John L. Parkinson has been appointed general manager of Hilton West Palm Beach in Palm Beach Florida, effective immediately. Parkinson most recently held the position of general manager for DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Orlando – Lake Buena Vista, the only all-suite Downtown Disney hotel located inside Walt Disney World Resort.
In his new capacity, he will oversee operations for the contemporary new build 400-room hotel located in the heart of West Palm Beach, scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2016.
Parkinson joined Hilton Worldwide in 2003 as assistant general manager after training with Wyndham Hotels and working in various operational positions at Marriott in Orlando, Florida.
In 2005, he was promoted to hotel manager of Embassy Suites Orlando International Drive South Convention Center before becoming general manager in 2008. As a general manager, his teams have received numerous Hilton Worldwide hotel awards achieving top goals in 2010, 2011 and 2014.
Parkinson graduated from Tennessee Wesleyan College where he was an All-American Baseball Player with a B.S. in Business Administration. He currently is active on the Board of Directors for the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association, is a past Chairman of the Resort Area Chamber of Commerce and sits as a Board of Directors for Little League Baseball. In 2013, he was named to the Orlando Business Journals top 40 influential people in Central Florida under 40 years old.
