Mar. 14, 2003 - Hotelier Linda Gill will take over day-to-day management of Gill Hotels Inc. after being named president of the company Thursday. 

Gill, 50, succeeds her father George W. "Bob" Gill, who is widely hailed as the father of the tourism industry in Broward County. 

The senior Gill, 87, began building hotels shortly after World War II. His company now owns the 501-room Sheraton Yankee Clipper and 459-room Sheraton Yankee Trader hotels, two of the largest properties on Fort Lauderdale beach. 

Bob Gill will retain the titles of chairman and chief operating officer, and will continue to serve in a consulting capacity. 

Linda Gill has worked for the family business since 1975 when she began filing papers in the office. She held jobs at the front desk, in reservations, in the banquet area and in banquet sales before leaving to work at an accounting firm. 

She returned to Gill Hotels full time as vice president in 1985. 

In recent years, she's gradually taken on more responsibilities, making it somewhat confusing when she and her father disagreed, Linda Gill said. 

"It's difficult for the staff to know who to report to when there are differences," she said. 

About 500 people work at the two hotels. 

Gill said she has great respect for her father and wanted to make the transition to chief executive when he was still available to talk to. She said she will probably hold more meetings than her father and solicit more input in making decisions. 

Gill said she has been trimming her civic and community involvement back to lodging-related groups recently. 

She chairs the Greater Fort Lauderdale Lodging & Hospitality Association, and is Florida chair of the Association of Sheraton Franchise Owners of North America. 

The two Fort Lauderdale Sheratons date from the 1950s and 1960s and are ripe for upgrading. Gill said she's working on master plans for both properties, but will probably wait for the economic and political picture to settle down before making any decisions. 

"I don't want to jump in and change things overnight," Gill said. 

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