by comes
from a quote from J. Willard Marriott,
founder of the parent company of the
flag his hotel flies: “If you take care of
your associates, they will take care of
the customer, and the customer will
keep coming back.”
That philosophy has worked well for
the graduate of University of Central
Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality
Management, who was in his final year
in college when he landed his first job in
the industry in 2008: a front desk agent
position at the 130-room Springhill
Suites Orlando Airport, owned and
operated by JHM Hotels, which also
does the same for the hotel where
Goldwasser is currently employed.
He ascended to front officer
supervisor at the SpringHill Suites
before becoming manager of six food
and beverage outlets at Orlando
Airport. But, all the while, the lodging
industry was calling him to come back.
“The catalyst was the ability to work
with everything that comprises the
lodging industry: from working with
people and dealing with accounting, to
maintenance and F&B. All of that is ex-
citing to me,” said Goldwasser, who re-
turned to his former stomping grounds
as assistant GM in 2013.
It didn’t take long for him to land his
first general manager position, as he
took on his current role in January of
this year. Goldwasser noted that his
favorite part of the job is “walking into
the hotel knowing that today will not be
the same as yesterday. I look forward to
new challenges and, being in the hos-
pitality industry, different challenges
arise every day.”
—Adam Perkowsky
If not you, who? The motto Elliott
S. Estes keeps in his head apparently
served him well earlier this year. Estes
did what many consider, but often fail
to act upon—he left a great job with a
great company to follow a dream.
In April, that dream—with the confi-
dence-building “rock-solid support” of
his wife, Maia— became reality when
Estes founded Woodmont Lodging,
LLC, a hospitality investment firm.
Estes made the leap of faith from ho-
tel REIT RLJ Lodging Trust, where he
had finance, transaction and portfolio-
management responsibilities, serving
as director of finance and managing
the execution of all asset- and corpo-
rate-level transactions, with aggregate
values in the billions of dollars.
With solid experience behind him,
Estes in the short- to mid-term is
now looking for Bethesda, MD-based
Woodmont, which is focused on acqui-
sition and asset management of select-
service and extended-stay hotels, to
own a portfolio of 10 hotels in its first
18 to 24 months.
To bolster that effort, Estes in Sep-
tember added Michael Blank, another
RLJ executive expat, as a partner.
Blank had managed RLJ’s business
intelligence function, which was re-
sponsible for portfolio-data analysis.
Long term, Estes said the firm,
which has been received “very well,”
wants to “provide institutional-quality
execution to local owners/operators,
and to big institutions that are trim-
ming their portfolios or purchasing
portfolios but are not interested in
the secondary and tertiary markets.”
Noted Estes, “We want to grow. We
want to be one of the larger players,
but we know it’s going to take time to
get there.”
—Stefani C. O’Connor
After graduating Summa Cum Laude
from Mississippi State University’s
(MSU) undergraduate double-major
program in 2008 with an emphasis
in real estate and banking finance,
Sunny Desai was unsure about his
career path until he came to the aid of
his father.
Several years ago, Desai’s father, who
owned a few motels at the time, was
developing the Holiday Inn Express
Suites in Winona, MS. Desai helped
spearhead and manage the project.
“That’s how I fell in love with the whole
process,” said Desai, 29, president
CEO, Desai Hotel Group and a mem-
ber of the IHG Owners Association’s
Emerging Leaders Council.
After finishing MSU’s MBA pro-
gram in 2010, he founded the hotel
development and investment company
based in Jackson, MS, at the age of 24.
Driven by the continuously changing
environment of the hospitality indus-
try, Desai Hotel Group specializes in
developing and managing high-quality,
select-service hotel assets throughout
the Southeastern U.S.
Desai oversees the overall direction
and the day-to-day operations of the
company, which currently has seven
hotels in the pipeline. He attributes
much of the company’s success to his
team members. Over the past few
years, Desai has learned how best to
delegate responsibilities to his staff
while helping to empower them to
reach their goals. “I don’t try to be
everything to everyone,” he said, “and
they’ve been able to grow.”
He added, “My goal as a company
is to become one of the premier hotel
companies in the industry. It’s a long
process. Hopefully, we’re going in the
right direction.”
—Matthew Marin
Michael Goldwasser
GM
Residence Inn Orlando Airport
Sunny Desai
President CEO
Desai Hotel Group
Elliott S. Estes
Principal
Woodmont Lodging, LLC
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