Key Team
At Bellstar, our corporate strength is derived from our team synergy. Our "Bellstars" bring diverse backgrounds, a wide range of expertise and a passion to perform that makes the organization what it is. We like to say "It's not the number of stars you have - it's how brightly you shine".
Ed Romanowski - Founder / President and Chief Executive Officer / Director / Executive Team
Bellstar Hotels & Resorts and Bellstar Developments Inc.
Ed's tourism and hospitality career spans over 30 years in government, management consulting, business start-ups, development, and operations. He founded Bellstar in 2003. Ed is an accomplished executive responsible for implementing hundreds of development, marketing, operations, financing, organization development, and planning projects for resorts, hotels and tourism projects principally in Alberta and British Columbia. Ed has guided and overseen Bellstar's growth from only one resort property under management in 2004 to 12 in 2010. All of these are condo resorts where consumers have purchased whole or fractional units and contract Bellstar to manage the property and operate them as a hotel resort. Read more...
Patti Smith - Chief Financial Officer
Patti joined Bellstar in the summer of 2009 after she had established her own consulting company, Polar Peaks Services. One of her key successes with Polar Peaks included creating process and results to have a multi-million dollar real estate venture establish procedures to collect on over $13 million in receivables and defaults. Her career also included working with resort development power-player Intrawest Corporation as the Vice President, Strategic Alliances. As a Chartered Accountant, Patti is responsible for working with the Executives to secure development and acquisition financing for both Bellstar Hotels & Resorts and Bellstar Developments. She also supports our key accounting team members to improve Bellstar’s bottom line results for all stakeholders. Her talents lay in focused financial leadership, process development and integration of resort real estate and operations. An avid downhill skier, coach and dedicated traveler, she volunteers with the Fernie Alpine Ski Team and Lake Louise Alpine World Cup Races in the Rockies, and spends summers with her family on the lake in Shuswap, BC.
Ralf Strub - President and Chief Operating Officer of Bellstar Hotels & Resorts
Strub was born and raised in Switzerland, where he started his hospitality career. His early career history included management roles in food and beverage, sales and marketing and turn-arounds of hotels and resorts in Switzerland, Canada, Republic of Maldives, Austria, South Korea, Italy, Germany and Russia. Immigrating to Canada in 2004, Strub joined Prime Restaurants of Canada, implementing and executing the restructuring of the corporate division of restaurants as well as the re-positioning of the concepts. Promoted to Vice President of Western Canada in 2008, he relocated to Vancouver, where he took on the responsibility for the overall performance and development of the East Side Mario’s brand. Strub holds the highest award of quality management in the Swiss Tourism industry ‘2Q’, is a Swiss-trained Chef and his education includes a Master of Hospitality Management of S.H.V., Swiss Hotel Association, in Bern, Switzerland.
Eric Watson - Vice President Corporate Development & Real Estate
Eric's diverse background in delivering technology, marketing and management expertise in real estate development and large infrastructure sectors are a key asset in Bellstar’s continued growth. A recognized authority on Western Canadian resort real estate and property management, Eric is a regular contributor to leading trade publications. Before Bellstar, Eric was the CEO and founder of Ultimate Resorts & Hotels and a senior executive at a Calgary-based software and management consulting company which now trades publicly on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Previous to that, Eric acted as a senior management consultant on a variety of high profile infrastructure projects led by real estate developers, venture capital firms and large energy companies.
Curt Jansen - Director of Resort Real Estate
A graduate of the SAIT Hospitality Management Program Curt spent the early years of his career working in large corporate Hotels including The Westin and Delta Hotels in both Edmonton & Calgary. Venturing on his own, Curt enjoyed over 25 years of experience in franchising, licensing and sales. Curt brings a wealth of experience and entrepreneurial thinking to Bellstar. His career has seen him own & develop; a chain of 6 franchise restaurants, a sign manufacturing franchise, a food processing company, 3 fuel distributorships and a 2 full service restaurants.
Since joining Bellstar in 2004, Curt has been responsible for more than $100 million in Resort Real Estate sales. His success is a tribute to his genuine desire to help people and his refreshing view on building long term relationships with honesty and integrity.
Wendy Boulanger - Corporate Controller
Wendy brings a vast amount of senior level experience in accounting and senior management to Bellstar. Most recently, Wendy was Corporate Controller with Jayman Masterbuilt and had the responsibility of overseeing accounting functions for several operating divisions throughout significant operational changes and evolutions. Prior to that, Wendy was Corporate Controller with EECOL Electric, one of the largest electrical distributors and wholesalers in Canada with over 50 branches globally. With additional career experience in self employment as a consultant, public accountant and software trainer and installer, she brings a strong set of skills and talents to bring to Bellstar and to our exciting future of growth and expansion. Wendy is also Certified Professional Accountant and brings a significant amount of hands on experience in leading, managing and training teams and individuals throughout her career.
