Ilemona Salifu expands role with Hyatt Hotels Corporation to include Hyatt-managed Hotel Revival

Hotel Revival, an award-winning, Hyatt-managed Joie de Vivre hotel located in the heart of Baltimore’s historic Mount Vernon neighborhood, is pleased to welcome hotel industry veteran Ilemona Salifu as director of sales, events and marketing. Salifu is taking on this new role in addition to his current position as director of sales, events and marketing at Hyatt Regency Baltimore.

“Ilemona is a natural leader with a proven track record of establishing and maintaining relationships with clients and colleagues,” said Donte Johnson, general manager of Hotel Revival. “He not only delivers results, but he leads by example in everything he does.”

As area director of sales, events and marketing for Hotel Revival and Hyatt Regency Baltimore, Salifu will take the lead on synergizing all sales, marketing and commercial strategies to optimize revenue, brand loyalty, and authentic guest experiences. His wealth of experience in delivering professional and unique meetings and events with innovative food and beverage functions will be an instrumental ingredient to the success of Hotel Revival.

“I am truly excited to be part of this family of talented and creative professionals on our quest to define top notch hospitality in true Charm City fashion,” said Salifu.

Prior to his current position, Salifu was the director of sales and marketing at the Hyatt Regency in Morristown, N.J., where he led a team of six managers and three administrators on day-to-day business operations and provided mentorship to help his team achieve a $25 million annual revenue goal for the hotel. During his time in New Jersey, he also taught courses and mentored students in the Hospitality Management program at Montclair State University. Before venturing to New Jersey, Salifu was the associate director of sales at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead, Atlanta. In this role, Salifu and his team were awarded the Hyatt Hotel & Resorts Sales Team of the Year Award for mid-size hotel as a result of their record-breaking revenue achievement in 2015. From 2011-15, Salifu was a senior sales manager at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles where he was awarded the Hyatt Corporation Hyperformer Award in 2014 for exceeding the annual revenue goals by 113 percent. He began his career with Hyatt as a security officer, and then transitioned to accounting clerk and general cashier at the Andaz San Diego.

Salifu served in the U.S. Navy and is an active member of the Veteras@Hyatt Diversity Business Resource Group. He graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Science in finance and a minor in business administration. He currently resides in Baltimore with his wife and three daughters.

About Hotel Revival

Hotel Revival is located at 101 West Monument Street, in the heart of Baltimore’s historic Mount Vernon neighborhood. The 107-room, 14-story boutique hotel is contributing to the renewal of the area through a vibrant guest experience, thoughtful design, and restaurants and signature bars. The property embraces Mount Vernon’s notable history of art and culture by featuring an extensive array of local artists and artisans. It also embodies Baltimore by showcasing local products, the city’s history, and native cuisine. Topside, the hotel's year-round rooftop restaurant and bar, showcases the distinct flavors of Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay. Revival offers four event spaces, totaling 4,000 square feet, accommodating a range of guests, from 10 to 200. The hotel was developed by Denver-based real estate companyNuovoREand is the first Joie de Vivre property in Baltimore. For more information, please visit www.jdvhotels.com/revival.

About Joie de Vivre Hotels

Since its founding in San Francisco in 1987, Joie de Vivre Hotels, a Hyatt brand, has made curating authentically local and eclectic experiences its signature. Each one of Joie deVivre'shotels is an original concept designed to reflect its location and engage the five senses. The brand has a collection of boutique hotels and resorts in California as well as properties in Chicago, IL, Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD, and New York. Joie de Vivre Hotels is establishing its foothold on the East Coast with two new properties in New York City – Hotel 50 Bowery and Park South Hotel – and the now-open Revival at Mount Vernon Place in Baltimore, MD. Follow @JDVHotelson Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for news and updates. For more information, please visit www.jdvhotels.com.

About Hyatt Hotels Corporation

Hyatt was founded by Jay Pritzker in 1957 when he purchased the Hyatt House motel adjacent to the Los Angeles International Airport. Over the following decade, Jay Pritzker and his brother, Donald Pritzker, working together with other Pritzker family business interests, grew the company into a North American management and hotel ownership company, which became a public company in 1962. In 1968, Hyatt International was formed and subsequently became a separate public company. Hyatt Corporation and Hyatt International Corporation were taken private by the Pritzker family business interests in 1979 and 1982, respectively. On December 31, 2004, substantially all of the hospitality assets owned by Pritzker family business interests, including Hyatt Corporation and Hyatt International Corporation, were consolidated under a single entity, now Hyatt Hotels Corporation.