SPEAKERS

July 28, 2025

From South Korea to Beverly Hills, Vanessa Williams has traveled the globe, restoring and renovating luxury hotels. She has held the position of General Manager of The Vinoy Resort & Golf Club since early 2022. Given her immense experience in luxury hotel leadership and specialty in leading marketing campaigns, she was chosen to oversee the overall operations of the refined resort as it emerged from an extensive renovation and conversation to Marriott’s Autograph Collection.

Most recently, Vanessa was named a 2025 Business Woman of the Year honoree by the Tampa Bay Business Journal—a prestigious accolade that recognizes her exceptional leadership, vision, and unwavering dedication to both her craft and her team. Under her guidance, the resort continues to evolve, including the recent debut of Elliott Aster, the property’s new signature restaurant helmed by a Michelin-starred chef, which reflects The Vinoy’s elevated culinary direction.

Vanessa’s hospitality career has spanned nearly three decades at worldwide destinations, including a role in the renovation, relaunch and repositioning of the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong along with time at Raffles L’Ermitage Beverly Hills, Sandy Lane Barbados and Sukhothai Bangkok before joining Hilton to spearhead business development and sales and marketing campaigns within the organization’s luxury and lifestyle brands, including opening Waldorf Astoria Beijing and Conrad Seoul. In 2018, she was named one of Southern California’s Top Nine “Woman of Influence” by LA Confidential magazine.

Directly before her time at The Vinoy, Vanessa was general manager of the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, where she led her team to outperform luxury benchmarks, such as upholding the Forbes 5-Star rating for both the hotel and the spa. Prior to becoming GM, she held the role of director of sales and marketing during the hotel’s crucial pre-opening and opening years.