Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 15, 1994 TAG: 9404150086
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
The move, effective this week, takes Walton from a facility that is closing for renovation in November to one that should be ready for reopening by next spring.
His appointment was confirmed Thursday by Doubletree Hotels Inc., the Phoenix company managing the Roanoke facility.
Walton, an Ohio native and graduate of Ohio State University, has been with Doubletree Hotels for 81/2 years. He has worked at hotels in several areas, including Washington, D.C.; Kansas City; and Williamsburg.
Doubletree has managed The Carolina Inn, which is owned by the University of North Carolina, for almost a year. That hotel's closing was announced last week. It is scheduled to reopen in September 1995.
Walton said original plans were to keep Carolina Inn open during its renovation. A new general manager has been assigned there.
Until Hotel Roanoke reopens, Walton will help the Doubletree sales staff, which has operated an office in Roanoke since October, and hire his management team. He is accepting resumes. A full sales staff will be hired first; then he will fill positions such as chief engineer, food and beverage director and personnel director.
His family, including his wife, Lucy, and four children, will remain in Chapel Hill until they can sell their home there.
In the meantime, he is commuting, going home on weekends and living in Roanoke-area hotels during the week.
"I'm getting to know our competitors," he said Thursday.
by CNB