Alila Resorts of California has appointed seasoned luxury hospitality executive Daniel Strawn as Director of Business Development, signaling a renewed commercial push across its trio of marquee Golden State properties. Strawn will oversee leisure business strategy for Alila Ventana Big Sur, Alila Marea Beach Resort Encinitas and Alila Napa Valley, a tightly curated portfolio that has become central to Hyatt’s high-end lifestyle positioning on the West Coast.

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A Strategic Hire for a High-Growth Luxury Cluster

The creation and filling of the Director of Business Development role for Alila Resorts of California reflects how quickly the brand’s regional footprint has evolved from a single coastal icon into a multi-resort cluster aimed squarely at affluent leisure travelers. From Big Sur’s storied redwood canyons to Encinitas’ wave-facing bluffs and Napa’s vineyard-lined hills, the three properties collectively give Hyatt a powerful platform in one of the most competitive luxury markets in the United States.

As Director of Business Development, Strawn is charged with leading leisure-focused commercial strategy across all three resorts. That remit includes shaping segment mix, driving partnerships in the luxury travel advisor community and identifying high-yield opportunities in both transient and small-group segments. His appointment comes as high-end domestic leisure demand remains robust and travelers continue to seek curated, experience-rich stays in nature-led destinations.

The new role also aligns with Hyatt’s broader cluster approach within its luxury and lifestyle portfolio. By centering one leader on regional business development, Alila’s California outposts aim to present a unified voice to key partners while preserving each property’s distinct personality and positioning.

Bringing a Decade of Luxury Hospitality Experience

Strawn joins Alila with more than a decade of experience in the upper tier of the hospitality sector, blending on-property operational know-how with a strong commercial track record. Before stepping into his new position, he served as Director of Leisure Sales at Montage Healdsburg in Sonoma County, another wine-country heavyweight catering to high-spend, experience-driven guests.

At Montage, Strawn played a central role in launching Harvest Home Residences, a residential product targeted at ultra-luxury buyers and long-stay guests. He was credited with exceeding year-over-year revenue targets through targeted trade partnerships and bespoke sales activations, experience that will be closely watched as Alila’s California resorts look to deepen ties with top-producing advisors and emerging luxury consortia.

Prior to his wine-country tenure, Strawn spent eight years at The Phoenician, a Luxury Collection resort in Scottsdale. There, he advanced through operations and sales roles at a time when the desert landmark was undergoing major transformation, including a substantial property-wide renovation and brand transition. That blend of change-management, repositioning and commercial execution is expected to be particularly relevant as Alila continues to refine its identity within Hyatt’s growing portfolio.

A Proven Leader Through Major Renovations and Brand Transitions

Strawn’s time at The Phoenician offers a glimpse into his leadership style during periods of significant investment and transition. In 2018, he was recognized as Manager of the Year at the resort following a multiyear, roughly 400 million dollar renovation that reimagined guest rooms, public spaces and amenities while the property shifted from one global brand system to another.

Navigating such a comprehensive overhaul required close coordination with ownership, brand teams and on-property leadership, as well as sensitive management of guest expectations and staff morale. Colleagues from that period point to his ability to maintain service standards and commercial momentum while systems, spaces and brand standards were in flux.

Those skills are likely to come into play in California, where each Alila resort is in a different phase of its lifecycle. Ventana Big Sur has long been a cult favorite along the iconic Pacific Coast Highway, Alila Marea Beach Resort Encinitas debuted just a few years ago as a high-profile new-build on the bluffs above Grandview and South Ponto beaches, and Alila Napa Valley continues to sharpen its edge in an increasingly crowded luxury wine-country market. Ensuring that each property evolves without losing its character will be a key test for the new director.

Overseeing a Trio of Distinct California Flagships

In his new role, Strawn will focus on three properties that, while unified by the Alila ethos of crafted luxury and sustainable, locally rooted experiences, cater to distinct traveler mindsets. Ventana Big Sur, perched above the Pacific and woven into towering redwoods, appeals to couples and wellness seekers drawn to seclusion, spa rituals and outdoor immersion along one of the most scenic stretches of road in the United States.

Further south, Alila Marea Beach Resort Encinitas sits on coastal bluffs in one of San Diego County’s most sought-after surf towns. With 130 guestrooms and suites, ocean-facing pools and a strong wellness offering, the resort taps into a different kind of California dream, one that centers on beach culture, design-forward spaces and access to surf, cycling and coastal trails.

