Marcus Hotels & Resorts has announced that Andrea Foster has been named senior vice president, development for Marcus Hotels & Resorts and MCS Capital LLC. Foster, a 20-year hospitality veteran and lodging industry expert, will be responsible for marketing the company’s hotel management capabilities and identifying and securing potential acquisition, joint venture and third-party management opportunities for the company.
Foster joins Marcus Hotels & Resorts and MCS Capital from PKF Consulting|CBRE Hotels, where she most recently served as managing director, leading PKF’s Boston office and overseeing its national Spa Advisory Practice. From 2006-2011, she served as vice president, marketing and business development for Miraval Holdings, a top-rated destination spa resort and healthy lifestyle brand. Foster began working with PKF|CBRE in Los Angeles in 2002 where she was responsible for hospitality real estate ventures and feasibility analysis. She returned to PKF|CBRE in 2011. Her career also includes operations management positions with boutique-size branded and independent hotel properties on the East and West coasts.
“Andrea’s extensive experience in operations, business development, marketing, feasibility and valuation, as well as hotel spa and wellness, is an excellent addition to our company. Andrea will work closely with William H. Reynolds, Jr., senior managing director of MCS Capital, in pursuing opportunities to further expand our hotel portfolio by adding high-quality management contracts and sourcing potential hotel investment opportunities,” said Joseph Khairallah, chief operating officer of Marcus Hotels & Resorts. “We look forward to continuing to expand the presence of Marcus Hotels & Resorts as an operator of unique and high quality hotels nationally.”
During her career, Foster has worked on a variety of assignments involving market positioning and repositioning, feasibility analysis, appraisals, operational analysis, sales and marketing analysis, spa studies, impact studies and tourism studies. She has become a key voice at hotel investment conferences and was the publisher of PKF’s Trends in the Hotel Spa Industry report. Foster is president of the Cornell Hotel Society New England Chapter, industry advisor to Cornell University Spa Association, scholarship chair for ISPA (the International Spa Association), a member of the NEREJ (New England Real Estate Journal) Hotel Advisory Board, an active member of CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) Boston, and is a regular speaker at the hospitality schools at Cornell and Boston University.
“We are fortunate to have a leading expert of Andrea’s caliber join our development team. Her knowledge of the industry and her many professional relationships and contacts will be a significant asset to Marcus Hotels & Resorts and MCS Capital as we pursue growth opportunities,” said William H. Reynolds, Jr.
Foster, originally from Maine, is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration with a concentration in real estate finance and operations.