255 guest rooms at the doorstep of the Rockies. 20,000 square feet of meeting space hosting CSU's biggest weekends and Northern Colorado's most important corporate gatherings. Spring Creek Grill, the lobby lounge, and the in-house Starbucks. Atrium is hiring a visionary General Manager to steer one of the most desirable lifestyle markets in the country — where mountain adventure meets Old Town charm. Here is the record, the alignment, and the playbook.
See Role Alignment →The Operator
U.S. News #1 Hotel in Iowa. Business of the Year in nine months. 25% RevPAR growth. 40+ associates mentored into management. $1M+ in activation-driven incremental revenue.
As General Manager at Hotel Julien Dubuque and previously The Warrior Hotel (Marriott's Autograph Collection), I've led culture and operations at branded full-service properties from day one — both with restaurant, lounge, and event business at scale. The Warrior earned #1 Hotel in Iowa within a year; Hotel Julien earned Business of the Year in nine months. Both times the job was the same: set the tone, build the team, make the building mean something to the city around it.
The Hilton Fort Collins is positioned at the intersection of three demand engines — Colorado State University and Canvas Stadium next door, Old Town Fort Collins and the craft brewing capital of the state minutes away, and the foothills of the Rockies on the horizon. Atrium SPIRIT — Service, Perseverance, Inclusion, Respect, Innovation, Teamwork — is the operating culture I've been building for over a decade. Below is how that record maps to this property.
Role Alignment
Atrium is hiring a visionary General Manager with 6+ years of GM experience at a major branded hotel, extensive rooms and F&B experience, the ability to drive operational and financial performance, and the disposition to lead with SPIRIT. Here is how the record lines up.
F&B Leadership
Spring Creek Grill, the lobby lounge with its house Spring Creek Ale, and the in-house Starbucks make F&B a core lever for revenue, NPS, and community visibility at this property. Here is the record.
Relaunched three underperforming F&B outlets — steakhouse, rooftop bar, and bowling lounge. Rebuilt the teams, refreshed the menus, and established new operational systems for each. Three distinct service cultures under one roof. The rooftop became the city's social anchor. F&B became the hotel's strongest community asset. $200K in auxiliary F&B spend from the community relaunch alone.
Rebuilt the three-meal casual dining restaurant and cocktail lounge. Launched a sold-out murder mystery dinner at 40% profit margins — 100 guests in costume, blue uplighting, period cocktails, and a fully produced theatrical experience. Orchestrated the hotel's first Culinary Olympics — teams competing across prep stations with chef judges. Grew banquet revenue $300K.
The Opportunity
Hilton Fort Collins has the location, the meeting footprint, the Hilton distribution machine, and three of the most concentrated demand drivers in Northern Colorado on its doorstep. These are four engines mapped to the property — each proven at the branded full-service properties I've operated.
Walking distance to Colorado State University and Canvas Stadium is one of the strongest physical advantages of any Hilton in the Mountain West. Programs that lock in Rams football weekends, family weekend, graduation, Parents' Weekend, homecoming, and the Lagoon Concert Series — well in advance of comp set. Group blocks with Athletics, the College of Business, and CSU Foundation. Alumni packages tied to Forever Green and Bohemian Foundation. Owning the CSU calendar at premium rates is the fastest path to RevPAR Index improvement.
Fort Collins is the Napa Valley of Beer — New Belgium, Odell, Horse & Dragon, Maxline, Gilded Goat, Rally King. Spring Creek Bar & Grill's house Spring Creek Ale is already a brand asset; the next step is partnership programming. Brewery-curated weekend packages. Tour de Fat, Colorado Brewer's Festival, Fortoberfest, and FoCoMX weekends positioned as Hilton Fort Collins anchors. A monthly "Brewmaster's Table" dinner series at Spring Creek Grill featuring rotating local partners. Old Town is twelve minutes away — we make Hilton Fort Collins the launchpad.
