* CHANGINGFACES Alan Sims has been promoted to national director of sales for Omni Hotels, headquartered in Irving, Texas. Sims will oversee the national sales offices in Dallas and Austin.
Tiffany Blackwell has been named regional sales manager for Sonesta International Hotels Corp.'s mid-Atlantic regional sales office, based in Falls Church, Va. She was formerly corporate sales manager for the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Richard Harper has been named director of sales and marketing for the Westin Mission Hills Resort in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Harper formerly held the same post at The Westin Santa Clara (Calif.)
Eric Whitson has been promoted to director of sales and marketing at The Founders Inn and Conference Center in Virginia Beach, Va., a Benchmark Hospitality property on the campus of Regent University.
Gary D. Mitchell has been appointed director of sales and marketing at the Anaheim (Calif.) Hilton and Towers. He will replace Linda C. Simpson, who has been promoted to vice president, sales & marketing, western region. Mitchell was most recently area director of sales and marketing for Interstate Hotels Corp. in Parsippany, N.J.
Vicki Clopton is the new director of sales and marketing at The Hilton of Santa Fe (N.M.)
Rob Langenstein has been named regional director of sales and marketing for South Seas Resorts' Sanibel and Captiva properties.
Allison Giannino has been appointed sales manager at Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va.
Jackie Heyl has been named sales manager and Denise Morgan has been named executive meeting manager at the Sawgrass Marriott Resort in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Julie Katocs is sales manager for Indian River Plantation Marriott Resort on Hutchinson Island, Fla., responsible for Florida corporate sales.
Mark Allvey has been appointed director of sales and marketing at The Pan Pacific Hotel Vancouver.
Michael Matthews has been appointed vice president of marketing and sales for Foresthills Hotels & Resorts, headquartered in Dallas. He was formerly vice president of marketing and sales at Rosewood Hotels & Resorts.
Pilar Rios has been named director of sales at the Melia San Lucas hotel in Los Cabos, Mexico. Rios previously served as sales executive for the Melia Cabo Real Beach and Golf Resort in Los Cabos.
Rich Cortese, formerly president of the Wyndham El Conquistador Resort & Country Club in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, will now be responsible for all offshore Wyndham resorts in his new position of senior vice president of operations. He will remain based at the El Conquistador.
At Wyndham Aruba Beach Resort & Casino, Alex Kloszewski has been named vice president and managing director.
Suzanne Erler has been appointed director of sales and marketing of the Salish Lodge & Spa in Snoqualmie, Wash.
The Marco Island (Fla.) Marriott Resort & Golf Club is wrapping up a two-year, $14 million renovation. All 735 rooms have received new soft goods and 30 suites were refurbished. There is more than 50,000 square feet of meeting space.
Trump International Hotel & Tower has added an executive boardroom--the only meeting space in the 167-room hotel. It has floor-to-ceiling windows, state-of-the-art technology, and a fully equipped kitchen and wet bar.
Lago Mar Resort & Club in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has added two floors of luxury guest rooms and suites, bringing total accommodations to 52 guest rooms and 160 suites. The property has 12,000 square feet of meeting space.
The 1,172-room Chicago Marriott Downtown celebrated its 20th anniversary with a $30 million renovation of its exterior, lobby, main entrance, 58,000 square feet of meeting space, and retail space. A $10 million room upgrade project is under way.
The Moscow Hilton, a 312-room luxury hotel in the heart of the city, will open in early 2000 as Hilton International's first property in Russia. All rooms will be equipped with dataports; meeting rooms will accommodate up to 150 people; a ballroom will seat 400.
The Moscow Marriott Collection was announced recently, a trio of properties set amid the revitalized cultural center of the city: the 390-room Marriott Grand Hotel with more than 7,000 square feet of meeting space, the recently converted and expanded 162-room Marriott Tverskaya with about 1,400 square feet of meeting space, and the new 234-room Marriott Royal with 1,300 square feet of meeting space.
With the 180-room Sheraton Internacional Iguaz Resort in Iguaz Falls, Starwood Hotels & Resorts adds a fifth Argentinian hotel to its portfolio. The resort will undergo a total renovation of its rooms, public spaces, and extensive meeting space, including a convention center for groups of up to 1,000 people.
Dolce International has acquired Hotel du Domaine de Chantilly, a 111-room conference hotel with an 18-hole golf course just 25 minutes from Charles De Gaulle International Airport and 30 minutes from Paris. Dolce is spending $3.6 million to renovate the property's rooms, lobby, and meeting space, to be completed by April.
Nikko Hotels International has added a second luxury hotel in Shanghai--the 367-room Hotel Nikko Pudong Shanghai, with meeting space for up to 350.
The 138-room Ritz-Carlton Dubai, the United Arab Emirates' first luxury boutique hotel and Ritz-Carlton's first hotel in the Middle East, opened recently. It has meeting space for up to 120 people.
The 186-room Ramada Hotel Cap d'Ail on the French Riviera is now the Riviera Marriott Hotel Cap d'Ail. The hotel is a few minutes from the Monaco Heliport and a half-hour's drive from the Nice International Airport. Nine meeting rooms accommodate up to 360 people.
Montreal's Hotel du Parc is now the Renaissance Hotel du Parc. The hotel renovated its 459 guest rooms in 1998 and offers a 40,000-square-foot, IACC-certified conference center.