WEST POINT, N.Y. (Oct. 18, 2010) - The Thayer Hotel, a 149-room, historic hotel and meeting center managed by Dolce Hotels and Resorts on the grounds of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., has appointed Douglas Simon of Suffern, N.Y., as director of sales & marketing

He will responsible for attracting and retaining corporate, association and social group business as well as individual business and leisure travelers. 

Simon formerly was director of sales for the 206-room IBM Palisades Executive Conference Center, a Dolce Hotel, in Palisades, N.Y., where he directed a six-person sales team and was honored as a Target Achiever in 2008 and 2009.  From 2006 to 2007, he was national accounts manager-group sales, for the 763-room Sheraton Atlanta Hotel in Georgia.

From 2004 to 2006, Simon was corporate sales manager-group sales, for the 625-room Millennium Broadway Hotel New York in Manhattan.  Prior to that, he was senior sales manager-corporate group sales, for the 500-room Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa in Connecticut.  From 1997 to 1999, he was director of sales & marketing for the 167-room Holiday Inn Orangeburg in New York.

Earlier in his career, Simon was director of sales & marketing for Millbrook Winery Inc., Millbrook, N.Y.; a wine consultant for Winebow Inc., New York, N.Y.; sales representative for Admax Media, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; sales consultant for Premier Beverage Company, Palm Beach, Fla.; and account executive for The Ernest Lawrence Group, New York, N.Y.

Simon is a 1981 graduate of Tampa College (now Everest University) in Florida, where he received a bachelor�s degree in marketing and associate�s degree in computer programming.  He is a member of Meeting Professionals International, which he served as director of education & professional development and director of marketing, and was founding president of Rockland Sunset Chapter of Toastmasters International.

The Thayer Hotel�s amenities and services include a full-service restaurant, sports lounge, room service and fitness room.  The hotel has been a popular wedding venue for nearly 100 years, and its Sunday Champagne Brunch has been honored as "The Best Brunch in the Hudson Valley" by Hudson Valley magazine for the last seven consecutive years.

The Gothic Revival-styled building, designed by Caughey and Evans of New York, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The hotel, which underwent a $26 million restoration in 1999 and additional renovations in 2003 and 2004, is named for U.S. Army Col. Sylvanus Thayer, "the father of the Military Academy," who served as its superintendent from 1817 to 1833.

Dolce Hotels and Resorts, a privately held operator of 27 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 more than 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, Nevada, 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.