255 rooms in the foothills of the Rockies — adjacent to Colorado State University and Canvas Stadium, two miles from historic Old Town, the heart of the Napa Valley of Beer. Spring Creek Grill, the Café, the Lounge with its own Spring Creek Ale, and 18,653 sq ft of event space that anchors Northern Colorado. Atrium is hiring a visionary General Manager to steer a high-performing asset and lead with SPIRIT. Here’s what that looks like.
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.
I've led branded and independent hotels as General Manager — twice running the whole building. At The Warrior Hotel (Marriott Autograph Collection), I relaunched three F&B outlets, co-created a 2,000-person community relaunch, and earned #1 Hotel in Iowa within a year. At Hotel Julien Dubuque, 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.
Hilton Fort Collins is a 255-room hub for the community and Colorado State University — Spring Creek Grill, an 18,653 sq ft event campus, an Executive Lounge with stadium and mountain views, and a freshly reinvested property in one of the country's most desirable lifestyle markets. Atrium's SPIRIT — Service, Perseverance, Inclusion, Respect, Innovation, Teamwork, where 40% of management hires are internal promotions — is the operating philosophy I've been building for over a decade. Below is a taste of how I'd approach it.
Role Alignment
Atrium is hiring a visionary General Manager to collaborate on operational plans that hit revenue and guest-satisfaction targets, lead associates to Atrium’s service goals, use Hilton brand tools creatively, safeguard the asset through preventive maintenance and risk management, and build a hotel culture that lives the SPIRIT values. Here’s how the record lines up.
F&B Leadership
Atrium asks for extensive rooms and F&B command and 18,653 sq ft of event space to fill. Every banquet and event venue below is one I have personally operated.
148-key luxury lifestyle hotel inside a $70M mixed-use development with 8,594 sq ft of event space — steakhouse, rooftop bar, and bowling lounge, all event-capable. Relaunched all three outlets: rebuilt the teams, refreshed the menus, set new operational systems. Co-created a 6-week community relaunch — 2,000 attendees and $200K in auxiliary F&B spend — that made the building the city's social anchor.
133-key AAA historic boutique with 15,000 sq ft of meeting and event space, a three-meal restaurant, and a cocktail lounge. Rebuilt the restaurant and lounge, grew banquet/event revenue $300K, and improved wedding profitability 30% through F&B activation. Launched a sold-out murder mystery dinner at 40% margins and the hotel's first Culinary Olympics.
The Opportunity
Hilton Fort Collins has the location, the campus next door, and Old Town’s brewery culture at its back. These are four engines mapped to the property — each proven at comparable branded and independent hotels I’ve operated.
Monthly programming built around Spring Creek Grill, the Lounge, the Café, and the CSU calendar. Spring Creek Ale tasting flights tied to Old Town brewery partners. Game-day and parents-weekend room-and-dine packages. Programming tied to Canvas Stadium home games, the Lincoln Center, and Old Town festivals. Every activation compounds — at properties I’ve operated, this system generated $1M+ in activation-driven revenue.
Northern Colorado locals and the CSU community are the foundation of a hotel that wants to matter to its city. Programs that turn Fort Collins residents into Spring Creek Grill regulars and the Lounge into a Friday fixture. CSU faculty, athletics, and alumni partnerships. First-look invitations to seasonal menus and focus groups that shape what the hotel becomes. They bring visiting families and recruits to the Hilton. They defend the property because they feel like it’s theirs.
Curated packages that bundle the Hilton with Northern Colorado — Old Town brewery tours, Horsetooth Reservoir and Rocky Mountain National Park add-ons, CSU event weekends, Lincoln Center performance packages. Corporate retreats across 18,653 sq ft and 20 meeting rooms with onsite catering. Wedding blocks that make the foothills the backdrop. The mountain-and-stadium-view Executive Lounge — a differentiator the comp set can’t match.
Every activation feeds a direct booking machine. Targeted campaigns tied to monthly themes. Social content built around Spring Creek Grill, the renovated lobby, the Executive Lounge, and the foothills setting — the assets that distinguish the Hilton from every other Fort Collins property. At properties I’ve operated, this system generated hundreds of thousands in direct booking revenue. Inside the Hilton Honors ecosystem, owning the direct channel and the social narrative is the fastest path to margin improvement.
