Benchmark Hospitality International and Gemstone Hotels & Resorts have merged to become BENCHMARK, a global hospitality company with a new corporate identity and three distinct hotel collections. The combined portfolio includes more than 70 hotels, resorts, and conference centers.
Its new collections are:
Benchmark Resorts & Hotels The company’s existing signature portfolio of distinctive and upscale hotels and resorts in the U.S. and the Caribbean.
The Gemstone Collection
This new brand will encompass the properties of the former Benchmark Personal Luxury Resorts & Hotels and the former Gemstone Hotels & Resorts. All of the hotels reflect the unique character of their destinations.
Benchmark Conference Centers
This brand was officially introduced to the meetings market in 2014, but has been a part of Benchmark since its inception, with properties that are purpose-built conference centers and meeting venues offering innovative meeting spaces, personally tailored service, and locally sourced, customized cuisine. Each Benchmark Conference Center conforms to the requirements of the International Association of Conference Centers.
Leadership
The new company’s executive team includes Jeff McIntyre and Thomas Prins, who led Gemstone’s growth trajectory over the past 22 years, as well as Alex Cabañas and Greg Champion of Benchmark, who doubled the company’s portfolio, making it one of the nation’s largest privately owned hospitality management companies. Jeff McIntyre and Greg Champion serve as co-presidents of the new company and Alex Cabañas as CEO. Burt Cabañas, founder of Benchmark, serves as chairman.
Benchmark’s new logo consists of a triangle and globe, symbolic of Benchmark’s “triangle” concept of balancing living, learning, and leisure in both design and operations, originally created by Burt Cabañas at the company’s founding in 1980. The globe represents the company’s expanding global presence and expertise.
