Cachet Hotel Group (CHG) has announced the opening of its new office in Los Angeles, California along with the appointment of a new leadership team, demonstrating its commitment to expanding in the Americas.
Meredith Gelacak joins CHG in a newly created position, as President of Hotel Operations – Americas, reporting to CEO Alexander Mirza. A veteran of the hotel industry, Gelacak brings more than 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, including 15 years with Hilton Hotels Worldwide, where in her last role she served as Vice President of Food and Beverage where she oversaw US$2 billion dollars of revenue for Hilton Hotels, managing celebrity chefs and third party operator relationships. Gelacak also served as General Manager for several full service Hilton Hotels with an average key count of 400 rooms. In addition, she brings substantial entrepreneurial experience, from serving as Chief Operating Officer of a luxury spa venture featuring LVMH brands that managed the Waldorf Astoria New York Spa, to participating in the launch of the award winning French restaurant, Millesime, at the Carlton Hotel in New York.
Yvonne Choi has been promoted to Chief Development Officer – Americas and Global Head of Residential. Over the past year, Choi successfully negotiated Cachet’s entry into the America’s with new projects in Los Cabos and Westlake Village, California. In this new position, Choi will oversee the development and expansion of CHG hotels, resorts and mixed-use developments throughout the Americas. Choi joins the Americas leadership team from Asia, where she was Chief Marketing Officer.
Prior to joining Cachet, Choi worked at SBE’s international development team based in Los Angeles. Choi began her career at the Corcoran Group, New York’s premier luxury property and real estate marketing company. As Corcoran’s Development and Acquisitions Manager, she oversaw the sales and marketing of a luxury residential portfolio worth in excess of US$500 million. Choi’s education includes a double degree in marketing and business management from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
“The appointment of new U.S. based leadership positions, coupled with the signing of Westlake California and Los Cabos, Mexicodemonstrates our commitment to expanding in the Americas,” said Alexander Mirza, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We look forward to working with both U.S. based and international hotel owners to acquire, convert and monetize their hospitality related investments in the Americas.”
Rounding out the team is Tiina Martin, Managing Director of Interior Design – Americas. Martin brings nearly 15 years of design and development experience to CHG. Prior to joining the Los Angeles office, Martin advised Cachet on its hotel brand standards and worked on a major lifestyle destination resort projects in Las Vegas. She also spent several years at Gensler, the world’s leading collaborative design firm, where she worked on a wide variety of hospitality, retail and transportation projects. Among some her most notable projects are the Aria Resort & Casino, a 4,000 key luxury resort and casino in Las Vegas, a high-end shopping district named the Crystals at CityCenter and Sands Cotai Central, a multi-brand hotel resort, casino and retail development on the Cotai Strip inMacau. Martin currently oversees Cachet’s interior design of the 309 room Los Cabos integrated resort, featuring two Cachet hotel brands, multiple restaurants and a destination beach club.