In the north, Alila Napa Valley offers a more intimate, vineyard-side retreat. Set among vines and framed by the region’s culinary and wine culture, the property draws oenophiles, gastronomic travelers and small celebratory groups seeking a highly personalized, high-touch stay. Across these three settings, Strawn will be expected to craft differentiated business strategies that reflect each destination’s strengths while leveraging the combined scale of the cluster in negotiations and partnerships.

Strengthening Alila’s Position in the Luxury Leisure Marketplace

Alila’s California resorts operate in one of the most competitive luxury leisure arenas in the world, vying for share with independent design hotels, legacy grand resorts and the upper tiers of global brands. Industry analysts note that in this environment, commercial success depends less on broad-based marketing and more on surgically targeted partnerships with advisors, consortia and niche segments such as high-end wellness, adventure and epicurean travel.

Strawn’s remit includes deepening Alila’s presence among these influential channels. His background in building relationships with luxury travel agencies, owner-operators and consortia networks is expected to be central to that effort. In practice, that could mean more curated fam trips, co-created itineraries, and data-driven segmentation that aligns specific offers to the most receptive audiences for each resort.

The appointment also arrives at a time when travelers increasingly seek what the Alila brand has long championed: immersive experiences that connect guests with local landscapes, culture and sustainability initiatives. For California, that spans redwood forest bathing and coastal foraging in Big Sur, to surf and wellness programming in Encinitas, to vineyard-side tastings and culinary collaborations in Napa. Translating these experiences into compelling commercial narratives for the trade will be one of the new director’s most visible tasks.

Aligning with Hyatt’s Broader Luxury and Lifestyle Ambitions

Alila’s California cluster sits within Hyatt’s expanding luxury and lifestyle portfolio, a collection that has grown significantly in recent years through both brand launches and strategic acquisitions. The company has made no secret of its ambition to become a top choice for design-conscious, experience-focused travelers, particularly in the high-rate leisure segment that has underpinned much of the sector’s recovery.

Within that context, the decision to elevate business development oversight for Alila’s regional portfolio underscores the brand’s importance in Hyatt’s larger strategy. Where traditional sales structures might have left each property largely to its own devices, the new director role is designed to harness synergies, reduce commercial silos and increase the speed with which the cluster can respond to shifting demand patterns or emerging source markets.

For Hyatt’s global sales force and corporate partners, having a centralized point of contact for Alila’s California resorts could also simplify collaboration and package creation. Strawn is expected to work closely with on-property directors of sales and marketing, regional revenue leaders and Hyatt’s own sales organization to align objectives and ensure that offers, pricing and messaging resonate from local to global levels.

A Personal Passion for Travel, Wine and Destination Discovery

Beyond his professional résumé, Strawn brings a personal affinity for many of the passions that Alila’s California guests share. He and his husband, Matthew, are avid travelers with a particular enthusiasm for great wine and international trips, frequently structured around visits to notable theme parks and culinary destinations. That background gives him a firsthand appreciation for the mindset of guests who allocate significant time and budget to experiential travel.

Colleagues describe him as equally comfortable in data-driven strategy sessions and in high-touch client interactions, characteristics that align with Alila’s positioning at the intersection of crafted luxury and warm, intuitive service. In California’s resorts, where staff are expected to anticipate needs and personalize stays, leadership that values both operational discipline and emotional intelligence is seen as a competitive advantage.

His personal life in travel and hospitality extends to the everyday as well. The couple’s dog, Molly, is a constant companion, underscoring a lifestyle centered on movement, discovery and connection. For a brand that invites guests to, in its own language, go beyond themselves to discover a more connected world, those personal values mirror the narrative Alila aims to deliver on property.

Signals for Advisors, Owners and the Wider Market

For luxury travel advisors and partners, Strawn’s appointment sends a clear message that Alila’s California resorts intend to be proactive rather than reactive in courting high-value business. The Director of Business Development role gives trade partners a dedicated senior contact empowered to collaborate on long-term production plans, bespoke experiences and co-marketing initiatives that are often critical to sustained performance in the luxury tier.

On the ownership and investment side, the move underscores continued confidence in California’s ability to attract resilient high-end leisure demand, despite cyclical pressures and rising operating costs across the state. By centralizing strategy and relationship management, Hyatt and its partners are betting that a more integrated commercial approach will help keep rate integrity and drive length of stay while smoothing out seasonality between the coast, the wine country and the mountainside forests of Big Sur.

Within the broader hospitality market, the addition of a dedicated cluster-level business development leader at Alila’s California properties mirrors a trend toward more specialized, portfolio-minded commercial structures among global brands. As competition for the discretionary dollars of affluent travelers intensifies, roles that fuse strategic planning, partnership management and brand storytelling are increasingly seen not as optional, but as essential to long-term success.