Accor North & Central America appoints Ben Cadwell, Sara Glenn as COOs

Accor has announced the appointment of Sara Glenn and Benjamin Cadwell as Chief Operating Officers, North & Central America. 

This move reinforces the Accor's commitment to investing in world-class leadership and building a strong future for Accor in the region, through the development of renowned brands including luxury leaders Raffles, Fairmont and Sofitel; premium standouts Swissôtel and Pullman; boutique collections such as MGallery; and midscale and economy performers, Novotel and ibis.

In their new roles, Glenn and Cadwell will be responsible for enhancing operational execution, elevating financial results and guest satisfaction, and building long-term value for partners and owners during a time of growth and expansion for Accor in North and Central America. 

Glenn will maintain responsibility for all hotels in Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, while Cadwell will have oversight for all U.S. properties. 

Both will also serve on the Accor North & Central America Senior Leadership Team and CODIR (Executive Committee). 

"Building on extensive backgrounds and experience on the business’s ownership and asset management side, both Ben and Sara bring to their new roles an owner-centric mindset and approach, which will prove critical to Accor’s long-term growth and success in this region,” said Heather McCrory, chief executive officer, Accor North & Central America. 

“They are uniquely positioned, alongside our talented hub and hotel operations teams, to take our strategic roadmap to the next level, optimizing performance and delivering value for our rapidly growing portfolio of hotels.” 

Both Glenn and Cadwell have dedicated their careers to the hospitality industry, cultivating significant knowledge and expertise in financial and operational oversight, investment analysis, as well as management of mergers and acquisitions for hotels and resorts.

Glenn most recently served as Senior Vice President of Operations for Accor North & Central America, where she has played a pivotal role in driving operational performance and excellence, especially in the region’s road to recovery. 

Prior to joining Accor, she was Executive Vice-President Asset Management at InnVest Hotels overseeing a portfolio of more than 100 hotels across a variety of brands and market classes in Canada. 

In addition, she co-founded Whetstone Partners, a hospitality advisory and asset management firm, and has also held senior roles with FairmontRaffles Hotels International, Westmont Hospitality Group, Horwath Consultants and Delta Hotels & Resorts. 

Glenn completed her Bachelor of Commerce in hospitality and tourism management at Ryerson University, and obtained her MBA from the RichardIvey School of Business in 1999, during which she spent a semester at IPADE inMexico City. Glenn sits on the Policy Advisory Board of the University of Guelph HFTMSchool and is Vice-Chair of the Hotel Association of Canada. 

Cadwell joined Accor from Kingdom Hotel Investments, where in his position as Executive Vice-President, Asset and Investment Management, he had oversight ofKingdom’s luxury hospitality investment platform, including its owned trophy hotel assets as well as its investments in Accor and Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. 

During his 16-year tenure with Kingdom, Cadwell was involved in transactional and asset management assignments for more than 20 luxury and upper-upscale hotel investments in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia, as well as Kingdom’s hotel management company investments. 

He played a key role in the $3.3 billion sale of Fairmont Raffles Hotels International and $600 million sale of Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, both to Accor. 

Cadwell started his career with Ernst & Young’s Hospitality Advisory Services group, and was previously a member of the Board of Directors of Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts as well as Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts. 

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree with distinction in Hotel Administration from Cornell University and serves on the Cornell University Council.

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