20,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, foothills views, and proximity to Rocky Mountain National Park (45 miles) and Horsetooth Reservoir (12 miles). Corporate retreat packages bundling meeting space with brewery tours, mountain biking at Lory State Park, and Poudre Canyon excursions. Wedding-and-rehearsal packages anchored by the Hilton, with a curated vendor circle. Destination meeting positioning for Front Range corporate, association, and university market. At The Warrior, banquet revenue grew $300K and wedding profitability improved 30% under this exact playbook.
Fort Collins residents are the foundation of any full-service property that wants to matter. Programs that turn locals into Spring Creek Grill regulars, lobby lounge happy-hour fixtures, and Starbucks morning routines. First-look invitations to seasonal menus, priority event access, focus groups that shape what the property becomes. They fill the lounge on Wednesdays. They bring out-of-town family to the Hilton. They defend the property because they feel like it's theirs — and they tell every recruiting CSU professor, every visiting family, every Tour de Fat rider where to stay.
The Programming
This is how I'd program Hilton Fort Collins. Twelve months, each built around Spring Creek Grill, the lobby lounge, the in-house Starbucks, the 20,000 sqft of meeting space, and the Fort Collins/CSU calendar. Every theme ties a tentpole event, outlet activations, a rooms package, a local partner, and a team recognition moment. Nothing exists in isolation. Each month feeds the next.
Vibe: Wellness anchors the year. "Dry January at Spring Creek" zero-proof cocktail flights. CSU Spring Semester welcome package for visiting parents. "Mountain Morning" breakfast partnership with Old Town Athletic Club. Corporate Q1-kickoff retreat packages targeting Front Range tech and energy companies.
Vibe: Fort Collins Winter Brewfest weekend (Feb 28) is the anchor — Hilton becomes the official lodging partner. Valentine's "Spring Creek & Spirits" tasting menu. Couples' getaway packages tied to Horsetooth Reservoir snowshoe trails. Pre-spring wedding tasting Saturdays.
Vibe: Spring snowmelt season. CSU Basketball home stretch — game-day packages with Spring Creek Grill pre-game menu. "Architect's Hour" guided tours of Hilton meeting spaces for Front Range planners. Colorado Brewer's Guild and Summit conference outreach. NCAA tournament viewing parties.
Vibe: FoCoMX weekend ("Biggest Little Festival in America") — Hilton Fort Collins as official artist housing. Earth Day at Odell partnership package. CSU ACT Human Rights Film Festival viewing series at the lounge. Horsetooth Half Marathon weekend (runner room blocks, carb-loading menu at Spring Creek Grill).
Vibe: Peak family weekend. CSU graduation packages selling out by January. Mother's Day brunch at Spring Creek Grill. Colorado Marathon weekend block. Memorial Day Old Town Car Show packages. Wedding season opens — private-buyout meeting space tours every weekend.
Vibe: Colorado Brewer's Festival weekend — Hilton as official lodging. Tour de Fat at New Belgium — "Costume Concierge" package and brewery shuttle. Father's Day Spring Creek steak-and-stout dinner. Taste of Fort Collins partnership. Rocky Mountain National Park "Dawn Patrol" pre-park breakfast and shuttle.
Vibe: Peak summer travel. Fort Collins 4th of July Parade weekend — Old Town shuttle service from Hilton. Cheyenne Frontier Days "Daddy of 'Em All" packages. Larimer County Fair & Rodeo weekend. Lagoon Concert Series Wednesday packages with CSU. Rocky Mountain National Park alpine season programming.
Vibe: CSU move-in. Hilton Fort Collins as the move-in headquarters — family packages with breakfast at Spring Creek Grill, Starbucks pre-loaded gift cards, late checkout for tearful goodbyes. Football season opens at Canvas Stadium — first home game block. Brewmaster's Table series launches.
Vibe: Football is the calendar. Hilton Fort Collins as Rams Gameday HQ — pre-game Spring Creek menu, tailgate package, post-game lounge programming. Corporate Q3 retreat season. CSU recruiting weekends. Labor Day mountain getaway packages.
