RUSSELL DAZZIO

Mr. Dazzio is Chairman and co-founder of R&R Hotel Group and is responsible for all company strategic planning. 

Russ Dazzio's "make the guest feel at home" guest service philosophy can be traced back to the lessons he learned as a busboy 35 years ago.   His strong dedication to service is an important part of R&R's corporate culture.  Dazzio grew up in Las Vegas.  His father was an esteemed gaming pioneer who taught him many lessons about the hospitality industry he still cherishes.

Those never forgotten boyhood lessons have helped Dazzio mold R&R into one of the West Coast's most respected independent hotel management companies.

While still studying Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Dazzio was hired by the Stardust Hotel and Casino.  During his last year of college he was selected to be the Governor's Advisor on Student Affairs.   At 24, he became the youngest Casino Executive in the State.

Over the next ten years he followed a path that lead to several marketing and management positions in San Francisco, Kansas City, New York and Los Angeles.  During this period he worked for the Sheraton Corporation, where he was honored with two "Hotel of the Year" awards, two "Marketing Team of the Year" awards, and two "ITT Idea" awards.

He has been credited for staging the 1984 City of Los Angeles Olympics "Welcome Event," and for negotiating some of the largest corporate cosponsored marketing tie-ins ever conceived in the hospitality industry.

He has prepared more than 100 marketing plans and was responsible for master minding the now legendary "Tournament of Roses Parade Wedding."  The event won the Ritz Carlton - Huntington Hotel the nations highest public relations honor, "The Silver Anvil Award."

Since co - founding R&R in 1987, he spends the majority of his time overseeing the company's business development responsibilities, setting standards for quality and using his marketing skills to keep R&R hotels ahead of the competition.

He has been recognized by the Mayor, City Council and Chief of Police of the City of Los Angeles for his contributions to the 1984 Olympics, and the State Assembly of California for a visionary anti-gang neighborhood clean up program.

Mr. Dazzio was selected in 1995 to represent California at the first ever White House Conference on Tourism. In 2003 he was named by the Business Advisory Council as one of California's Businessmen Of The Year.