Franklin, TN – March 8, 2016 – Chartwell Hospitality announces the appointment of Curt Cerise as General Manager and Valerie Auld as Director of Sales for the soon-to-open 153-room Courtyard Hotel and 108-suite Residence Inn Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri. The dual-branded Courtyard & Residence Inn Kansas City Downtown/Convention Center property is owned and managed by Chartwell Hospitality, of Franklin Tennessee.

Curt Cerise brings 30 years of hospitality experience, first operating family resorts and hotels in Branson, Missouri and most recently he spent 20 years with Drury Hotels in Paducah, Kentucky, St. Joseph, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri and Overland Park, Kansas. In addition to operating hotels, Cerise has been very involved in all the markets he has been in and has served on various committees and held officer roles for the Hotel & Lodging Association of Greater Kansas City. He served as the 2013 President of the Hotel & Lodging Association and was honored as the 2014 Hotel & Lodging Association of Greater Kansas City Hotelier of the Year. He is a graduate of Missouri State University

Valerie Auld brings 25 years of hotel sales experience, first as Director of Sales with RHW Management Company at the Residence Inn Kansas City Airport and the Residence Inn Overland Park. She then assumed Marriott multi-property responsibility upon joining True North Hotel Group in 2000, leading sales and revenue management teams in both Overland Park and the Country Club Plaza. She graduated from Leadership Overland Park in 2009 and has been active in the Hotel Lodging Association and the Kansas City Business Travel Association. Auld is a graduate of the University of Missouri – Kansas City.

The Courtyard & Residence Inn Kansas City Downtown/Convention Center will be located at 1535 Baltimore Avenue. For more information contact the Courtyard Kansas City Downtown/Convention Center directly at 816-221-7400, or visit www.marriott.com/mciks, for the Residence Inn Kansas City Downtown/Convention Center call directly at 816-221-1400 or visit www.marriott.com/mcisr.