Shamin Hotels of Chester, Virginia announces today that Veronica Dumas and Michael Hammond have been hired by Holiday Inn University, the newest hotel to the Shamin portfolio. Dumas and Hammond have been hired to fill roles within the management team.
Veronica Dumas is the new Director of Sales. Veronica's Travel/Hospitality Career spans over 30 years. She has worked both on the property level in sales as well worldwide sales. Veronica's career began as a travel agent where she booked, corporate and leisure packages. During this time, she became interested in becoming a representative in the travel industry. She was hired by a small company that began an all-suite independent proto type hotel. From there the competition made her an offer to join their company, where she fine-tuned her knowledge and selling abilities through company training. This corporation, through the years, became known as Interstate Hotels and Resorts. While focusing on the Government market during her career, she was given an opportunity which brought her to Best Western International Worldwide Sales. She handled the government market for the brand both domestically and internationally. Most recently when Veronica moved to Virginia she was hired by the Best Western Plus Charlottesville Airport Inn & Suites and during 2015 that hotel was sold to new ownership and rebranded as the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Charlottesville-Ruckersville. Veronica is very excited about joining Shamin Hotels and taking on the challenge of bringing back the Holiday Inn Charlottesville University hotel. With a top team being assembled and many renovations in the pipeline, this hotel is poised to be a leader in the market.
Michael Hammond is the new General Manager. After spending fifteen years involved in Fund-raising and Public Relations for Nonprofit Organizations, Michael transitioned into the Hospitality industry, where he has spent the majority of the past twenty years in hotel operations, primarily in the Charlotte, NC market. In addition, Michael also has been heavily involved in Sales & Marketing, Human Resources and Recruiting. He has spent time with multiple brands, to include; Hilton, Hyatt, Choice and several independent hotels and resorts. Michael has experience with opening new-builds and overseeing extensive renovations at properties throughout his career. Most recently Michael spent the past fifteen months serving as General Manager at the Cavalier Inn at UVA, where he and his leadership team oversaw the closing of the property, which experienced a very successful and profitable final year. Michael is very excited about joining Shamin Hotels and taking on the challenge of overseeing what he considers the re-birth of the Holiday Inn Charlottesville University, which will be undergoing considerable updating over the next several months. He has already begun the task of reorganizing and adding top-performing leaders to his team there, with sights set on earning a new and better position in the Charlottesville market.