Millennium Taps Vet As CEO

Millennium Hotels and Resorts has tapped longtime hotel industry veteran John Arnett as president and CEO of Millennium in the Americas as the company embarks on a strategy of expansion and improved brand recognition.

Most recently president of the Kor Hotel Group in Los Angeles, Arnett also worked for Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group for more than a decade as a senior vice president. He succeeds Sudheer Raghavan in the position. Raghavan now heads London-based parent company Millennium & Copthorne Hotels' operations in India and the Middle East. Worldwide, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels represents 100 upscale and luxury hotels—a total of 24,681 rooms—in 16 countries.

"John has distinguished himself in the hospitality industry for 30 years," Millennium & Copthorne group chief executive Peter Papas said in a prepared statement. "He has in-depth knowledge of the North American market, and his expertise, creativity and commitment with be invaluable."

Since acquiring Regal Hotels in the late 1990s and establishing itself in the United States in 2000, the upscale Millennium brand has 19 properties in the Americas, largely in major urban markets and including Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Los Angeles and two in New York. Arnett said he wants to accelerate the transition following the Regal acquisition and at the same time increase the visibility of the Millennium brand.

"The primary objective here right off the bat is to identify and establish Millennium as a recognized brand," said Arnett, who also led expansion of luxury hotels and resorts at Kor. "Therein lies a tremendous opportunity with consistency in product, service and additional locations in key gateway cities."

Specifically, Millennium will look at opportunities in Miami, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., he said. Growth largely will come through acquiring individual properties, but a fast-track method could include acquiring an existing hotel group for rebranding, according to Arnett.

Millennium currently focuses primarily on business travelers, and Arnett said he'd like the brand to move into resort-style environments, but that will not come at the cost of moving away from business travel, he said.

"We are fortunate to have some tremendous leisure destinations, and the thought was—in addition to having properties in key urban environments—to pursue the leisure segment with a little more gusto," Arnett said. "We think we can leverage our position as a business traveler's hotel as we do this."