LBA Hospitality-managed hotels in Florida and Kentucky have received Marriott’s top brand-level recognition, highlighting the operational weight attached to guest recommendation.
LBA Hospitality has announced that Renaissance St. Augustine Historic Downtown in St. Augustine, Florida, and Delta Hotels by Marriott Ashland Downtown in Ashland, Kentucky, received the Marriott Chairman’s Award on June 29, 2026. The honour is awarded to one hotel per Marriott brand, making the recognition a notable measure of performance within the company’s managed portfolio. The announcement places guest recommendation and day-to-day service delivery at the centre of the award’s significance.
The Chairman’s Award recognises properties for guest satisfaction, operational excellence, brand leadership and commitment to Marriott’s service culture, according to the release. It is based in part on “Intent to Recommend”, a guest-satisfaction measure reflecting whether visitors would recommend a hotel to others. That emphasis connects the award not only to internal operating standards but also to how guests assess the complete stay.
Renaissance St. Augustine Historic Downtown was identified as the Chairman’s Award recipient for the Renaissance brand, while Delta Hotels by Marriott Ashland Downtown was selected for the Delta brand. The release also highlighted the leadership records of the two general managers: Meredith Klindtworth of Renaissance St. Augustine, who received Marriott’s 2024 Mustang Award, and Jackie Hymel of Delta Hotels by Marriott Ashland, who was named Delta Brand General Manager of the Year in 2022 and received Marriott’s Hotel Hero Award in 2024.
For LBA Hospitality, the dual recognition adds a people-and-process dimension to its role as a hotel management company. The company reported that it manages 106 hotels, including 45 Marriott-branded properties, and linked the awards to associate development, brand partnership, operating discipline and hotel performance. The release attributed the results to the work of teams across front desk, housekeeping, food and beverage, sales, maintenance and leadership, rather than to a single guest-facing function.
The announcement therefore presents the awards as a validation of consistent service across two different Marriott brands and markets. LBA Hospitality’s chief operating officer, Farrah Adams, said that a guest recommendation represents a level of confidence strong enough for someone to tell another person to stay at the hotel. The restrained implication is that, for managed properties, maintaining that confidence depends on translating brand standards into reliable experiences at every stage of the stay.
