Benchmark Hospitality and Gemstone Hotels & Resorts, who announced their merger this month, are now working to position their combined 58 independent properties, establishing expansion goals and new brand pillars to be unveiled in the next several weeks. The combined company now comprises 10,000 staff members and more than 200 managers worldwide.
An expanded portfolio will include independently branded properties as well as soft brands such as Curio, Autograph Collection, Tribute, Preferred Hotels & Resorts, Leading Hotels of the World, Historic Hotels of the World, and IACC. Additional properties are already in the pipeline.
The new company is headquartered in Houston—Benchmark’s hometown—while the Gemstone headquarters in Park City, Utah, will become a satellite office. Burt Cabañas, Benchmark Hospitality’s founder and chairman, and Gencom, led by Karim Alibhai, will be the principal shareholders, while Benchmark’s Alex Cabañas will serve as CEO. Greg Champion of Benchmark and Jeff McIntyre of Gemstone will share the roles of president and COO. Gemstone partner Thomas Prins has been appointed as the new managing director of real estate investments.