The following sales manager positions have been filled as of March 20, 2000: 

• Kathy Markarian, international sales manager; 
• G�Nell Abracosa, national sales manager, corporate groups; 
• Penny Tilton, national sales manager, specialty markets; and 
• Rachelle Lanza, corporate sales manager, business travel.

Kathy Markarian will work closely with William Hamaguchi, international sales director, to acquire and develop new accounts within the South American and European markets.  Markarian recently served in the same position at the Wilshire Grande Hotel & Centre in downtown, whereby she began her career in hospitality in 1997. She holds a bachelor of science degree in hotel and restaurant management.

G�Nell Abracosa will develop all aspects of corporate group sales for the Regal Biltmore. She recently increased bookings and developed new accounts at the Loews in Santa Monica, Calif., and the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, where she served as national sales manager. Abracosa has served in sales for the hospitality industry for more than a decade.

Penny Tilton will cultivate government and specialty market business throughout the country for the Regal Biltmore. Tilton recently worked as associate director of sales at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Pasadena, Calif., and has been in the hotel industry since 1992. She holds a bachelor of science degree in business administration.

Rachelle Lanza will rebuild and expand individual business travel within the growing corporate transient market. She recently managed the hotel�s new full-service business center whereby she developed and balanced daily business center operations in conjunction with established hotel operations. The Regal Biltmore is Lanza�s first venture into the hospitality industry.

Among the Regal Biltmore Hotel�s new sales initiatives are to renew relations with corporate travelers and meeting planners, increase government and specialty market demand, and reach international business and leisure travelers through the synergy of resources now available from Millennium Hotels and Resorts, with properties in New York, London, Paris, Sydney, Asia and New Zealand.

The Regal Biltmore Hotel, now a member of Millennium Hotels and Resorts, is a historic landmark that has hosted royalty, presidents and Hollywood celebrities since it opened Oct. 1, 1923, and quickly became the �place to be� for Los Angeles� high society.

The hotel�s Crystal Ballroom is where the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences was founded May 11, 1927, and the site where the concept sketch of an �Oscar®� was scrawled on a linen napkin.

John F. Kennedy selected Lyndon Johnson as his vice presidential running mate in the hotel�s Music Room during the 1960 Democratic National Convention. Today, that historic room is the hotel�s lobby.

The hotel is rated �Four Diamonds� by AAA and is a member of Historic Hotels of
America.