Chatham Lodging Trust appointed former Marriott International executive Liam Brown to its board of trustees, effective immediately, the real estate investment trust announced Monday.
Brown will serve as an independent director at Palm Beach, Florida-based Chatham, which invests in upscale extended stay and premium-branded select-service hotels, per a release. Chatham’s portfolio spans 39 hotels across 11 brands.
The appointment comes after Brown retired from Marriott earlier this year, stepping down from his role as group president for the U.S. and Canada. In that role, Brown was responsible for “the financial management and leadership of Marriott's lodging operations in North and South America,” which comprises more than 6,000 hotels and a workforce of approximately 160,000 associates, according to Chatham.
Brown held other key leadership positions at Marriott over his nearly four-decade career with the company, including group president for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and chief operations officer for select-service and extended stay lodging in the Americas, per the release.
“[Brown’s] addition to the board brings substantial insights from both an operations and franchisor/franchisee relationship perspective that will be very helpful as we enhance shareholder value through continued focus on maximizing operating results and critical analysis of capital allocation decisions,” Jeffrey Fisher, Chatham CEO and chairman of the board, said in a statement.
Brown also currently serves on the boards of real estate investment trust EPR Properties and the American Hotel & Lodging Association.
To prepare for Brown’s departure from Marriott, the company appointed Satya Anand as group president for the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean and Latin America region in January.
