Big Cypress Lodge, a wilderness-inspired hotel inside the 32-story Memphis Pyramid that is now a one-of-a-kind Bass Pro Shops retail and lifestyle experience from founder Johnny Morris,Êhas announced the appointment of Nail Task as General Manager. Mr Task will oversee operations for the 104-room city hotel with meetings and event space that commands the second and third floors of the 535,000 square foot Pyramid located on the banks of the Mississippi River.
With more than 15 years in hotel management, Mr Task has held key manager and food and beverage positions in some of the world’s most celebrated destinations including Napa Valley, Chicago, Switzerland and the coast of Turkey. Mr Task joins Big Cypress Lodge from Titanic Deluxe Hotel in Bodrum, Turkey, where he served as Assistant General Manager of this upscale seaside resort. Previously, Mr Task held management positions at luxury properties including The Meritage Resort & Spa in Napa Valley, Calif; The Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta, Ga.; and the InterContinental Hotel-Chicago O’Hare in Chicago, Ill.
Mr Task holds a bachelor’s degree in hotel management from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, along with a higher diploma in hotel management and tourism from the Swiss Hotel Management School in Caux/Montreux, Switzerland, and a hospitality management diploma from the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Motel Association in Caux/Montreux, Switzerland. A native of Turkey and an avid world traveler, Task speaks English, Turkish, German and French.
Big Cypress Lodge is the sister resort to the award-winning Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri’s Ozark Mountains, which is also the vision of Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris. As theÊ most unique and awe-inspiring hotel in Memphis since its 2015 opening, Big Cypress Lodge features an elegant lobby that evokes a grand hunting lodge and rustic-elegant guest rooms and suites withÊ cabin-style dcor, handcrafted furnishings, electric fireplaces and screened-in porches offering views of the exciting wilderness world inside the 32-story steel Pyramid.
The hotel is set among a groundbreaking outdoors lifestyle and retail experience that features a vast Cypress Swamp environment on the ground level with 100-foot-tall replica Cypress trees, streams and aquariums holding thousands of fish, the country’s tallest free-standing elevator, two restaurants including The Lookout at the top of the Pyramid, fun activities including an archery range and underwater-themed bowling, and even an alligator pond. Big Cypress Lodge includes a boardroom, five conference rooms and a patio space ideal for groups, meetings, events and celebrations.
