Johnstown native is new Hotel Indigo Manager

PITTSBURGH, PA (PittsburghNewsWire.com) — Johnstown native and Penn State alumnus, James Rizzo brings 14 years of hotel management experience to his new role as general manager of the Hotel Indigo Pittsburgh East Liberty.

Having served in management capacities at Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia hotels Rizzo has returned to Western PA. He was previously general manager of the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Washington, D.C. Downtown. He was recognized by Urgo Hotels & Resorts in 2016 with a Top 3 Operations Award. For three years prior, he was director of sales and marketing with the opening team of the Hilton Garden Inn U.S. Capitol.

“It’s great to be back in Western PA”, said Rizzo. “I’m excited to be a part of such a tastefully designed hotel in one of Pittsburgh’s most dynamic neighborhoods”, Rizzo continued. “My family and I are pleased to have relocated to the Pittsburgh area”, he said.

Rizzo served with Marriott International from 2003 to 2010, most recently as assistant general manager of the Courtyard Washington, D.C./U.S. Capitol. Before that, he was a group strategy manager overseeing group room and catering operations for a portfolio of four full-service Marriott hotels in Northern Virginia. He launched his career with Marriott at the Residence Inn Philadelphia – Center City, where he rose to senior sales manager before taking on the position of director of sales at the Residence Inn Alexandria – Old Town. Rizzo earned a wealth of awards during his Marriott years, including the prestigious Chairman’s Circle Golden Circle Award in2004 and 2005.

“Though Hotel Indigo has numerous amenities, customer service will be our most important feature” Rizzo remarked.

The Hotel Indigo features 135 spacious guest rooms with spa-inspired baths; a stylish American tavern, Wallace’s Whiskey Room + Kitchen featuring a seasonal, locally sourced menu.Each of its rooms features complimentary Internet access, USB outlets, plush bedding, and spa-inspired showers with Aveda products. The hotel includes 2,240 square feet of well-designed meeting space for events of up to 100 attendees; and a 24-hour fitness center.

The hotel’s East Liberty locale is just five miles from downtown and just minutes from major corporations cultural attractions like the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History, and a wealth of restaurants, boutiques and theaters. In June 2014, USA Today named East Liberty one of America’s 10 best up and coming neighborhoods.

It is also convenient to several world-renowned medical centers, universities and major corporations, such as Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Chatham University, Peterson Events Center, Google, the Software Engineering Institute and UPMC Shadyside, Presbyterian and Children’s hospitals. For more information, visit the hotel website.

“Hotel Indigo Pittsburgh East Liberty is an exciting addition to our management portfolio,” said Donald J. Urgo, president and CEO of Urgo Hotels and Resorts.  “It introduces the Intercontinental Hotels Group’s rapidly growing Hotel Indigo brand to the Urgo family while strengthening our presence in one of the nation’s most vital, resurgent cities.”

Urgo Hotels & Resortsis a Bethesda, Maryland-based hotel company that develops, owns and/or operates 35 distinctive and unique hotels and resorts with an aggregate of more than 4,900 rooms in major markets and resorts in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. The company develops, builds and operates for its own account, and provides third-party management and asset management services. For more information about Urgo Hotels and Resorts, please visit www.urgohotels.com.