McKibbon Hospitality announces new Asheville team members

McKibbon Hospitality announced today that it has hired Michael Hickerson as general manager for its AC Hotel Asheville Downtown and Marie Dalis as market director of sales for McKibbon’s downtown Asheville properties, which include the Aloft Asheville Downtown and AC Hotel Asheville Downtown. The AC Hotel is slated to open in late 2016 and will be McKibbon Hospitality’s second downtown Asheville hotel in addition to the Aloft, which opened in 2012.

Hickerson is an award-winning industry veteran with more than twenty years of experience in hospitality. He has worked for McKibbon since 2001, holding general manager positions at properties in Sarasota and Little Rock, and he has led teams through openings for various hotel brands. In his role as general manager for the AC Hotel Asheville Downtown, Hickerson will help recruit, interview and train the hotel’s team, manage day-to-day hotel operations, assist with sales and marketing efforts, and help maintain brand standards across the property, including for the hotel’s world-class food and beverage offerings.

Dalis joins McKibbon Hospitality from Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, where she was previously the director of sales and marketing for the Brice Hotel in Savannah. Prior to her time with Kimpton, Dalis worked as a director of sales for McKibbon. She has held positions for a variety of Marriott brands at properties in Florida and Georgia, including a Kessler Collection property in Savannah, which is part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection. As market director of sales for the AC and Aloft in Asheville, Dalis will be responsible for the overall sales of both properties, training all associates as it relates to sales processes, implementing new sales initiatives, and supporting guest experience and satisfaction.