Background

Meet Al Munguia.

My first experience in hospitality came in 1978. My mother was a housekeeper at the Travelodge San Francisco Airport. In the summer of my 16th year, I was given my first summer job, a laundry attendant. From there, i worked as a grounds keeper, a house-person, and then a PBX operator (think Lily Tomlin but without the hairnet and funny zingers).

That’s all it took. I was hooked. Hospitality was my calling. In the years that followed, I moved on to a bigger hotel ( Clarion SFO- 435 rooms). First as a PBX operator, then as a Front Desk Agent then Front Desk Supervisor.

While there, on a rather stormy Valentines Day, when the hotel was sold out, and most managers already gone for the day, we had a power outage. With no management on site, myself and a co-worker, took control, made some decisions and rallied the hotel staff to make the best of a terrible situation. By the end of the night, guests were thanking us for creating an enjoyable, memorable and romantic evening.

The following day, the hotel’s General Manager pulled us both in and promoted us to Front Office Managers. Thus, my career in management began.

I continued my career working for the big chains (Marriott, Starwood, Holiday Inns) and worked for both corporate hotels and independent properties. Room Division Manager, Assistant General Manager, Human Resources Manager, Restaurant Manager, General Manager and Area General Manager are just some of the titles/positions I’ve held.

In the late 80’s I was selected by Holiday Inn’s Worldwide to become a Road Scholar (think traveling “Holiday Inn University Professor”). After undergoing months in a crash course hospitality training program making us experts in Business/Market Planning, Rate and Inventory Management, Training and Development, Presentation and Consulting Skills, Service Improvement Processes and overall leadership training, I was assigned to the Southwest area of the country. I visited every H.I. in Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Southern Nevada, at least 2 times per year, working with and training hotel owners and managers on elevating their businesses.

In the 90’s, I was relocated to Guadalajara Mexico and opened the Holiday Inn office overseeing Mexico, Central and South America. There, I served as the chief liaison between Latin American hotels and the Holiday Inn corporate office. I continued training and consulting with these hotels, elevating their exposure to the resources and knowledge available to them.

Fast forward many years later, I relocated to Portland Oregon where i assumed the role of General Manager of a new property, the Jupiter Hotel, a recently remodeled, 1960’s exterior corridor Travel Inn. Under my leadership, the hotel quickly became an iconic and internationally recognized boutique hotel. The hotel was featured on the Conde Nast Hot List and began receiving domestic and international press and awards. In 2018, after 14 years of being the General Manager, we opened a new hotel, the Jupiter Next.

During my tenure at the Jupiter, in 2011, I was appointed by then Governor John Kitzhaber to the Oregon Tourism Commission as an Oregon Tourism Commissioner. The commission, doing business as Travel Oregon, drives economic growth and job creation by strengthening tourism throughout the state.

In 2017, myself and a few friends, purchased the Hood River Hotel, a 41 room, historic boutique hotel in Hood River, Oregon.

In 2018, after 14 years at the helm of the Jupiter, the decision was made to move on and begin a new adventure.