On October 24th, 2018, Jason Nicholson, our Vice President of Operations, was honored as a speaker at the Annual Visit Pensacola Luncheon. Jason, the Chairman of the Visit Pensacola Board, tapped his gavel one last time.

The event was wall-to-wall with big names in both hospitality and tourism in the Pensacola area, including many from the Innisfree Hotels camp.

“I want to thank my Innisfree team,” says Jason. “I have had the privilege of working alongside some amazing hospitality professionals for the past 23 years.”

According to Jason, working at Innisfree Hotels empowers him to make a difference in the local community through tourism.

“I want to thank Julian MacQueen and his wife Kim who, quite frankly, grant us the time at Innisfree to do things that are impactful to our community and to make our quality of life better so we can share that quality of life with others,” he says. “And if we benefit from that through profits, that’s a good thing, too. And then further if we can then turn those profits into helping grow the community, we can build better communities.”

Jason held similar sentiments toward the Visit Pensacola team.

“I want to thank the staff at Visit Pensacola,” he says. “How you carry so many projects and initiatives to their finality with great success and class. How you’re all places at all times, but still in your office. Thank you. It really means a lot for the work that you all have done and the professionalism you have shared with me.”

Jason was awarded a golden gavel plaque to commemorate his time as Chairman. An avid aviator, he also received an aeronautical chart of Pensacola from the President of Visit Pensacola, Steve Hayes.

Robert Overton, the former Vice-Chairman, will be taking over as Chairman of the Visit Pensacola Board.

We are excited to announce that Anthony Eman, assistant manager at the Holiday Inn Resort in Fort Walton Beach, has been awarded the position of general manager at the very same hotel.

Eman, who has been with Innisfree Hotels since 2006, admits to some level of surprise.

“I never thought I would be a manager,” he says. “Let alone a general manager. When I first started in the business, I was in college trying to be a teacher. Now, I am a general manager.”

But Anthony certainly didn’t start out in management. He had to work his way to the top. Tackling jobs anywhere from a room service attendant to head sushi chef, Anthony has truly done it all in the hospitality arena. As it turns out, he had some help along the way.

“Terry Branch is a great mentor,” he says. “He knew I had a food and beverage background, so he focused on teaching me other things to help develop me and pushed me every day.”

And the Innisfree pool of mentors is vast.

“Gina and Sherri were also great teachers,” he says. “They made sure to push me every step of the way to make sure I consistently tried to do whatever I was doing better.”

As a general manager, Anthony hopes that he can return the favor.

“I’m excited to pass along all the great things my mentors have taught me,” says Anthony. “I am truly blessed and thankful for the opportunities that Innisfree has provided for me. I hope to continue the path and keep growing with the company.”

Congratulations to Anthony on his well-deserved promotion!

It is with great pleasure and excitement that we are able to announce that Jeremy Skinner and Terry Branch will be joining the corporate team in Gulf Breeze as our newest Directors of Operations.

Jeremy, who helped open the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Walton Beach as the General Manager, remarked on the moment he found out about the promotion.

“I was excited,” he says. “Jason and I have been talking about the potential opportunity for some time, and I was very happy that it worked out.”

And according to Jeremy, you don’t have to dig too far into the Innisfree culture before finding some hints toward the promotion.

“Lots of companies preach promoting from within, but you see Innisfree do it every day,” says Jeremy. “#1 on the ten commandments is to start with trust. I have trust that Innisfree sees the hard work people put in, and it pays off in the end.”

Not to be outdone by his neighbor, Terry is ready to bring the tools that made him successful at the Holiday Inn Resort to the corporate team.

“I’m excited to work with the great teams at each property,” he says. “I’m going to keep developing great teams to achieve great results.”

Terry finds himself agreeing with Jeremy when it comes to the Innisfree culture.

“Innisfree is a company with a great culture,” he says. “But they don’t just talk about. In this case, actions speak louder than words.”