Our Team

Thank you for visiting the Island Hospitality Management Team profile page. We look forward to serving you whether you are our Customer, Guest, Associate, Partner or Owner. Our leadership team is some of the industry's most experienced and respected leaders. Our streamlined approach facilitates seamless coordination between corporate and property-level management, significantly benefiting the clients of Island Hospitality in reduced cost and added value.

Jeff Waldt
Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing

Mr. Waldt has been with Island Hospitality in a senior leadership position since 2003. In his position he is responsible for overseeing the sales and marketing efforts of multiple hotel brands, a role that includes revenue management and recruiting and training throughout the United States. Prior to this position, Mr. Waldt was the west coast Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Wyndham International which includes full service, limited service and resort hotels. He also spent three years as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Summerfield Suites hotel brand where he helped transition Summerfield Suites into the Wyndham brand of hotels. Mr. Waldt held multiple Vice President, Regional Manager and Director positions during his fifteen years with Wyndham. He is currently a member of the Hyatt Summerfield Suites Advisory Council and the Residence Inn Sales & Marketing Advisory Council. Mr. Waldt earned a B.A. from the University of South Florida.

Roger Pollak
Senior Vice President of Accounting

Mr. Pollak has been with Island Hospitality since March of 1995. He held progressive positions within the company including Director of Financial Reporting and Controller before being promoted to Senior Vice President of Accounting in 1998. Mr. Pollak has over twenty years of accounting experience and, prior to joining Island, he was a Controller for various companies including a large real estate developer and a property management firm. Mr. Pollak holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Florida.

Philip M. Cohen
Vice President of Human Resources

Mr. Cohen has been employed by the company since March of 1995. Prior to joining Island Hospitality (previously Innkeepers Hospitality) he was the Director of Human Resources for eight years with a publicly owned retail/service chain. Mr. Cohen was also previously the Human Resources Manager for a franchised restaurant group. He has more than 25 years of human resource management experience. Mr. Cohen earned a B.A. in Business Administration from Virginia Tech and an M.B.A. from Nova Southeastern University with a specialty in Human Resource Management.

Barbara Bachman
Vice President of Accounting

Ms. Bachman has been with Island Hospitality (previously Innkeepers Hospitality) for 4 years, initially serving as the Director of Accounting before moving into the Vice President of Accounting position handling the day-to-day operational accounting functions for Island.  Prior to joining the company she served as the Vice President of Accounting/Secretary for HearUSA for 8 years. Ms. Bachman earned her Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Florida Atlantic University and is a Florida Certified Public Accountant.

John Marques
Vice President of Operations

With over twenty years of hospitality industry experience, Mr. Marques is responsible for the management and oversight of Island Hospitality’s Operations Division, which includes six regional directors, property-level general managers and over 3,000 property-level employees. He was promoted to Vice President of Operations in July 2007 after serving as the Regional Director for Hilton, a role that he held at Innkeepers Hospitality prior to its sale. While he was with Hilton, Mr. Marques was responsible for a portfolio of 15 hotels that generated a 10% revenue increase in 2006 and a significant increase in overall guest satisfaction.

From 2001 to 2006, Mr. Marques was the Regional Director of Operations for the Musselman Hotel Group (a private owner of approximately 30 hotels) where he played a key role in winning a number of premier hotel management industry awards including the award for the highest-ranked Embassy Suites hotel (Louisville, Kentucky), the highest-ranked Spring Hill Suites hotel (Lexington, Kentucky), and the third highest-ranked Residence Inn hotel (Lexington, Kentucky) in terms of overall guest-satisfaction scores. He also served as an Area Manager for Candlewood Suites from 1999 to 2001. Mr. Marques earned an Associate’s Degree in Hospitality Management from Prince George’s College in 1989.

Leonard Levenson
Director of Sales Administration

Mr. Levenson is responsible for all direct sales related administrative tasks. This includes insuring that our sales associates are fully trained in our Sales Force Automation program, holding our sales associates accountable for their activities including planning and follow up, administering our Cross-Sell software program and generating all reports, lead generation and follow up, Government program participation and required registrations, sales skills facilitation and ongoing assistance with all sales processes. Mr. Levenson is also responsible for assisting in new acquisition feasibility research for new development. Mr. Levenson is a graduate of St. Johns Law School and Hofstra University with a degree, with Honors, in Economics. Mr. Levenson has been in the Hospitality industry for most of his career with senior management and regional positions in the casual dining segment as well as an entrepreneur in his own restaurants. He has spent the past ten years with Island Hospitality developing our Sales accountability culture which has enabled us to consistently grow our market share.

Kevin Sawatsky
Vice President of New Business Development

Mr. Sawatsky brings over 25 years of extensive hospitality industry operational experience in both single and multi-property operations. He is responsible for offering new management solutions to our new clients with the goal of increasing the company’s portfolio of hotels. After a ten-year operations career with Marriott, he formed and operated his own regional management company, Arrowhead Hospitality Group. He has served as Vice President of Development for Coakley & Williams Hotel Management and HVS Hotel Management. Kevin has worked with all of the major hotel chains including Hilton, Marriott, IHG & Starwood and is familiar with the process of helping to solve a variety of issues that owners face. He has an extensive background in assuming legal and operational control of full and limited service hotels ranging from 40 to more than 300 rooms on both short and long terms contracts.

Damien Conner
Vice President of Revenue Management

Ms. Conner joined Island Hospitality in June, 2010. Ms. Conner has more than 16 years of experience in the hospitality industry as a revenue management professional. In her most recent position as an independent consultant, she provided strategic, analytical expertise and support to a variety of businesses and organizations. Prior to her work in consultancy, she held the role of Director, Market Strategy with Marriott International for nine years (1998-2007). As the Director of Market Strategy, Ms. Conner was responsible for all aspects of strategy development, hotel pricing, forecasts and budgets, in addition to market and hotel competitive, historical and future analysis. During her tenure with Marriott International, she was formally recognized as an exemplary leader who consistently delivered superior results.