Hilton Worldwide has announced that Hilton San Diego Bayfront’s Hotel Manager Dave Smith has been promoted to the position of general manager.
Smith began his career with Hilton in 1987 at the 1,600-room Hilton Anaheim working in the mail room. After eight years in various front desk and finance positions, he ascended to the position of director of front office. In 1994, he joined the company’s then gaming division flagship hotel, the 3,600-room Flamingo Hilton Las Vegas as director of front office operations before being transferred to New Orleans as resident manager of the 1,000-room Hilton New Orleans Riverside and the 300-room Hilton New Orleans Airport. In 2003, Smith was promoted to general manager of the 400-room Hilton Cancun Golf and Spa Resort and led its conversion from a franchised hotel to Hilton’s second managed hotel in Mexico. In 2006, Smith received another promotion to the position of general manager of the 500-room Hilton Miami Airport before he relocated back to California in 2009 to open Hilton San Diego Bayfront as hotel manager.
In his latest role, Smith will oversee the day-to-day operations of this contemporary 1,190-room property boasting 165,000 sq. ft. of flexible meeting and event space. Rising 30 stories above San Diego’s waterfront, Hilton San Diego Bayfront captures the essence of the region’s distinctive coastal culture and lifestyle. It is ideally located adjacent to the San Diego Convention Center and across from the Gaslamp Quarter and San Diego Padres Petco Park. The hotel features several restaurants, including Vela Restaurant, Odysea Lounge, Pool Club, Starbucks and FOX Sports San Diego Grill, the award-winning Spa Aquazul and proudly employs more than 800 team members.
A native of Southern California, Smith holds a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University, New Orleans, in Social Sciences with a minor in Business Studies. He and his wife, Jennifer, reside in San Diego with their two teenage daughters. When not busy with work and family, Smith can often be found on the mound – pitching for adult men’s and co-ed softball teams in Poway and Santee.
