Principals

Unique Hotels has evolved from its inception in 1987 to become a leader in the hospitality industry. Established on the principle of providing the highest quality of professional services. Unique Hotels and its principals are regarded as being among the foremost experts in the hospitality industry.

L.K. Eric Prevette, Managing Director

With more than 30 years of real estate, finance and hotel industry experience, Mr. Prevette is Managing Director  Unique Hotels , a high-end hospitality firm which acquires and manages hotel properties throughout the country.

Mr. Prevette was most recently president for the Resort Properties Division of The Irvine Company. During his six year tenure with the Orange County, California-based real estate investment company, he spearheaded and grew the company's resort properties division to include three hotels, three golf courses and five marinas, with a value of over $1 billion and annual revenues of over $400 million.

Prior to that, he was president and CEO of the Scottsdale, Arizona-based Olympus Hospitality Group, responsible for the direction and management of a hotel portfolio consisting of six wholly owned hotels, six managed hotels and 70 franchised hotels.

In 1987, he launched Unique Hotels and The Bel-Air Hotel Company, hotel management companies he co-founded to focus on improving the performance of both branded and independent  hotel properties. Over a period of ten years, he successfully repositioned and assisted in the sale of hotel properties valued in excess of $400 million - and entered into management agreements for six hotels in Europe and Mexico, based on brand equity of the company's flagship property, the Hotel Bel-Air.

Prior to forming his own company, he was senior vice president for Finance and Development with Rosewood Hotels $ Resorts and a senior vice president with Southland Financial Corporation.

He holds an MBA with a concentration in real estate and finance from the University of Texas and a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and finance from High Point University in North Carolina.

Carlos C. Lopes, Managing Director

Mr. Lopes has 30 plus years of hotel management experience with such entities as Rock Resorts, Rosewood and Four Seasons and is recognized for his leadership in marketing, creative operating concepts, and development expertise.

Prior to October 2008, Mr. Lopes served as Managing Director of Hotel Bel-Air and was responsible for creating a master plan to restore the hotel to a 5 star ranking, direct hotel operations, and lobby government agencies and the Bel-Air Association to approve the addition of 15 suites and a 15,000 square foot spa. Under his direction, revenues increased from $22 million to $38 million achieving an ADR of $710 and 80% occupancy.

From 1998 to 2002, Mr. Lopes served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Olympus Hospitality responsible for directing hotel operations, marketing, and branding strategies for 14 Rock Resorts properties.

From 1987 to 1998 he was Co-President of Unique Hotel and Resorts directing the operations of 12 properties. During that same period he launched the Bel-Air Hotel Company and entered into management and licensing agreements with eight properties that included, Grand Hotel Cap Ferrat-France, Hotel Careyes-Mexico, K Club-Barbuda B.W.I. and L’Auberge Del Mar in California.

From 1982 to 1987, Mr. Lopes served as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer with Rosewood Hotels where he directed hotel operations, marketing and the re-launch of Hotel Bel-Air and Hotel Hana Maui.

Prior to Rosewood, he served as Sr. Vice President of Four Seasons Hotels where he was appointed as Chief Marketing Executive and successfully directed the launch and operating criteria for twelve new properties.

Mr. Lopes was born in Lisbon, Portugal, graduated with a Liberal Arts degree from the Sir George Williams University in Montreal, Canada and is the father to Simone Lopes, 21, Renee Lopes, 22 and Derek Lopes, 33.

Terry Petty, Managing Director

Mr. Petty has over twenty years of hotel and resort experience with Marriott International and The Irvine Company.

As Executive Vice President for Marriott International, he held P&L responsibility for Marriott’s U. S. and Canadian hotels. In this role he served on the Executive Committee of Marriott Corporation and Chairman of the Hotel Development Committee.

While most of Mr. Petty’s Marriott career was spent in hotel operations, he also served in the role of VP Strategic Planning responsible for developing a sales strategy for Marriott’s hotels, and was in charge of the operations for Marriott’s entry into the time share business.

Mr. Petty has also worked for The Irvine Company, McKinsey & Company, Procter & Gamble, Ogilvy & Mather, and ABM Industries.

Mr. Petty is a graduate of Stanford University (BA), and Columbia University (MBA)

Hal Thannisch

An architect by training, Mr. Thannisch has been a contributor to the field of luxury hospitality product development for twenty years and is proficient in the increasingly complex issues of development planning, financing, interdisciplinary management, design management and implementation. His experience has been utilized in the financing and development of several successful internationally recognized luxury resort development projects throughout North America and abroad, each a preferred address for the discriminating traveler.

Mr. Thannisch distinguished career in the hospitality industry includes senior development positions with Criswell Development Company, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, Ritz Carlton Hotel Company in addition to running his own hotel development company for over 15 years.

Mr. Thannisch’s career includes several high profile successes in the upscale and luxury hotel sector. Some notable projects are: Las Ventanas al Paraiso, San Jose del Cabo, Mexico; Pelican Hill Inn & Golf Club, Newport Beach, California; Hotel Bel-Air, Bel-Air, California; Cap Juluca, St. Maarten; The Angostura Resort, Tobago, West Indies (in development); The Bay of Dreams 4,000 Acre Master Planned Resort, Baja California, Mexico; Hotel Crescent Court, Dallas; Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Aspen; Ritz-Carlton Hotel (Hotel Artes), Barcelona, Spain; and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Kapalua, Maui Hawaii.

Teresa A. Holden

Teresa Holden has 25+ years of experience as a sales and marketing executive in the hospitality industry and has been involved with a variety of hotel companies including the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, W Hotels, Ian Schrager Hotels and St. Regis Hotels. She has directed on an individual and regional level the marketing direction and the implementation of sales strategies designed to meet and exceed market share.

She has cultivated the necessary skills to quickly assess sales and marketing activities and develop targeted and measurable strategies that will increase revenues. Her experience includes creating strategic marketing partnerships, writing and implementing measurable sales and marketing plans, and developing and executing electronic marketing initiatives designed to enhance revenue performance.

In 2003, Ms. Holden became a partner in Allimar Marketing, a full service hospitality-marketing firm with offices in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. The firm specialized in providing marketing services to luxury, boutique hotels and implements systems for accountability and ROI on sales and marketing initiatives. Allimar clients included Hotel Bel-Air, The Cloister on Sea Island, San Ysidro Ranch, Cordevalle, Santosha Resort & Residences in Costa Rica and the Koa Kea Hotel & Resort in Hawaii.

In 2008, Ms. Holden became affiliated with the team at Unique Hotels & Resorts to focus on developing strategic plans that will rapidly improve the performance of hotels acquired by the company.