Clarion owners go hands on, eliminate GM position

The owners of the Clarion Hotel on South Glenstone Avenue have restructured the hotel's management.

In a cost-cutting move, Morris Group Properties, owners of the hotel since June, eliminated the Clarion's general manager position Jan. 18.

Cindy Howell, who previously held the GM position, had worked at the hotel since 1993, when it operated as a Sheraton. She was named GM two months before Morris Group took control, and she served as sales director before that.

With no general manager, the owners are taking a hands-on approach to day-to-day operations.

"We're not replacing Cindy, we're taking on some of the responsibilities ourselves as owner, and we're delegating some additional responsibilities to the department heads," said Chris Lucchi, co-owner of the property with Jim Morris, founder of Morris Group Properties. There are six department heads and a staff of 100.

"We decided there was some duplication having local ownership and a manager of her caliber at the same time," Lucchi said.

Lucchi is vice president and director of operations for Morris Group and has unofficially assumed the Clarion's GM role.

Howell understands the reasoning behind Morris Group's business decision, and she is moving on.

"The bottom line is cost cutting. It happens," she said.

Howell said she is on the hunt for a new job, and she may stray from the hotel industry she has worked in for two decades.

"I've spent 20 years in the hospitality industry, and it's been terrific," Howell said. "If something happens in that line that's possible, but I think there are other opportunities that I can use the skills that I've developed."

Lucchi said it was tough to let Howell go, but the hotel did not have a position available for someone of her caliber.

Howell is not sure where she'll end up, but she would like to stay in customer service. She has no plans of leaving Springfield.

"I'm looking at a couple of areas, staying in Springfield," she said. "There are certainly a lot of opportunities in the area."

Morris Group acquired the Clarion Hotel last summer from national hotel owner Sunburst Hospitality Corp. of Silver Springs, Md. Morris Group owns five properties, four of which are in Branson: two Quality Inns, Ramada Inn and Tara Inn.

While there were no other staff changes in the restructuring at the Clarion, the hotel owners have made some physical changes to the site.

Most recently the breakfast restaurant, The Newsroom Coffee House Caf, was remodeled and high-speed Internet access was added to the hotel's meeting rooms and 40 business-class rooms.

Lucchi said unlimited Internet access is a complimentary amenity of those guest rooms.

A new fitness center is in the design stages, he added, and should roll out in four months.