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.

Tim Walker
President
twalker@ih-corp.com

Tim Walker is a hospitality industry leader and innovator with a distinguished 25-year career. 
Prior to re-joining Island Hospitality Mr. Walker served as Chief Executive Officer for Innkeepers USA Trust, a national ownership group with more than 70 hotels in 23 states.  Innkeepers USA Trust focused on the upscale-extended stay, mid-scale and full service markets. 
These hotels represent the leading brands including Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, and Starwood.    Before being named CEO in 2007, Mr. Walker spent nearly 10 years in senior-level positions that include; President of Island Hospitality, Senior Vice President of Operations, Vice President of Sales & Service, Regional Director of Operations for multiple regions, as well as President of Innkeepers Hospitality Management, Inc. a wholly owned hotel management company with 80 hotels.   Prior to joining I.H.M. he spent 10 years with Embassy Suites and Promus Corporation.

Tim Walker’s background has helped both Innkeepers USA and Island Hospitality receive multiple awards from Marriott, Hilton, and Starwood in areas of Guest Satisfaction as well as Sales and Revenue Management.

Tim Walker has been appointed Hyatt Hotel owners Advisory Group, Brand Operating Council for Residence Inn, and is an Active International Board Member.

Jeff Waldt
Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Jwaldt@Ih-corp.com

 Mr. Waldt joined Island Hospitality Management in 2003 with a wealth of experience in high-level sales and currently heads up Island Hospitality’s Sales and Marketing division. Mr. Waldt has 21 years of experience in the hotel industry. Prior to joining Island Hospitality, Mr. Waldt was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Wyndham International. While at Wyndham he spent 15 years in various leadership roles encompassing property level sales and catering to include Director of Sales. He was Regional Director of Sales for Garden Hotels, and Regional Vice President of Sales for full and select service properties. Mr. Waldt’s professional career also includes Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Summerfield Suites brand by Wyndham where he was responsible for direct sales, marketing, revenue management and sales training for the brand. During this time he was instrumental in transitioning Summerfield Suites (now Hyat Hotel) into the Wyndham brand as well as the development and execution of sales strategies that helped Summerfield Suites (now Hyat Hotel) achieve industry premiums in RevPar and market share. As Vice President of Sales for the western portion of the country he oversaw such iconic west coast resorts as The Boulder’s Resort in Carefree, Arizona and The Carmel Valley Ranch in Carmel, California.  Mr. Waldt is an active member of the Residence Inn by Marriott marketing committee as well as the Hyatt Hotel owners advisory group and marketing committee member. Mr. Waldt earned a B.A. degree from the University of South Florida.

Roger Pollak
Senior Vice President of Accounting
rpollak@ih-corp.com

Mr. Pollak has been with Island Hospitality (previously Innkeepers Hospitality) since March of 1995. He has held progressive positions within the company including Director of Financial Reporting and Controller before being promoted to Senior Vice President-Accounting in 1998. Mr. Pollak has over 20 years of accounting experience. Prior to joining Island, he was a Controller for various companies including a large real estate developer and property management firm. Mr. Pollak holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Florida.

Philip M. Cohen
Vice President of Human Resources
pcohen@ih-corp.com

Mr. Cohen is the Vice President of Human Resources and Training at Island Hospitality. He joined the company in March of 1995, and has an impressive track record for effectively developing, implementing, and administering broad human resource programs. Mr. Cohen is responsible for corporate compensation and benefits programs, training and development, staffing, employee relations, internal communications, and human resource systems. Mr. Cohen has over 25 years of hands on human resources management experience. Prior to joining Island in 1995, Mr. Cohen spent 8 years as the Vice President of Human Resources for Americlean, and held various senior-level human resources management and training positions with several large, publicly-owned retail and restaurant franchise companies throughout his career. Mr. Cohen holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration with a specialty in Human Resources from Nova Southeastern University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Virginia Tech. He is an 11-year member of the HR Symposium, a collection of HR professionals from the Hospitality industry.

Barbara Bachman
Vice President of Accounting
bbachman@ih-corp.com

Ms. Bachman has been with Island Hospitality (previously Innkeepers Hospitality) for 7 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
Regional Vice President of Operations
jmarques@ih-corp.com

With over 20 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 previously serving as the Regional Director for the Hilton relationship, a role that he held at Innkeepers Hospitality prior to its sale.  In his prior role, Mr. Marques was responsible for a Hilton branded hotel portfolio of 15 hotels that generated a 10% revenue increase in 2006 and significant increase in overall guest satisfaction.

From 2001 to 2006, Mr. Marques was employed as 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 highest ranked Embassy Suites (Louisville, Kentucky), the highest ranked Spring Hill Suites (Lexington, Kentucky), and the third highest ranked Residence Inn (Lexington, Kentucky) in terms of overall guest satisfaction scores.  Mr. Marques also served as an area manager for Candlewood Suites from 1999 to 2001.  Mr. Marques earned an Associates Degree in Hospitality Management from Prince George’s College in 1989.

Leonard Levenson
Director of Sales Administration
llevenson@ih-corp.com

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 twelve years with Island Hospitality developing our Sales accountability culture which has enabled us to consistently grow our market share.

Gregg Forde
Regional Vice President of Operations
gforde@ih-corp.com

Mr. Forde has been with Island Hospitality (previously Innkeepers Hospitality) since 2003. Mr. Forde offers 14 years of hotel leadership experience with Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt brand experience. His most recent position with Island Hospitality was as Regional Director, where he was responsible for overseeing the sales and operating efforts of multiple hotel brands and quality service levels throughout the West Coast of the United States. Prior to this position, Mr. Forde was the Area Manager for the Silicon Valley based hotels and has also held multiple General Manager Positions throughout his tenure with Island Hospitality and Marriott International. Mr. Forde was the inaugural winner of the Mike Dubroff Award from Marriott International and the recipient of other accolades including General Manager of the Year. Mr. Forde earned a B.A. with a Double Major from Edith Cowan University in Western Australia, Australia