Tavrytzky will be responsible for group sales and the sales management staff, as well as bookings for the resort's more than 60,000 square feet of meeting space.

Previously, Tavrytzky served as both director of group sales and national sales manager for the Sheraton Crescent Hotel in Phoenix. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. manages both The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa and The Sheraton Crescent Hotel.

"The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa is destined to become the Valley's premiere resort location, and I'm very excited to have the opportunity to be involved at such an early stage in the project," said Tavrytzky.

Tavrytzky began his career in the hospitality industry in 1988 at the Sheraton Harbor Island Hotel in San Diego as a general management trainee and has worked in a variety of other positions with Sheraton and Starwood Hotels and Resorts for the past 13 years.

"We are pleased to continue to build our team of experienced professionals ensuring The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa is the Valley's best vacation and meeting destination," said Elizabeth "Liz" Franzese, director of sales and marketing for The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa.

The Westin Kierland Resort and Spa will be operated by Starwood under the Westin brand and will employ approximately 1,000 workers. The resort hotel is being built in the midst of the Kierland master-planned community on the Scottsdale/Phoenix border in the heart of a flourishing commercial and tourism corridor. It is expected to open in early 2003.

As the centerpiece of the 730-acre Kierland community, the 750-room hotel will be situated on 37 acres surrounded by the existing 27-hole Kierland Golf Club, which will be integrated into the resort operation.  The hotel, which has been designed by Hill Glazier Architects, Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., and interior designer Barry Design Associates of Los Angeles, will feature elegant accommodations, more than 60 suites and a 40-unit casita village; approximately 60,000 square feet of indoor function space and extensive outdoor function space in distinctive courtyards with fountains, pools and lush landscape; eight food and beverage venues; and a full-service spa and fitness facility with 22 treatment rooms.

Balconies on the 12-story main hotel building will offer views of the Audubon-recognized golf course in the foreground, rugged mountains and desert landscape in the distance, and sparkling city lights at night. The casitas, or low-rise bungalows, will be surrounded by the golf course, lush gardens and extensive water features.

Woodbine Development Corporation (developer and investment partner) is a 27-year-old, Dallas-based real estate company specializing in development of master-planned communities, hotels, resorts and golf courses. In addition to development of its own real estate investment projects, Woodbine provides real estate development services to corporations, non-profit institutions and individuals.

Woodbine's multimillion-dollar project portfolio includes: the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas, a 496-room Mediterranean themed deluxe hotel, which opened in December 1999; the 508-room Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio; the 1,100-room Hyatt Regency Dallas hotel and adjoining landmark Reunion Tower; the 514-room Hyatt Regency Fort Worth (now Radisson Plaza Hotel); the 1,367-room Hyatt Regency DFW and Bear Creek Golf Club, with two 18-hole championship golf courses on 335 acres within the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport boundaries; The Golf Club at Fossil Creek in Forth Worth, an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Arnold Palmer; and the 500-room Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and adjoining 18-hole championship Hill Country Golf Club in San Antonio.