Stay - For the Fun of It
Stay - For the Fun of It
International influencers. Local guides. Community champions enticing visits. Around the globe, Spartans play a prominent role in the places we travel and stay. They run leading hotels and resorts, guide global enterprises that deliver one-of-a-kind experiences and promote their destinations. They craft comfortable experiences and ensure guest needs are addressed, helping us to recharge, connect or celebrate—whatever the mood demands. Whether one’s chasing a professional pursuit or fulfilling a personal mission, odds are a Spartan’s around somewhere, inviting you in, ensuring your stay is a pleasant one.
April 1, 2020
MARTHA ZEHNDER KACZYNSKI
Owner and Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Bavarian Inn Restaurant and Lodge
Kaczynski keeps it rolling at the Bavarian Inn, the expansive Frankenmuth, Michigan-based property that pairs an authentic German experience with warm hospitality. As a fourth-generation owner of a proud family business, (Kaczynski’s 96-year-old grandmother, Dorothy, still works six days a week in the Bavarian Inn’s kitchen) Kaczynski helps drive the success of the 360-room resort that serves some 200,000 visitors each year and features four pools, artisan shops settled along cobblestone walkways, daily pretzel rolling and one world-famous chicken dinner at its 1,200-seat restaurant. Kaczynski is among more than a half-dozen Zehnder-related Spartans helping to steer the Bavarian Inn ship. “We joke that we bleed green and chicken,” she says.
MORE: bavarianinn.com
RAMSEY MANKARIOUS
CEO, Cedar Capital Partners
A leading figure in the international hotel industry, Mankarious has rubbed elbows with some of the world’s elite, structuring luxury hotel deals for the ultra-rich, (Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, among the world’s richest men, was one notable client) — as well as institutional investors. Mankarious formed Cedar Capital Partners, then the world’s largest hotel acquisition fund, in 2004 with a simple approach: to buy, fix and sell luxury hotel properties with untapped potential. His London-based firm has played an active role in acquiring and asset managing some of Europe’s marquee properties, such as the Monte Carlo Grande Hotel in Monaco, Hotel
des Bergues in Geneva, The Savoy Hotel in London and Le Meridien Etoile in Paris.
MORE: cedarcp.com
HANS DESAI
Senior Vice President of Leisure Travel, Xanterra Travel Collection
A hike to the top of Machu Picchu. A bicycle ride through French wine country. Dynamic views of the Milky Way from a Death Valley resort. Sleigh rides in Glacier National Park. As senior vice president of leisure travel for Colorado-based Xanterra, the nation’s largest operator of park-based hotels, restaurants and stores, Desai helps to bring those unique experiences and many others across six continents to life for ambitious, wide-eyed travelers. Desai joined Xanterra in 2004 following more than 25 years of hotel management at household hospitality enterprises such as Hyatt and Sheraton.
MORE: xanterra.com
JACKIE COLLENS
Asset Manager, Ty Warner Hotels & Resorts
As an MSU student, Collens spent time studying international lodging in China, Dubai and India before taking her experience to one of America’s toniest addresses: 301 Park Ave. in Midtown Manhattan, home of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. There, she rose through the ranks of sales and marketing positions before being appointed director of luxury sales, a role in which she oversaw sales of the property’s 121 historical suites and accommodated the hotel’s elite visitors. Since leaving the Waldorf Astoria in 2016, Collens has promoted two other prominent Big Apple properties: The St. Regis and, currently, the Four Seasons, the first luxury hotel on Manhattan’s Billionaires’ Row.
MORE: tywarnerhotelsandresorts.com/preview.cfm
HARRIET CARTER AND RENEE MONFORTON
Both Vice Presidents, Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau
Monforton and Carter share a singular mission to solidify Detroit’s place on the national stage, something they’ve successfully accomplished by helping to bring marquee national events like the Super Bowl, the NCAA Men’s Final Four and Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game to Motown. As staff members of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, the world’s first convention and visitors bureau, for a combined 55 years, these Spartans trumpet Detroit’s lively culture, music, culinary and arts scene to anyone and everyone. In her role as vice president of customer and partner services, Carter works with partners to enhance convention experiences in metro Detroit, while Monforton serves as the organization’s go-to marketing and public relations force as the vice president of marketing and communications.
MORE: visitdetroit.com
PATRICIA WIDMAYER AND LARRY WIDMAYER
Co-owners, Glen Arbor Bed and Breakfast
Photo credit: Patricia and Larry Widmayer
Capitalizing on a picturesque scene that ABC’s “Good Morning America” once labeled the most beautiful place in America, the Widmayers have hosted thousands of guests from across the U.S. and the world at their Glen Arbor Bed & Breakfast in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Larry, a commercial real estate vet, and Patricia, a higher education consultant, purchased the historic property located just steps from the Lake Michigan shoreline and amid the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in 2001. The Widmayers, who co-own the property with another husband-and-wife tandem, then renovated the century-old Victorian house in a French countryside vibe befitting the area’s cozy, casual ambience.
glenarborlodging.com
MORE: glenarborlodging.com
SCOTT STEILEN
President and CEO, Sea Island Co.
Steilen has run the show at Sea Island, an idyllic resort nestled amid Georgia’s southern coast, since 2011. Located between Savannah, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida, Sea Island is renowned for its exquisite Southern hospitality and posh elegance, which shines in four different Forbes Five-Star Awards—two for lodging, one for its 65,000-square-foot spa and another for its Georgian Room restaurant. Once a destination for the South’s elite and other distinguished movers and shakers—George and Barbara Bush honeymooned there and then returned for their 50th wedding anniversary—Sea Island’s reputation has circled the world and now attracts a far-reaching clientele eager to experience its five miles of private beaches, three championship golf courses and bingo—yes, bingo, albeit with an elevated Southern flair.
MORE: seaisland.com
JIM BURBA
Co-founder Burba Hotel Network
For two decades, Burba served as connective tissue for the global hotel investment community, a charismatic force who brought lenders, brokers, architects, designers and other hotel industry insiders together as co-founder of the Burba Hotel Network (BHN). The California-based firm hosts industry conferences across 22 countries, including the world’s largest hotel investment event, The Americas Lodging Investment Summit. But Burba cultivated quite the life beyond hotels. Alongside BHN co-founder and partner Bob Hayes, Burba established Burba Hayes, an entertainment production company that has developed films and musicals, while the duo also penned Smart Partners: Building Successful Relationships in Business and Life.
Take partnerships seriously. Work hard to make them work. Never take them for granted. — Jim Burba and Bob Hayes
Contributing Writer(s): Daniel P. Smith
