AAA announces Four & Five Diamond recipients

Congrats to the following five WIA members!

The Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake, Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, and The Pfister & the Iron Horse hotels in Milwaukee all received AAA’s Four Diamond ratings for 2010.  This was the first year that the Iron Horse received the rating.

Also, for the 25th consecutive year, the American Club in Kohler received AAA’s Five Diamond rating.  They continue to be the only Five Diamond recipient in Wisconsin.  Read more about each property at our other blog post here.

Interesting facts: The American Club is one of only 113 lodging properties throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean to earn the Five Diamond status. Also, The Pfister Hotel is one of only 14 lodging properties to hold the AAA Four Diamond rating for 34 consecutive years (since the program’s inception in 1977).

Learn more about the AAA Diamond Rating system at their site here & Congratulations again to the five above!

UW-Stout Professor Joe Holland named WIA Associate of the Year

The Wisconsin Innkeepers Association (WIA) is pleased to honor Professor Joseph Holland J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Stout as the 2009 Associate of the Year. Given annually, WIA awards this honor to an individual who services Wisconsin’s lodging industry in an exemplary manner.

Joe is a current member of the WIA Board of Directors who, along with Student Director Rachel Bernstein, has helped connect lodging industry professionals with students in Hospitality. He is a tenured full professor in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism, teaching Hospitality Law & Liability, Foodservice Finance & Cost Controls and more.

Participating in articulation agreements as far away as Singapore, Spain, and RAI University in India, as well as here in Wisconsin with Lake Geneva High Schools and Gateway Technical College, Joe has learned and shared his expertise through UW-Stout for 23 years. In 1998 he was awarded the Educator of the Year Award from the Menomonie Chamber of Commerce.

Part of Joe’s work has been to coordinate the AH&LA Educational Foundation scholarships for students in the Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management Program, with many students at UW-Stout receiving valuable scholarships to assist with their education over the years.  In addition to his role on the WIA Board of Directors, Joe also serves as Faculty Advisor to the American Hospitality Professionals chapter at UW-Stout, two national committees with the American Resort Development Association, chairs the Menonomie Tourism Commission and is the Associate Director of the Groupware Competency Center at the University of Paderborn in Paderborn, Germany.

Joe received his award earlier this week at the 2009 Wisconsin Lodging Conference & Trade Show at the Glacier Canyon Lodge at the Wilderness in Wisconsin Dells. Congratulations again to Professor Holland: the 2009 Associate of the Year!

Brian Brandstetter, CHA named 2009 WIA Innkeeper of the Year

The Wisconsin Innkeepers Association is proud to honor the 2009 Innkeeper of the Year, Brian Brandstetter from Cornerstone Hotel Management in DeForest. The “Innkeeper of the Year Award” is a time-honored tradition to recognize an outstanding individual who exemplifies the hospitality industry in our state.

Brian has served as the President of Cornerstone Hotel Management, operating five hotels in Wisconsin and one in Illinois, for the last 12 years.

Beginning with attending committee meetings in 1991, Brian began his service on the WIA Board of Directors in 1992, serving as a Chair or Vice-Chair of every WIA Committee.
He was elected WIA Secretary-Treasurer in 1998 and moved
up the ladder through all officer positions, serving as the WIA Chairman of the Board in 2002. He receiving the AH&LA Most Valuable Volunteer Award for Wisconsin in 2003, and has continued to serve on the WIA Board until his term expires this December.
Tops on his list of successes, he was voted “#1 Dad” by his kids which he described as his “best award and reward of them all.” His list of Awards for the properties he has overseen, representing multiple franchises, includes:

• Hampton Inn’s Circle of Excellence Award
• Two retention awards with Country Inn as well as their 2000 Inn of the Year
• Four Quality of Excellence Awards with Holiday Inn
• Four consecutive Gold Awards with Choice Hotels
• Five consecutive Director Awards with Best Western

A graduate of UW-Stout, Dale Carnegie Training, a CHA and a Certified Pool Operator, Brian also served as President of the Chamber of Commerce for two years, initiated a Tourism Commission in DeForest, and has served on room tax committees in 3 different communities.

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