Hotel Equities Continues Caribbean Push, With Growing Pipeline and New VP 

Hospitality management and development firm Hotel Equities has been growing its footprint in the Caribbean in the last year, with nine properties and nearly 1,000 hotel rooms now under development. 

Now, the company is expanding its push with the appointment of Marilia Pergola as its new vice president of operations for the Caribbean and Latin America region, Caribbean Journal has learned. 

Pergola will be based in Hotel Equities’ Miami corporate office, helping to lead a Caribbean push for Hotel Equities that began in earnest in 2024. 

While the company was founded in 1989, it was last year that Hotel Equities set out on its large-scale Caribbean expansion. 

“We are thrilled to welcome Marilia to the Hotel Equities family,” said Al Smith, President of Operations at Hotel Equities, in a statement shared with CJ “Her knowledge of the CALA landscape, coupled with her operational rigor and passion for people development, make her the ideal leader to inspire our associates and provide exceptional service to our guests and partners across the beautiful and dynamic CALA region.” 

Pergola has more than two decades of experience in hotel operations; she had served most recently as senior director of operations for owner and franchise relations in the Caribbean and Latin America. That included managing a portfolio of some 100 hotels, both full-service and select-service properties. 

“I’m honored to join Hotel Equities at such an exciting time of growth in the Caribbean and Latin America,” said Pergola. “This region holds immense opportunity, and with HE’s people-first culture and commitment to in-market support, I’m confident we’ll continue to elevate the guest and owner experience across every hotel we touch.” 

Michael Register and Richard Millard are helping to lead the Caribbean growth. 

The company’s development portfolio includes locations in Curacao, Dominica, Grenada, Mexico, Tobago and the US Virgin Islands. 

That includes the first new-build hotel in the US Virgin Islands in decades: the new Hampton by Hilton set to open in St Thomas. 

For more, visit Hotel Equities.