Appointing a director of sales and marketing to its staff was Lake Arrowhead Resort & Spa, a Crescent Hotels and Resorts-managed property that recently joined Marriott International’s Autograph Collection of upscale independent hotels.
Arriving at the lakeside luxury address with more than 25 years of hospitality experience at top-rated properties, Gregory Roper is responsible for all sales and marketing efforts, including the development of innovative strategies to ratchet up revenues from discerning meetings and events clientele. He began at the resort during the last week of October.
Roper has called many hotels home over the past quarter century. He served as general manager of Amara Creekside Resort and Spa in Sedona, Ariz. Previously, Roper was in the top spot sales and marketing positions at a handful of prominent properties, including L’Auberge Orchards in Sedona; Salish Lodge & Spa in Seattle; and Bell Harbor International Conference Center/World Trade Center in Seattle. He was director of catering and conference services as well as assistant director of food and beverage at the Crowne Plaza in Seattle and associate director of catering and conferences services at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel Seattle.
He also enjoyed a seven-year run with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts with assignments at five-diamond properties. He worked as senior catering sales manager at Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara and Four Seasons Olympic Hotel (now Fairmont Olympic Hotel) in Seattle. He was also opening banquet manager at Four Seasons Resort Aviara North San Diego.
Prior to the start of this whirlwind hotel career, Roper owned and operated his own catering business for many years in Seattle.
Roper studied Business Administration at the University of Montana and the Culinary Arts at Seattle Central Community College. He earned an Apprentice Technical Degree at ItaliaIdea, Cultura Insegnare Agli Stranieri in Ostia, Rome, Italy. When not at work in sales and marketing for Lake Arrowhead Resort & Spa, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Stephanie, and their cat, Mable.
