There are several new appointments to announce in the U.S. Mountain West’s hospitality industry. Here are the latest of interest to the meetings and events industry.
Kimpton Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City, Utah
Jeff Olpin, the new general manager of Kimpton Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City,
brings 20 years of industry experience to Hotel Monaco, with his most recent role serving as chief operations officer for Sequoia Hospitality where he launched best-in-class employee and guest relations programs and led key operational strategies for the brand. Olpin is a familiar face to the downtown Kimpton property as he previously held the hotel manager position from 2006-2008. As a longtime resident of Salt Lake City, Olpin takes pride in working with Visit Salt Lake, Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce and other local organizations.
Jerry Pacheco has been named executive chef of the hotel’s Bambara restaurant.
He began his foray into the culinary industry at The Copper Onion, a renowned restaurant in Salt Lake City, and quickly worked his way from dishwasher to line cook, gaining a foundational knowledge of French cooking. The past 12 years have been spent honing his craft at some of Salt Lake’s best restaurants such as Avenues Bistro, Pago, Finca and Pallet; serving as executive sous and sous chef at Bambara; working as a consultant; and launching his own business. Pacheco draws inspiration from both his Mexican heritage and love of Japanese culture while exploring new flavor profiles that incorporate time-honored techniques.
JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort & Spa, Arizona
Matthew Mina has been appointed executive sous chef and brings an extensive culinary background to JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn Resort & Spa. After serving in the Marine Corps, Mina attended culinary school in San Francisco and baking and pastry school in Napa Valley, California. Upon graduation, he joined Auberge du Soleil as the pastry cook and further educated himself on the relationship between food and wine. After leaving Napa Valley, Mina worked in various kitchens in the San Francisco Bay area, Seattle and throughout Oregon before moving to Arizona in 2018 to join Renaissance Downtown Phoenix as executive sous chef.
Kimpton Armory Hotel, Montana
James “Jamie” Miller became general manager of the new Kimpton Armory Hotel in Bozeman, Montana after recently converting the iconic Intercontinental Stephen F. Austin to another brand in Austin, Texas. After a successful career working with Fortune 500 companies in the United States, Miller began his hospitality career in 2007 in Asia with Six Senses Resorts & Spas. In 2011, after a short stint with a venture capital firm in Bangkok, he went to work as hotel manager for Rembrandt Hotel & Suites, a Warwick Hotels flagship property, and four years later joined IHG in the same role for ANA Intercontinental Tokyo. Miller went back to resorts in 2018, taking the helm as general manager of ANA InterContinental Manza Beach Resort before returning to the United States with his family after being in Asia for 15 years.
Courtney Reeves has more than 20 years of experience in hospitality and recently was hired as director of sales and marketing at Kimpton Armory Hotel. A few years after graduating from Florida International University’s hospitality school, she became involved in opening hotels, first as a member of the opening sales team at The Setai Miami Beach and as director of leisure and entertainment sales for Gansevoort Hotel Group’s Miami Beach hotel. Prior to joining Kimpton late last year, Reeves was director of leisure sales at The Villa by Barton G. (formerly the Versace Mansion) in Miami, Terranea Resort in southern California, and One&Only’s Mandarina and Palmilla resorts in Mexico.