Vibe: CSU Homecoming — Hilton Fort Collins as the alumni anchor. Tour de Corgi weekend (yes, the corgis — pet-friendly package, "Corgi Concierge" branded amenity). Fortoberfest weekend. Fall foliage Rocky Mountain National Park packages. Sip Saturday harvest cocktail series at the lounge.
Vibe: Friendsgiving and homecoming for families. Spring Creek Grill Thanksgiving service (turkey to-go, multi-generational dining room). CSU final home football game. Front Range corporate Q4 wrap-up retreats. Black Friday "Bonvoy Bonus" rates targeting Hilton Honors members.
Vibe: "Twelve Days of Spring Creek" cocktail and prix fixe series. CSU finals-week study lounge and care packages. New Year's Eve gala in the ballroom with a foothills-themed program. Holiday party season — corporate, university, and association bookings. Year-end team recognition gala.
The System
Signature monthly event
Spring Creek Grill, lobby lounge, Starbucks cafe
Themed package or add-on
CSU, brewery, or community collaboration
Content moment
Team recognition
In Production Now
This isn't theoretical. Right now I'm executing a year-long programming calendar at Hotel Julien Dubuque built on the same system outlined above.
When the nation's semiquincentennial presented a once-in-250-years opportunity, I didn't wait for a directive. I built a full-year programming calendar — twelve themed months, each anchored by a community partnership and supported by dozens of activations across F&B, events, and guest experience.
The result: a dozen new community partnerships forged in a single year, dozens of new activations that didn't exist before, and a property that went from hosting events to being the cultural anchor of its city.
The Execution
Four consecutive months from the America 250 campaign at Hotel Julien Dubuque. Room promos, daily F&B specials, tentpole events, recurring series — every month a complete system, not a single event.
February: Love & Freedom
March: Prohibition & Progress
April: Art & Music
May: Heroes of Service
Proof of Work
In 2024, I took the helm at Hotel Julien Dubuque — Iowa's oldest hotel — while simultaneously retained as a strategic consultant for a $250M portfolio across four properties: The Warrior, Hotel St. Louis, Hotel Blackhawk, and The Current Iowa.
The Team: Transitioned from day-to-day operations to coaching General Managers across the portfolio, serving as a liaison between ownership and staff, building the culture infrastructure that would sustain without me in the building.
The Guest: 22 precinct-wide activations designed to manufacture demand rather than capture it — experiences that gave guests a reason to come back before they'd left.
The Friction: Bridged the gap between ownership and operations across 900,000 sq ft of combined real estate — finalizing budgets, protecting partnerships, clearing the path for four leadership teams to execute.
The Asset: 6% TRevPAR increase across the consulting portfolio. Simultaneously drove Hotel Julien to “Business of the Year” status.
The Warrior Hotel was a restored icon — Marriott's Autograph Collection, stunning architecture. The opportunity was to turn it into a benchmark.
The Team: Every department aligned around one shared goal. Culture and performance moved together — not as competing priorities, but as the same thing.
The Guest: Guest satisfaction rose 20 points. Recovery programs transformed feedback into loyalty. Guests didn't just return — they advocated.
The Friction: Labor forecasting tied to occupancy. Menu engineering balancing quality with cost. Systems that let people do their best work without fighting the operation.
The Asset: RevPAR lifted 25%. RGI increased 19.6%. Named Top Hotel in Iowa by U.S. News & World Report — 2024 and 2025.
The Warrior Hotel reopened in 2020 — mid-pandemic — and spent two years without a community identity. No local following. No neighborhood connection. When I arrived as AGM in 2022, the building was beautiful. The relationship with its city was nonexistent.
The Team: Gave the team ownership of the relaunch. Every department hosted their own ribbon cutting — spa, restaurant, rooftop bar. The team became the face of the property.
The Guest: We didn't ask how do we get guests? We asked how do we become part of this place? Six weeks of community events turned opening weekend into opening season.
The Friction: Removed every barrier to community access. No gatekeeping, no VIP-only events. Open doors. Free tours. The hotel belonged to the city before it belonged to travelers.
