Team and Strategic Partners

Francis A. Wong

Mr. Wong, as Chairman and CEO of Genesis Hotel Development LLC, brings development, financial, political and legal expertise to all assignments. As co-owner and developer of some of the finest hotels in Hawaii, such as the Maui Marriott and Fairmont Kea Lani, British Columbia, Canada and California, he has successfully developed, financed and completed these and other hotels. He was a former Hawaii State Senator and a member of the staff of US Senator John F. Kennedy. As a lawyer, he was named in the first edition of Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Wong was a lead director for Allied Hotel Properties, Inc., a Canadian public company, which owned and managed most of the Crowne Plaza hotels in Canada. He has been the chairman of both the Planning Commission and the Architectural and Landscape Committee of the City of Indian Wells. He is passionate about sustainability and as the former chair of Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative, which during his tenure, planted more than 500,000 endemic trees in Hawaii (mostly Koa) on the Big Island. Mr. Wong resides in Indian Wells, CA.

Genesis

Ken Hamlet

Mr. Hamlet is the former President and CEO of Holiday Inns Inc., which during his tenure launched or acquired brands such as Hamptons Inns Inc, Embassy Suites, Homewood Suites, and Residence Inns, and was the leading hospitality brand with more than 19% market share worldwide, and more than 4,000 hotels in 53 countries. In addition, Mr. Hamlet coordinated the purchase and integration of Harrah's Gaming Corp into the Holiday Corp system. Also, he was instrumental in the acquisition of Harrah’s, and participated in the $2.5 billion recapitalization of Holiday Corp. Currently, Ken serves on the boards of Venue Book and Montesquieu Wines as Chairman, and is a partner in Suntoro Partners, LLC, which buys and builds high-end limited service hotels in the top 50 markets in the U.S. He resides in San Diego, CA.

Strategic Partner

Doug Watson

Mr. Watson is the Founder of Providence Hospitality LLC. With more than 35 years of lodging experience, he has been through all aspects of hospitality leadership. Mr. Watson was an executive with Marriott International, responsible for all full-service brands, including the luxury brand, The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company. Serving as Area Vice President for Southern California as well as The Western Region for The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company, he was responsible to the creation of business plans and execution for those hotels. Under his leadership and direction, hotels and resorts were repositioned, and revenues increased, and expenses decreased. Mr. Watson is a recognized hospitality leader in the desert and a longtime resident of Rancho Mirage, CA.

Strategic Partner

Mike Dang

Mr. Dang has led planning, feasibility, and development efforts for residential, retail, commercial, industrial and hospitality land uses. He has overseen planning, feasibility and entitlement efforts for nearly 5,000,000 ft.² on 28 acres of land adjacent to a central business district. His work includes mixed and multiuse projects in urban and suburban areas, and with single-family residential to 400-foot high-rise condominium projects. In addition to such experience, he brings a wealth of formal training to the work. He has a law degree, a Master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in business administration. He has worked in the governor’s office, on a governor’s, a mayor’s, and a legislature’s task force as well as overseen complex financing and compliance for the State of Nevada’s Housing Division. He is a resident of Las Vegas, NV.

Strategic Partner