CEO Beechwood Hospitality

Blair Allen has been in the hospitality business for more than two decades as a developer, owner, and manager of hotels across the nation. He graduated from Washington & Lee University and he earned a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Walton School of Business at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He began his career in commercial lending with Regions Bank, and at Worthen Bank (Bank of America).

Blair is a director on the board of Centennial Bank, Central Arkansas Region, a committee member of the InterContinental Hotels Group, IHG Technology Task Force and the Crowne Plaza Committee. He served on the Board of the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau as Chair of the Real Estate Committee and as President and Chairman of the Board for the Arkansas Lodging Association. He was also a Board Member of Lodgian, a publicly traded hotel company with hotel assets across the United States. He currently serves as Chair of State Parks, Recreation and Travel Commission.

With an extensive background in banking and finance, and his years of community and industry board service, Blair is uniquely equipped to bring immense value to the sales and marketing interests of Beechwood Hospitality. His background, combined with an acute understanding of revenue management, experience in branded, independent, select service and full-service hotels, and his ability to train support staff in the successful selling of every aspect of the company’s hotel interests, has helped him make Beechwood Hospitality a financial success.

Principal

Matthew Allen’s expertise ranges from hotel design and construction to real estate management. He is also a partner in Majestic Group, which owns and manages numerous investment properties and rental units. At Beechwood Hospitality, he serves in management for all operating and capital expenditures, including maintenance and Property Improvement Plans within the portfolio. In addition, Matthew is also responsible for the maintenance and occupancy of all investment properties.

Matthew oversees day-to-day operations for Beechwood Hospitality’s active assets, including site resources, sales efforts, revenue management, customer service and the maximization of guest satisfaction. He is intensely focused on increasing operating cash flows by leveraging his team to capitalize on local market conditions to meet optimal occupancy indexes.

Beechwood Hospitality takes great pride in the condition and appearance of their properties, and it’s all thanks to Matthew’s oversight. Under his leadership, the Company has been honored to receive awards such as the Remodel of the Year Award, Modernization Award, and the Priority Club Members Choice Award, following the conversion of a case-study property from a Holiday Inn-Select to a Crowne Plaza hotel.

Principal

Wally Allen has owned, managed and developed hotels and restaurants across the nation. He has worked alongside well-known franchises like Hilton, Marriott, InterContinental Hotels Group, Choice, Ramada, Denny’s, Backyard Burgers, Sporting News Grill and others.

Wally’s extensive knowledge and expertise in hospitality began in his college years, as a front desk attendant. Throughout his extensive career, he has worked in virtually every facet of the hospitality industry. With his hands-on approach to management, he has played an integral role in the success of properties owned and managed by Beechwood Hospitality.

During his career, he has served on a number of local, national and international boards and committees such as Chairman of the IAHI and Chairman of the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau. His accomplishments during his tenure have been so significant that the Little Rock Convention Center’s Ballroom was named in his honor.

Our Director of Accounting, Stacy Bradford, CPA, leads the accounting department at the corporate office as the controller.  Stacy brings over 25 years of accounting experience in the hospitality industry and an additional experience from previously working with the IRS.  Stacy oversees our accounting personnel, is responsible for developing accounting policies and procedures, and reviews and analyzes finances, ensuring accurate compliance on all documentation.

Director of Operations Ryan Reynolds serves on the management team and brings over 10 years of experience in the hospitality industry, including several years as a General Manager.  Along with Company executives, Ryan helps align the operations at the corporate office with those at the hotels.  Managing and evaluating hotel performance and meeting industry standards are among some of the responsibilities Ryan covers for Beechwood Hospitality.

Beth Boyd currently serves as our Director of Revenue Management and Sales.  Beth has over 28 years in the hospitality industry.  She spent 19 years leading a successful sales and catering team for the Crowne Plaza and Hampton Inn & Suites in Little Rock.  In 2014, Beth transitioned into Revenue Management for Hilton brands and eventually built a strong revenue management team for multiple brands.  With years of sales and marketing experience, she now successfully oversees Sales & Revenue Management for all Beechwood Hospitality properties.  Our Brand experience includes Courtyard Marriott, Crowne Plaza IHG, Holiday Inn IHG, Staybridge Suites IHG, Hilton Garden Inn, DoubleTree Hilton, Hampton Inn & Suites Hilton, Tru by Hilton, and Baymont Wyndham.

Director of Administration Lindsey Cupples has been with Beechwood Hospitality for over 10 years.  Duties for Lindsey include managing the administrative corporate staff, corresponding with executive staff, and running the corporate office as the Office Manager. Lindsey also serves as executive assistant to Mr. Wally Allen.

Karen Santiago serves as Beechwood Hospitality’s Director of Corporate Accounting.  Karen has over 25 years of service in the hospitality industry and oversees the general ledger accounts at the corporate office.  Her duties include producing P&L statements for our properties, reconciling accounts, depreciation schedules and more.

Jennifer Hines is the Director of Revenue Management for Beechwood Hospitality. Jennifer has a background in higher education where she oversaw departmental budgets and expenditures in accordance with Higher Education state law, as well as a background in Corporate food industry in which she learned federal guidelines for production. She combines those two unique backgrounds to complete duties for our Beechwood Hospitality hotels that include generating profitable decisions for our properties.

Ashley joins Beechwood Hospitality as a Revenue Manager.  With a background as a Director of Sales and Sales Manager for several hotels, she brings knowledge and several years of experience to the team.

Becky has been with the company for 25 years and handles permits and licensing, assists with HR and benefits administration, purchasing, special projects, and serves as executive assistant to Matthew Allen.

Emily Kimbrough has been on the administrative team at Beechwood Hospitality for 3 years and is the Executive Assistant to Blair Allen.

Lisa currently serves Beechwood Hospitality as our Payroll Specialist.  Lisa brings years of experience to our team and assists with the properties accounting needs focusing on General Ledger.

Kathy Cupples brings over 35 years of accounts payable experience to our team with over 20 of those years in the hospitality industry.  Being responsible for accounts payable for our properties, Kathy receives, processes, and reconciles invoices to ensure and maintain accurate accounting transactions.

Amanda Long works with our accounting department bringing over 20 years of experience to the team.  Amanda oversees the Beechwood Hospitality cash management accounts and supervises our team regarding taxes and tax payments.

Christy Gillespie is a Area Director of Sales for Beechwood Hospitality in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  She brings over 16 years of experience in the hospitality industry to the Sales team.  Christy’s experiences helps find the right fit for our customers no matter what the accommodations are needed for.