New York, NY (November 13, 2012) – Brooke Denihan Barrett, co-CEO of Denihan Hospitality Group, was honored as Female Executive of the Year at the 2012 Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Announced at an awards dinner held in New York on Friday, November 9th, Barrett was chosen as the gold trophy winner out of a total of 1,200 global applicants across a range of industries.

Barrett is the only women in New York City – and one of only a handful in the world - to own and run a hotel  investment and management company. In 2011, she helped to secure Denihan’s first-ever joint-venture, giving real estate investment trust Pebblebrook Hotel Trust a 49 percent ownership stake in six of the company’s core Manhattan assets and raising significant capital  to fuel national strategic growth for Denihan. Barrett was also key in restructuring the family’s 50-year-old hospitality business to set the stage for aggressive growth, naming the first non-family member to the position of president in early 2012.

Barrett is known for her deep-rooted passion for personally mentoring promising young Denihan associates and women in the hospitality and commercial real estate industries.  In 2011 she was a co-founder of the American Hotel and Lodging Association’s (AH&LA) New York/New Jersey Chapter of Women in Lodging, a national organization fueling the mission to promote women into executive positions within the lodging industry and contribute to business development efforts, including women’s markets.

“To receive this award is not only an incredible honor personally, but it is also a true testament to the strides Denihan has made and the many accomplishments we have achieved,” said Barrett. “At Denihan we don’t simply define success through numbers. As important is the company’s culture and employee passion and sentiments. Without these things, the more traditional, tangible measures of success cannot be achieved, and as an executive I believe it is important to focus your attentions equally on each area as you cannot maximize financial success without internal employee passion and satisfaction.”

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business are the world’s top honors for female entrepreneurs, executives, and the organizations they run.  All individuals and organizations worldwide are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The 2012 awards received entries from 17 nations and territories.

“I’m very pleased that we were able to conclude our tenth year of organizing Stevie Awards programs with a very successful Women in Business event,” said Michael Gallagher, president and founder of the Stevie Awards.  “This year’s Stevie Award-winning women are the most accomplished, impressive group we’ve ever had.  Their stories of success will be an inspiration to women around the globe who dream of starting and growing a business and making a difference in the world.”

More than 1,200 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories. The award winners were selected by more than 200 executives worldwide who participated in the judging process this year.

Details about the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the list of Stevie Award winners are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Women.

About Denihan Hospitality Group
Denihan Hospitality Group is a privately-held, full-service hotel management and development company that owns and operates 14 boutique hotels in major urban markets in the U.S. Over the past 50 years, the Denihan family has built a world-class lodging investment platform within the boutique hotel space, creating value by acquiring, repositioning and managing independent hotels.

The Denihan portfolio includes properties operating under The James and Affinia Hotels brands, as well as Manhattan luxury independents, The Surrey and The Benjamin, and affiliates including the Royal Palm in Miami, and The Mansfield and The Franklin in New York City. Denihan’s hotels include an impressive list of chef-driven restaurants and bars, including Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian’s The National Bar and Dining Rooms at The Benjamin; David Burke Kitchen at The James New York; Daniel Boulud’s Café Boulud at The Surrey; David Burke’s Primehouse at The James Chicago; and Art Smith’s Art and Soul at the Liaison Capitol Hill, an Affinia hotel in Washington, D.C.

The company’s uniquely guest-centric approach, refined through three generations of Denihan leadership, has made it an industry leader in hospitality, property and restaurant development, as well as hotel operations, management and marketing. In 2011, Denihan was named to Inc. Magazine’s 500|5000 list of Fastest Growing Companies for the third year in a row, where it topped the list of full-service hotel companies.

More details can be found at www.denihan.com.