Tony Haddad

Miami, Florida | Industry Tenure: 32 Years

Tony Haddad has been active in the hospitality finance arena for the past three decades. Tony brings to the table years spent in hotel operations working as Director of Finance and as a regional executive responsible for a portfolio of hotels for Marriott International. Tony has extensive experience in domestic and international hotels in the Caribbean, Mexico and Central and South America.

After leaving Marriott, Tony formed his own asset management and consulting firm, Thames Associates, LLC.

In 2013, he became part of The Plasencia Group’s team. He holds a B.B.A. degree from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. A dedicated cyclist, he kicks off each workday with a group bike ride through suburban Broward County and also enjoys riding his motorcycle on the weekends.

“You’re dealing with an industry that caters to happy people on vacation. It’s multifaceted and always changing. There’s creativity and design. You walk into something new, you learn about it, you opine about it and then move onto the next one.”

Michelle Hayes

Dallas, Texas | Industry Tenure: 41 Years

Michelle Hayes has worked in virtually every facet of hotel operations throughout her nearly four decades in the lodging industry. She joined the firm after a successful career with FelCor Lodging Trust, one of the nation’s largest hotel real estate investment trusts. As Vice President of Asset Management at FelCor, Hayes was responsible for overseeing a portion of the company’s portfolio of Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hilton, Marriott and Sheraton hotels as well as independent hotels. Michelle also has extensive multi-faceted resort experience in South Carolina and Florida specifically.

Prior to her joining FelCor, Ms. Hayes was a general manager for Starwood Hotels and Resorts managing numerous hotels for 15 years. These hotels included Sheraton Suites Alexandria and the Sheraton Gateway hotel in Atlanta, Georgia, in addition to the Sheraton Wardman Park in Washington DC. During her tenure with Sheraton, she was the recipient of the company’s President’s Award and Employee Satisfaction Award. In addition, Ms. Hayes was a member of Sheraton Corporation’s Chairman’s Club and Marketing Board of Directors.

Ms. Hayes received a master’s degree in management and finance and a bachelor’s degree from Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. She also has received the designation of Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA) from The Educational Institute. Michelle has since completed the Cornell Business School Certification for Real Estate and Asset Management.

“The hotel business is really a simple business in many ways, although we often try to complicate it unnecessarily. Financial acuity is certainly critical, but focusing on people with compassion and empathy will always create value in the end”

Gary Isenberg

Tampa, Florida | Industry Tenure: 41 Years

Gary Isenberg joined The Plasencia Group in the summer of 2022 with more than 35 years of diversified hospitality real estate experience in hotel management, development, finance, and asset management. Over his extensive career in hospitality real estate, Gary has overseen more than $15 billion of hotel investments, spanning all major brands, all chain-scales and hotel asset classes, and a wide variety of independent and boutique hotel properties.

Gary received a Bachelor of Science in Business Management with minors in Corporate Finance and Information Systems from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Thereafter, he accepted a position with ITT Sheraton as a corporate trainee. During his tenure, he rapidly earned increasingly responsible positions through mergers and acquisitions at both the corporate and property level.

Gary subsequently was recruited to join Field Hotel Associates (FHA), a privately-held hotel development, ownership and management company, as General Manager of its flagship property. Soon, he was promoted to Executive Vice President of Hotel Operations, then to Chief Operating Officer. During his tenure at FHA, Gary led the development and opening of hotels, spearheaded several reorganizations, repositioning and recapitalizations, as well as numerous revenue-generating and cost-cutting initiatives.

In 2011, Gary joined forces with LWHA and launched the firm’s asset management division, responsible for developing and growing asset management clientele. Gary grew the platform to over 50 hotel properties under management nationwide, along with the widespread execution of advisory services.