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DESIGNER OF THE YEAR

HDAC AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE

Hotel Company of the Year

HD/WEST ELM STUDENT

2024 WINNERS + FINALISTS

INDIVIDUAL HONORS

JUDGES

EVENT SPONSORS

PRODUCT

PROJECT

 
Alan Benjamin, ISHC, is the founder of Benjamin West, the world’s leading hospitality FF&E and OS&E purchasing firm based in Boulder, with additional offices in Chicago, Dallas, Maryland, and London. Benjamin West provides purchasing and consultant services to owners, brands, and operators across 40 countries and six territories.

Alan became a member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) in 2000, and in partnership with the Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA), he assisted the organization in determining the FF&E budgets for ISHC’s CapEx 2000 Study, then later co-chaired the CapEx Studies in 2007, 2014, & 2018, and served on the 2023 CapEx committee. He was honored to receive the ISHC Chuck Pinkowski Member Service Award in 2015 for his dedication to the ISHC organization.

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Heather Ciszczon joined NuovoRE as vice president of development and design in 2019, having worked with the team in her previous roles at Two Roads Hospitality and Hyatt. Her experience in architecture, interior design, construction, project management, and operations allows Heather—now chief development officer—to bring multiple points of view to the developer/owner role. With 20-plus years in the industry, she leads teams collaboratively from project acquisition through opening at NuovoRE’s properties, focusing on creating one-of-a-kind assets that provide long-term meaningful social and community impact at each location.

Heather’s hospitality career got its start at Troon Golf, where she was responsible for the design and development of private and public golf clubs and spas across the U.S. Having collaborated with Oz Architects while at Troon, Heather transitioned to lead their interior design division and project manage hotel projects including Mountain Shadows Resort, the renovation at Royal Palms, the historic Hermosa Inn, and the Kukui’ula Resort.

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Alda Ly is founder and principal of ALA Studio. Born in New Zealand and raised in a working-class suburb of Los Angeles, she would watch her cabinetmaker father draw kitchen elevations and accompany him to open houses to see how other people shaped their spaces. From the moment she studied freehand drawing as a UC Berkeley undergrad, Ly knew she wanted to become an architect, and went on to earn a Master’s degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. While still a student at Harvard, in 2008 she helped launch MASS Design Group, the award-winning nonprofit design practice dedicated to humanitarian and socially sustainable work.

Since 2002, Ly has lived in New York City and has worked at Rafael Viñoly Architects, 212box, HWKN, and Leong Leong. In these tenures, she nurtured a curiosity in evolving work and cultural spaces, and discovered a talent for leading project teams with empathy. She also cofounded Designers Assembly, which supports young architects who aspire to ethical, creatively fulfilling entrepreneurship. She lives with her husband Rob, a tech product manager, and their son Simon and daughter Stella.

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Ellen Villars is vice president sourcing and procurement – capital projects for MGM Resorts Design & Development. In her career, Ellen has been directly responsible for over a billion dollars of new development and renovation work in various capacities: FF&E, OS&E, construction management, and project administration.

Ellen is responsible for MGM Resorts’ procurement strategy for FF&E for CapEx projects—leading an interdisciplinary team of employees and external and internal stakeholders through all steps in development sourcing, procurement, and installation.

Ellen has been with the company for more than a decade. Before joining MGM Resorts, Ellen worked for Boyd Gaming Corporation for 13 years. As director of project administration, she was responsible for developing and maintaining overall project budgets and schedules for new construction, expansions, and renovations.

Ellen’s experience also includes positions at the Rimrock Resort Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada; Ramada International Hotels and Resorts in Phoenix, Arizona; and Hemmeter Development Corporation in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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PROJECT

Sarah started her career in hospitality design at Four Seasons. Working closely with Six Senses head of development she now helps spearhead their expansion in the Americas. A trained architect, her 25-plus years of technical services experience includes projects in as vastly different settings as Bora Bora, London, the Seychelles, Iceland, New York, and rural Brazil, to name a few.

Her current focus is on helping to grow the Six Senses portfolio in the Americas, including developing technical standards for the recent and growing “drive to market” creating “visioning documents” for projects from dense urban centers to remote island destinations, and to creating the technical standards for the groundbreaking Six Senses

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Tenaya Hills is the SVP of design and development at Bunkhouse Group, the boutique hotel management company based out of Austin, Texas. Utilizing her more than 15 years of experience in intentional design and historic restoration, Hills leads the charge on bringing the Bunkhouse vision to life through the brand’s signature, bespoke interiors, historic motel renovation projects, adaptive reuse of historic buildings, and innovative new builds—creating a true sense of place for each guest at many properties throughout the U.S. and Mexico.

 A native Californian, Hills has been with Bunkhouse since graduating from the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Architecture grad program, with a master’s in historic preservation. Throughout her career and in addition to her work with Bunkhouse, she has also collaborated on many local projects such as the newly opened Uptown Sports Club in partnership with Aaron Franklin and James Moody, founded an event rental company, Party at the Moontower Event Rentals, and more. In her free time, Hills enjoys traveling, exploring Austin, and spending time with her husband, two sons, and
family dog.

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Project

PRODUCT

2024 WINNERS + FINALISTS

INDIVIDUAL HONORS

JUDGES

EVENT SPONSORS

thank you to our sponsors

Alan Benjamin,
Benjamin West

Heather Ciszczon,
NuovoRE

Alda Ly,
ALA Studio

Ellen Villars,
MGM Resorts International

Sarah Bonsall,
Six Senses Resorts Hotels Spas

Matthew Goodrich,
GOODRICH

Tenaya Hills,
Bunkhouse Group

Atit Jariwala,
Bridgeton

Roy Kim,
Extell

Tom Ito,
Gensler

Marquise Stillwell,
Openbox

Susan Nugraha,
Tao Group Hospitality

Peter Reardon,
White Lodging

Larry Traxler,
Hilton

Audra Tuskes,
Marriott International

Matthew Goodrich is an award-winning interior designer and strategist known for projects that feature rich narrative content and foster interaction and human connection. He is the founder of GOODRICH, a multidisciplinary design practice specializing in branding + strategy, interior design, and product design. For each project, the team creates an underlying narrative—inspired by historical context, cultural movements, and behavioral insights—and uses it to organize the design and infuse emotion into the guest experience.

Prior to founding the firm, Matthew was chief creative officer at AvroKO, and senior associate at Rockwell Group, where he developed a wide range of project types, including hospitality, exhibitions, and scenic design.

2024 judges