MHLA Names 2024 Ambassador of the Year; Announces 2024 Board of Directors at Annual Meeting

The Maryland Hotel Lodging Association (MHLA) is proud to name its 2024 Ambassador of the Year: Sandip Patel, CEO, Crossroads Hospitality. The announcement was made during MHLA’s Annual Meeting & Member Appreciation Breakfast, held January 12, 2024, at the Baltimore Sheraton Inner Harbor hotel. The Ambassador of the Year award recognizes a member who has successfully recruited new members as a Board or Committee Member and contributed to the success of the Association during the past year.

MHLA also announced its 2024 Board of Directors and Executive Committee Members, after a vote of approval by members during the Annual Meeting.

Five Executive Committee Members were elected for a one-year term:

• Chair: Linda Westgate, Southern Management Companies

• Vice Chair: Donnie Sutton, General Manager, Marriott BWI Airport

• Secretary: Doug Klein, General Manager, Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel

• Treasurer: Jim Starke, VP of Hotel Operations, Best Western Plus BWI Airport / Arundel Mills

• Immediate Past Chair: Michael Henningsen, Executive Vice President of Operations, Plamondon Hospitality Partners

Four new members have been welcomed to the Board as Directors for the remainder of the current 2022-24 two-year term:

• Yolande Lacan, General Manager, Homewood Suites Columbia

• Sandeep Thakrar, President, Neema Hospitality

• Darryl McCallum, Partner, Shawe Rosenthal LLP (Allied Director)

• Joshua Marshall, Senior Corporate Account Manager, Ecolab (Allied Director)

The following members will continue in service as Directors for the 2022-24 two-year term:

• Katarina Burns, General Manager, Marriott Bethesda Downtown at Marriott HQ

• Skip Cerf, General Manager, Sheraton Baltimore North

• Chuck Chandler, General Manager, Residence Inn Fulton/Maple Lawn

• Mark Elman, General Manager, Hilton Ocean City Oceanfront Suites

• Rodney Gooden, General Manger, Westin Annapolis Hotel

• Len Goodman, General Manager, Courtyard Baltimore Hunt Valley

• Kathy Konopik, Vice President of Operations, HotelPro (Allied Director)

• Ian Harvey, Residence Inn Baltimore at Johns Hopkins Campus

• Peter Mangione, General Manager, Turf Valley Resort

• Dan McKeon, Area General Manager, Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center

• Patrick Miner, General Manager, Courtyard Baltimore Downtown Inner Harbor

• Sandip Patel, CEO, Crossroads Hospitality

• Tracey Pool, General Manager, Hyatt Regency Baltimore

• Ben Seidel, President & CEO, Real Hospitality Group

• Junaid Siddiqi, CEO, Presidential Hotel Advisors

Two representatives, invited by the Board Chair to serve, will also continue in their service:

• Education Representative: Donnisha Grant, Instructional Specialist, Anne Arundel Community College – Hotel, Culinary Arts and Tourism Institute

• Maryland Destination Marketing Organization Representative: Amanda Hof, Executive Director, Visit Howard County

“Congratulations to both new and returning Board Members,” said MHLA President & CEO Amy Rohrer. “These esteemed leaders serving on the MHLA Board of Directors will help take the Association to new heights in 2024 and I look forward to working with them in the years ahead.”