Westward Look Wyndham Grand Resort & Spa Awards Employees

This week, the Westward Look Wyndham Grand Resort & has nominated three employees to be considered for the 2014 Stars of the Industry Awards. Hosted by the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AJ&LA), the Stars of the Industry Awards were created 40 years ago to acknowledge outstanding individuals and accomplishments in the hospitality industry.

This year, Wyndham nominated Tamara Westphall, Christopher McLaren, and Lourdes Villa for the AH&LA awards. The team represents the catering, guest service, and housekeeping departments of the Wyndham Resort.

Tamara Westphall has been with the Westward Look since 2007 when she began as an administrative assistant. Through hard work and “150%” dedication, she moved up to her current role as catering and convention services manager. Her “whatever-it -takes” mentality has resulted in much success for Tamara at Wyndham. In fact, many of their guests request to work with her specifically because of her “professional, thorough, [and] detail-oriented” manner. Her guests state, “she makes it all seem so easy”.

Another individual who must be detail oriented is Lourdes Villa. In her 17 years with Wyndham, Lourdes has grown from lower level position in housekeeping to the center of communications and right hand to the Housekeeping Director. Her calm and positive attitude has helped Lourdes gain respect from many of her guests and co-workers. She also acts as a translator for the resort and maintains the Housekeeping department on a daily basis.

Last but not least, located at the front desk is Christopher McLaren. Christopher first began at Westward Look as a part-time employee while attending school. He now assists in a little bit of everything at the resort and can be found helping almost anywhere on its property. Christopher has a thorough knowledge of the resort through his diversified positions there. Through his time at Wyndham he has been lead concierge, a reservation specialist, a valet, delivered room service, served food & drink, and has assisting in accounting and banquet services. In June of 2013, Christopher was recognized as employee of the month.

General Manager of Westward Look Wyndham Grand Resort and Spa, David Yamada commented, “Tamara, Chris and Lourdes exemplify Wyndham’s ‘Count on Me’ culture, which ensures that all of our guests have a great experience every day. We’re privileged to work with and learn from them, and to have them represent us along with the best in the industry.”