The Programming
This is how I’d program Hilton Fort Collins. Twelve months, each built around Spring Creek Grill, the Lounge, the Café, the event campus, and the CSU and Old Town 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: Fresh start meets bowl-season energy. “Dry January” zero-proof menu in the Lounge. Spring-semester CSU move-back rate. “Power Hour” corporate breakfast series for Northern Colorado accounts. Locals get first crack at the new winter menu.
Vibe: Valentine’s and mountain-getaway season. “Stay & Sip” suite packages with Spring Creek Grill tasting menu. Local brewery collab flight in the Lounge. Reservation-only Valentine’s dinner. Wedding leads multiply for the spring/summer pipeline.
Vibe: FoCoMX season — Fort Collins’ music experiment. Hilton as official lodging partner with live music in the Lounge every Friday. “Spring Forward” sleep-in rate package. Lincoln Center performance bundles return.
Vibe: Northern Colorado thaws. Seasonal Spring Creek Grill menu launch. “First Sip Fridays” rotating Old Town brewery takeovers in the Lounge. Gardens on Spring Creek partnership. Spring wedding tastings every Saturday.
Vibe: Peak gifting and group occasion month. “Mother’s Day at Spring Creek Grill” brunch selling out by April. Memorial Day patio BBQ. CSU commencement is the biggest weekend of the season — graduation suite blocks for families booked a year out.
Vibe: NoCo Pride and the Colorado Brewers’ Festival weekend. Hilton as a host hotel — brunch at Spring Creek Grill, festival shuttle packages. “Solstice” late-patio programming. Father’s Day steak-and-stein gift packages.
Vibe: Peak summer travel. “Independence in the Foothills” rooftop-view packages. Frozen Spring Creek Ale slushies on the patio. Horsetooth and Rocky Mountain National Park day-trip add-ons. Summer-conference group business peaks.
Vibe: CSU move-in weekend and NewWestFest / Bohemian Nights fill the city. Hilton as the family lodging headquarters — move-in survival packages, extended checkout, Spring Creek Grill family dinners. Tour de Fat partnership. Back-to-back conferences in the event campus.
Vibe: Fall menus launch; CSU Rams home schedule begins. “Game Day at the Hilton” Canvas Stadium pre-game tailgate buyouts and shuttle. “Harvest at Spring Creek Grill” Colorado-grown ingredient series. Wedding season peaks.
Vibe: CSU Homecoming and Family Weekend are the biggest of the term. “The Foothills Murder Mystery” — full theatrical dinner, scripted experience (proven 40% margin format from Hotel Julien). Alumni block rates. Costume-mandatory Halloween party in the Lounge.
Vibe: Holiday programming opens. “Friendsgiving at Spring Creek Grill” private buyout packages. “Drinksgiving in the Lounge” — the biggest Wednesday of the year. Old Town holiday-lights packages. Corporate holiday party RFPs close.
Vibe: Holiday peak. Renovated-lobby holiday installation. “12 Nights at Spring Creek Grill” curated chef tasting series. New Year’s Eve in the ballroom — reservation-only, the Northern Colorado ticket. CSU winter commencement family blocks.
The System
Signature monthly event
Spring Creek Grill, Lounge, Café, Banquets
Themed package or add-on
Local 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, spa tie-ins, 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 by Innkeeper Hospitality Services 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 high-net-worth guests notice first — 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.
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 — and how SPIRIT moves from a value statement to muscle memory.
Every associate knows where the property is headed, what their specific role is in that direction, and our commitment to their personal elevation. The Spring Creek Grill server, the banquet captain, the front desk lead — each understands how their work connects to the Hilton being the hub of Fort Collins and CSU. 40+ associates mentored into management. 24% leadership retention increase.
Brand-standard 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. Branded properties opened 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, internal promotion (engagement up 27 points at Hotel Julien). To guests: consistent, brand-defining service across Spring Creek Grill, the Lounge, and the event campus. To community: the Hilton as the gathering place of Fort Collins and CSU. 2025 Chamber Business of the Year. AAA Four Diamond. #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 SPIRIT becomes muscle memory.
Lead with Heart
Award-winning teams don't happen by accident. They happen when leaders invest in the employee experience with the same bespoke intention they bring to the guest experience. People who feel genuinely developed, challenged, and valued don't just deliver luxury — they embody it.
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.
