Irvine Company Resort Properties appoints Tom Donovan as managing director of The Resort at Pelican Hill
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – April 17, 2017 – The Irvine Company Resort Properties today announced the appointment of Tom Donovan as managing director of The Resort at Pelican Hill® in Newport Coast, Calif. With more than 25 years of luxury hospitality leadership experience, Donovan most recently served as managing director of the Grand Wailea on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
“Tom Donovan is the ideal leader for our iconic Five-Star Resort destination, as he brings a passionate commitment to advancing a culture of service excellence and community involvement,” said Irvine Company Resort Properties President Ralph Grippo. “He will guide some of the world’s finest hospitality professionals in Pelican Hill’s unwavering focus to serve the world’s most discerning guests from far and near for the next century and beyond.”
In his many years in luxury hospitality, Donovan has been passionate about employee engagement, creating memorable moments, personalizing guest experiences and building lifetime relationships. His leadership style and approach will continue to position Newport Beach’s only Forbes Travel Guide Five Star Resort and Spa as one of the world’s finest resorts, serving discerning guests from around the globe.
Joining Pelican Hill after a decade on Maui, Donovan has served as managing director of the Grand Wailea and before that, vice president and general manager of the The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua. Previously, he was general manager of The Ritz-Carlton Resort, Bachelor Gulch in Edwards, Colo. and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Phoenix, Ariz. Donovan graduated from Northeastern University with a Bachelor of Science in liberal arts history and a minor in economics.
About Pelican Hill®
Set on 504 acres by the Pacific Ocean in Newport Beach, The Resort at Pelican Hill® features: 128 two-, three- and four-bedroom villas with magnificent coastal views and an unparalleled array of appointments, immersing guests in the absolute finest of everything; 204 luxuriously appointed bungalow guest rooms and suites with private terraces; a rejuvenating Five-Star spa with a menu of the world’s most celebrated therapies; world-class restaurants, including Andrea serving authentic Northern Italian cuisine; an iconic “Coliseum Pool,” one of the largest circular pools anywhere with tiered decks and luxurious cabanas; and Pelican Hill Golf Club with 36 dramatic holes by Tom Fazio, nearly all with ocean panoramas. A Five-Star, Five-Diamond destination, Pelican Hill has earned acclaim as the 2012 Grand Resort selected by Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report; as Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards Top Southern California Resort (2013 & 2012), Top U.S. Resort (2011), Top-Rated Golf Resort Worldwide (2012) and Top-Rated California Resort Spa (2012); in Travel + Leisure’s “Top 100” World’s Best Hotels (2015 Readers’ Poll); in Golf Magazine’s Premier Resorts 2016-2017; and with two courses ranked among Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses (2015).
The Irvine Company Resort Properties® owns and manages the finest resort and leisure destinations in Newport Coast and the City of Irvine. In addition to Pelican Hill, the portfolio known as the Coastal Collection includes the Island Hotel Newport Beach, the city’s landmark property; Hotel Irvine, a lifestyle hotel; Oak Creek Golf Club in Irvine, featuring a challenging, Tom Fazio-designed public golf course; and California Recreation Company®, which operates the finest marinas in Newport Harbor and Northern California.
About Irvine Company
Irvine Company is a diversified, privately held real-estate investment company and master-planner—highly respected for its stewardship and master planning of The Irvine Ranch in Orange County, Calif. With operations throughout coastal California, Irvine Company plans and brings to life balanced, sustainable communities with a full range of housing, job and retail centers, schools, recreation, and permanently preserved open space. Irvine Company is committed to long-term ownership and management of a high-quality portfolio—the breadth and quality of which is unmatched in the industry—with each individual property positioned at the top of its class.
As a steward of some of America’s most beautiful and scientifically important open space and parklands, the company has donated nearly 60 percent of the historic 93,000-acre Irvine Ranch—57,000 acres—to permanently preserve these lands. The company traces its roots to the 1860s with the formation of The Irvine Ranch from Mexican and Spanish land grants.