MONTVALE, N.J. (July 6, 2010) Dolce Hotels and Resorts, operator of 26 upscale hotels, resorts and conference hotels in North America and Europe, has announced the appointment of John Evans, a 26-year hospitality veteran, as general manager of the Silverado Resort in Napa Valley, Calif., which joined the Dolce system earlier this month.
 
Evans is responsible for all aspects of the a 1,200-acre, 439-room historic golf resort and conference center, including golf and hotel operations, marketing, sales, food service, engineering, maintenance, finance and human resources.
 
John Evans previously served Dolce as interim general manager of Seaview, a 297-room historic hotel, conference center and golf resort in Galloway, N.J., near Atlantic City.  From 2008 to 2010, he was general manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay, in California.  Among his accomplishments there, he improved the resort’s Golf Digest national ranking from 28 to 18 and gained recognition for its tennis facilities, now considered to be among the top 50 in the nation. 
 
He served Starwood Hotels and Resorts of White Plains, N.Y., in management roles of increasing responsibility from 1997 to 2008 including general manager of The Westin Crown Center, Kansas City, Mo., from 2001 to 2008; general manager of the 502-room Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel in New Jersey from 1999 to 2001; and general manager of the 525-room W New Orleans in Louisiana, which he helped convert from the Crowne Plaza brand, from 1997 to 1999.
 
During his tenure as general manager of The Westin Crown Center, the 729-room hotel moved from AAA Three Diamond to Four Diamond status and achieved the Westin chain’s highest quality assurance score worldwide annually from 2004 to 2006.  Starwood honored Evans with a Hotel Turnaround Global Award in 2004 and named him Best in Class General Manager in 2005, 2006 and 2007.  The property received Starwood’s Hotel Sales Team of the Year award in 2008.
 
From 1991 to 1997, Evans served HEI Hotels & Resorts of Norwalk, Conn., as corporate director of operations support.  As an officer of the company, he actively was involved in its growth from seven to 23 properties and coordinated the acquisition and operational transition of 12 full-service hotels into HEI’s portfolio.
 
A Seattle native, Evans is a graduate of Friends University, Lenexa, Kansas, where he received a bachelor of science degree in organizational management.  He received the Certified Hotel Administrator designation from the Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, has been awarded a Six Sigma green belt and is recognized as a first-level sommelier.  
 
He served on the Westin General Managers Brand Advisory Council from 2005 to 2008 and the boards of the Hands & Hearts for Children auxiliary of The Children’s Mercy Hospital, Kansas City.  Evans also served the Kansas City Convention & Visitors Association and The Hotel and Lodging Association of Greater Kansas City, both from 2001 to 2008.  He served on the Golf Course Operations Committee of Hallbrook Country Club, Leawood, Kan., from 2004 to 2008.  
 
Silverado, a California landmark for more than 140 years, began its life as a private estate and was converted into a contemporary resort featuring a 15,000-square-foot executive conference center, two championship golf courses, 16,000-square-foot spa and two signature restaurants, surrounded by Napa Valley’s more than 200 wineries.
 
Silverado’s 6,685-yard South Course and the 6,900-yard North Course, situated on 360 rolling acres, both were designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and offer numerous water features, elevation changes and routing through oak, pine and redwood trees.  
 
Silverado Resort is a 12-time winner of Meetings & Conventions magazine’s Gold Key Award and has been presented the Pinnacle Awards 10 times by Successful Meetings magazine.  Its two-level conference center features 15 flexible function rooms, each named after a prominent Napa Valley winery, and 5,200-square-foot, divisible Silverado Ballroom.  
 
Outdoor function space includes The Arbor, a 4,200-square-foot brick patio adjacent to the conference center; The Fairway Deck, a 4,290-square-foot terrace overlooking the South Course’s 18th hole that can accommodate groups up to 400; and The Grove, a meeting area within the forest that can accommodate groups up to 1,500 for parties, barbecues and weddings.

About Dolce Hotels and Resorts
Dolce Hotels and Resorts, a privately held operator of 26 upscale hotels, resorts and conference hotels in North America and Europe founded in 1981, is majority-owned by Broadreach Capital Partners. The company, headquartered in Montvale, N.J., employs approximately 4,000 worldwide. Additional information is available at www.dolce.com .  
 
Dolce’s portfolio includes properties in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, Colorado, California, Ontario, Belgium, France, Spain and Germany.  
 
As a leader in the meetings industry, Dolce hosts some 30,000 events and 4 million group clients globally every year.  The company’s founder pioneered the conference center concept and Complete Meeting Package, both now embraced as standards by the International Association of Conference Centers.

The company’s vision is to create inspiring environments that bring people together, and its mission is to delight its guests, challenge its associates, reward its owners and serve as a role model in its communities.