The Asset: 2,000+ people walked through the property in six weeks. Five local press stories. City council began hosting delegations. Community buy-in became the foundation for every dollar that came after.
Activations compound when they're systematic. Not a wine dinner here, a holiday party there — a tiered calendar where each event feeds the next.
The Team: Gave the team creative ownership over their signature events. When housekeeping designs the holiday party and the bar team creates the cocktail series, they're invested in the outcome — not executing someone else's idea.
The Guest: Three tiers: signature series (weekly recurring), tentpole moments (monthly), and anchor events (seasonal). Guests returned not because we asked them to — but because they knew what was coming next.
The Friction: Built repeatable systems — templates, vendor relationships, marketing cadences — so every activation didn't have to be reinvented. The system ran itself.
The Asset: $1M+ in activation-driven revenue from 2022–present. Shifted perception from we're here if you need us to you need to be here for this.
Hospitality's retention crisis isn't about pay. It's about meaning. People leave because they don't feel seen, don't see a future, and don't believe their work matters.
The Team: Built the crucible. Multi-layered recognition — monthly, weekly, daily. Career pathing infrastructure. High-potential identification. Mentorship tracks. An environment where people fall in love with the challenge of becoming who they're capable of being.
The Guest: Stable teams mean consistent service. Consistency is what the Hilton brand standard requires — and it's the thing that can't be faked.
The Friction: Removed the obstacles that make people leave — unclear expectations, invisible growth paths, leaders who don't listen. Poured into the cup so the cup could pour into the guest.
The Asset: 40+ associates mentored to management. 24% leadership retention increase. Engagement scores jumped 27 points. Internal promotion at Atrium-aligned ratios.
How I Lead
I operationalize a culture of belonging through a process I call the 3Ts — Trajectory, Tools, Tangibles. They're how every associate, guest, and community partner experiences Hilton Fort Collins as something distinct.
Every associate knows where we're going as a property — and exactly where their role fits in that arc. Vision without orientation is a poster on the wall. Vision with orientation is how you turn a 255-key Hilton into the cultural anchor between CSU and the Rockies. 25% RevPAR growth at The Warrior. 18% TRevPAR growth.
Hilton brand training. Real systems. Real authority. Every associate gets what they need to deliver consistently — and the trust to make the call when a guest needs it. That's the difference between hospitality that performs and hospitality that holds. Hilton properties I've opened ran 10 points above brand average from day one. NPS up 9 points at Hotel Julien in six months.
To associates: SPIRIT operating in practice — real benefits, real recognition, real growth (engagement up 27 points). To guests: Hilton brand standards executed with intention across Spring Creek Grill, the lounge, and every guest room. To community: Hilton Fort Collins as the gathering place of the Choice City. Chamber Business of the Year. #1 Hotel in Iowa, U.S. News & World Report.
Trajectory sets the destination. Tools make excellence achievable. Tangibles are what people actually receive — to each other, to our guests, to the communities we serve. That's how Hilton brand standards become muscle memory.
Lead with Heart
Atrium leadership starts with talent curation. Award-winning teams don't happen by accident. They happen when leaders invest in the employee experience with the same intention they bring to the guest experience. People who feel genuinely developed, challenged, and valued don't just deliver brand standards — they embody them.
Every team member keeps a structured gratitude journal — a daily practice that shifts mindset from task completion to ownership and purpose. It sounds simple. It's transformative. Teams that practice gratitude operate with more patience, more empathy, and more resilience under pressure. The guest feels the difference even if they can't name it.
A structured mentorship program built on curriculum that mirrors high-end MBA programs — leadership development, financial literacy, strategic thinking, and communication. Every associate has a development pathway that extends beyond their current role. The message: we're not just investing in your performance here. We're investing in who you're becoming.
No two team members get the same development plan because no two people have the same ambitions. Individualized growth tracks designed around each person's goals, strengths, and areas of opportunity. The result: 40% of management hires from within is a floor, not a ceiling.
