St. Joe’s makes management hire

Santa Rosa Beach, Fla – St. Joe appointed Stephen Hilliard as managing director of resorts and clubs – Walton County. In his new role, Hilliard will be responsible for the management of St. Joe’s Walton County resort and club operations, including the 60-room WaterColor Inn, vacation rental properties in the Gulf coast communities of WaterColor and WaterSound Beach, and all attendant food and beverage operations.

Stephen Hilliard

“Steve is a certified hotel administrator with more than 25 years of experience managing resort vacation properties and full service hotels,” says Rod Wilson, president of Joe’s residential resorts operations in Northwest Florida. “His broad expertise will help us take our full complement of amenities in Walton County – a luxury inn, embracing vacation rental homes, beautiful beaches, fine dining, upscale retail shops, and a rejuvenating spa – and meld them into an incomparable full service resort living and vacation experience for our owners and guests.”

Most recently, Hilliard was regional director for ResortQuest International, a Gaylord Entertainment Company, where he provided direction and support to six Colorado resort operations – Aspen/Snowmass, Breckenridge/Keystone/Dillon, Crested Butte, Steamboat, Telluride and Vail/Beaver Creek – with hotel and fractional ownership properties encompassing approximately 2,000 rental units and 50 homeowner associations.

Key accomplishments include targeting and improving lodging guest satisfaction; improving owner satisfaction with the vacation rental home management program; and optimizing seasonal staffing. Prior to ResortQuest, Hilliard managed full service hotels in Arkansas, Alabama, Colorado, North Carolina and Maine for MHM/Richfield.