Hersha Management Nabs Marriott Veteran

PHILADELPHIA-Hersha Hospitality Management has hired Thomas Reese as president. He will head all operational and administrative functions at the corporate and property level for the locally based company that now manages more than 50 properties in the Eastern United States.

Most recently, Reese was executive vice president of Arlington, VA-based Interstate Hotel Corp. where he oversaw a portfolio of more than 80 properties in the US, Canada and Russia. Prior to that, he spent nearly 20 years in various executive posts with Washington DC-based Marriott International.

From 1984 to 1993, he served as general manager of the 1,824-room Marriott Marquis in New York City. He established Marriott’s markets in Europe and Japan and also served as senior vice president, responsible for more than 100 Marriott-branded properties in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, areas served by Hersha.

Hersha Hospitality Management, an affiliate of locally based Hersha Hospitality Trust, is an independent hotel management company that provides property management and asset management services for the parent REIT and other hotel owners. Jay Shah, executive director of the management company and CEO of the REIT, calls Reese “a seasoned hotelier who will bolster our full-service capabilities and raise the bar at every property under management.”

He continues, “His experience in and understanding of New York will be invaluable to the growth of our fastest growing cluster.” Hersha has five hotels under management in Manhattan and several more under development there along with properties at JFK Airport and in Long Island and Northern New Jersey.