Todd Mallen - Director of Operations
Todd joined Bellstar in the winter of 2009. A second generation Hotelier and graduate from the Hospitality Management program in Saskatoon Saskatchewan, Todd has a strong background in condo resort / hotel management and passion for exceptional customer service. Since 2001, he was the Resort Manager of Kelowna’s Lake Okanagan Resort. Todd joined Lake Okanagan Resort in 1987, during this time he developed his knowledge and experience in all aspects of hotel / resort management including food and beverage, front desk, maintenance and housekeeping. Todd is very aware of the importance of property management and operations working together as a team to serve the needs of owners and guests.
Ian Hirji - Director of Purchasing
Ian brings over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry to the Bellstar management team. Throughout his hospitality career, Ian has held several key managerial positions. Most recently he has held positions as Regional Buyer with Avendra, the purchasing division of Fairmont, Delta, Marriott and Hyatt Hotels. Ian brings a great deal of experience with service contracts, procurement, contract negotiations, market baskets, and transactional purchasing. Ian holds a degree from Dartmouth College in Hotel and Restaurant Management, and is currently working towards his designation in Purchasing through the University Of Calgary.
Donna Fahey - Director of Sales & Marketing
Donna brings with her an extensive background in the tourism industry. She held the position of Sales Manager with Ultimate Resorts and Hotels prior to joining the Bellstar team. Prior to that Donna spent 10 years as Sales Manager with a luxury adventure tour company which was named by National Geographic as one of the top 200 "Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth” in 2009. She held the position of Operations Manger for a recreational facility for a number of years during which time her centre continually ranked as the top producer in North America. Donna’s educational background includes Travel and Tourism, S.A.I.T. and Recreation Facilities Management, Seneca College, Toronto.
Jack Aiken - Director of Property Management
Jack started his career in real estate and property management in Waterloo, Ontario. He developed a niche marketing plan for a local real estate/property management company specializing in property management investments. His vision resulted in the real estate brokerage becoming the largest specialist in the property management investment community. Jack moved to Canmore nine years ago to be with his family and continued his career with the largest real estate and property management companies in Canmore. In total, Jack has over 12 years of property management experience. Jack has successfully completed an Honours degree in Business from Wilfrid Laurier University, Strata & Rental Management Licensing from the University of British Columbia, and is Licensed to conduct all Real Estate activities in Alberta. When dealing with Jack, you can expect professionalism and comfort in knowing that his knowledge and experience will help to best manage your property.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Dale Hodgson - Chairman of the Board / Director
Dale is a successful entrepreneur who, over the past 20 years, has developed extensive practical hands-on expertise in building successful businesses. In addition to his involvement in Bellstar, Dale has also owned and been involved in businesses related to the technology industry and the manufacturing and service industry. Dale is President, principal shareholder and key overall visionary for the Kokanee Springs Resort Club in Crawford Bay, B.C., a comprehensive destination resort community to be developed over the next 10 to 15 years around the Kokanee Springs Golf Course, which was established in 1968. The first phase of over 125 units including a new clubhouse started in 2008.
Since 2004, Dale has been a Director and major Shareholder of Bellstar Hotels & Resorts Ltd. and Bellstar Developments Inc. Dale's key business initiatives with Bellstar have included:
- Investment in and ongoing direction and financing of Bellstar
- Directing the restructuring of Bellstar's operations into two legal entities: one for management of resorts and the other for development
- Leadership in securing the financing for three resort developments and one major resort acquisition
- Coaching of Bellstar's President & CEO including guidance through explosive growth and dramatic changes
Through family land interests in Springbank, west of Calgary, Dale has been involved in two successful residential land developments, Country Estates and Allandale Estates.
In addition to being actively involved in the community, Dale serves on several other boards including Insight Limited Partnership and is currently Canadian Chairman of Christian Business Ministries Canada and Corpath Business Forums.
Howard Pechet - Director
Howard has been involved in the development and operation of numerous hotels including Mayfield Inn in Edmonton, Medicine Hat Lodge in Medicine Hat, Alberta and Toronto's International Plaza Hotel and Stage West All-Suite Hotel. Howard and his father built the original Stage West Theatre Restaurant in Edmonton, and he remains active as the Executive Producer of numerous plays. His family founded the Canadian Western Bank, where Howard continues as a Founding Director. Howard is a Shareholder & Director of Bellstar Hotels & Resorts Ltd. and Bellstar Developments Inc.
Donald J. Douglas - Director
Don's involvement in the real estate development and investment industry spans well over 20 years, including his current role at United Inc. (and its predecessor companies), where he has been serving as President for ten years. Don has been and continues to be, a director of numerous investment and management companies in Alberta, including Alsten Holdings Ltd., Trafina Energy, Titan Digital Corporation, and now Bellstar. He has an MBA from the IMEDE Management Development Institute in Lausanne, Switzerland, in addition to his Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta. Don is Past Chairman of the Board of the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts, and is also a member of the World President's' Organization in Alberta. Don is a Shareholder and Director of Bellstar Hotels & Resorts Ltd. and Bellstar Developments Inc.
Ed Romanowski - Director
Read Ed's Profile Here
