Southard comes to the historic property from Rockville, Md., where he was general manager of the Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center.

He succeeds Gary Crizer, who was named assistant general manager of the Hotel Roanoke's sister property, the Inn at Virginia Tech & Skelton Conference Center in Blacksburg.

Southard, a native of upstate New York, worked in various positions for Marriott hotels over 19 years, including five years as director of marketing at the Richmond Marriott. He has worked for the Hilton family of hotels for seven years.

"Rick has been recognized during his career for building strong, customer-focused sales and catering teams, including winning Hilton's sales and catering team of the year award in 2002," said general manager Gary Walton. "We welcome Rick and his family to Roanoke, and look forward to his expertise and enthusiasm to continue our efforts to market the hotel regionally and nationally to bring additional conferences and visitors to the Roanoke Valley."

Southard is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he earned a degree in hotel administration. An avid outdoorsman, Southard looks forward to exploring the lakes, streams and trails of the Blue Ridge mountains.

"I am very excited to represent Roanoke's flagship hotel, which has a long-standing tradition of providing high-quality accommodations and Southern hospitality," Southard said.

About The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center 

The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center has 332 luxuriously appointed guestrooms and a 63,000-square-foot, high-tech conference center. It is a joint project of Hotel Roanoke LLC, the City of Roanoke and Virginia Tech operated by Doubletree Hotels, a part of Hilton Hotels Corp. 

Thomas Becher
540-772-4404
[email protected]
www.hotelroanoke.com