The Hilton University of Houston Hotel & Conference Center has named Fernando Cuéllar as its general manager. Cuéllar, who has almost 40 years of experience in the hotel and hospitality industry, was previously general manager of the Lancaster Hotel in downtown Houston.

Michael McGilligan has been named general manager of the Hilton/
Dallas-Lincoln Centre. McGilligan has served as general manager of the Embassy Suites/San Diego-La Jolla for the past three years.

Jonathan Heath has been named general manager of the new W Retreat & Spa on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, scheduled to open March 18. Heath previously served as the opening general manager of the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs, California.

One Bal Harbour Resort & Spa, located in the village of Bal Harbour, Florida, has made two new appointments. Erin Hosler has been named general manager and corporate director of branding and operations, and Debra Klemm has been named director of sales and marketing. Hosler previously served as general manager of the now-closed Hotel QT in New York City. Klemm was previously regional director of entertainment sales for the Standard Spa and the Raleigh Hotel, both in Miami Beach, Florida.  

Denise Banks has been promoted to vice-president of sales, meetings and conventions at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno, Nevada. Banks, most recently the property’s vice-president of meetings and conventions, has been working at Grand Sierra since 1980 and has held several key management positions there.

In Fort Lauderdale, the Westin Beach Resort and the newly renovated Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel (formerly the Sheraton Yankee Trader and the Sheraton Yankee Clipper, respectively) have appointed David Wahba as complex director of sales and marketing. Wahba, who has worked at the hotels in the past, was previously director of sales and marketing at the Westin Resort/Aruba.