Each member of the team is a consummate professional by themselves, however they constitute a powerful consulting force when brought together to effect a positive change on your business or organization.

Chris Aldieri, President

Chris Aldieri brings extensive experience in the hospitality industry to The Aldieri Group. He is the company’s founder and currently serves as CEO and President. Chris began his career in Boston, Massachusetts where after working in and around many 4 and 5 star restaurants he joined Hyatt Hotels and Resorts in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has held many executive food and beverage positions in Houston, Texas, Arlington, Virginia, Maui, Hawaii, Cincinnati, Ohio, and San Francisco, the latter two hotels having regional responsibilities. Chris was then tapped to become the company’s Corporate Director of Food and Beverage overseeing the domestic portfolio of over 100 hotels. In addition to creating F&B promotions for the portfolio. he was also responsible for implementing “Best Practice” initiatives created by the Boston Consulting Group specifically for Hyatt. Chris “Best Practiced” over 65 hotels implementing close to $1 million in GOP savings per hotel as well as creating successful income producing programs. He went on to oversee the 1200 room Hyatt Resort in Waikiki, Hawaii before becoming General Manager for Hyatt Hotels in Key West, Florida, Miami, Florida, La Jolla, California, Los Angeles and Valencia, California. Chris holds a BS degree from Northeastern University where he helped pioneer the Entrepreneurship and New Venture Management major. He also earned an MBA degree from the University of Connecticut School of Business. After free lancing in the industry, he founded The Aldieri Group in 2013.

Janos Kiss, Vice-President Culinary

A native of Hungary, Janos received his undergraduate degree from the Hotel/Motel University in Budapest and his Master of Chef degree in Germany. He honed his culinary skills at some of the most prominent hotels and the finest restaurants throughout Europe. His culinary endeavors took him through London, Zurich and Frankfurt, among others. So impressive were his skills that his home country honored him with the Academy of Chef’s National Award, After coming to the United States, Janos headed up kitchens in some of the most prominent fine dining rooms in the Midwest.

Janos began working for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts as an executive chef in their flagship properties. After working for some of the largest hotels in the chain, his skills and talents were recognized by being promoted to the Assistant Vice-President of Food and Beverage and the Corporate Executive Chef for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. In his twenty-five year tenure, Janos was responsible for directing executive chefs at all Hyatt Hotels in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean and personally created new restaurant concepts and designed kitchens and menus for more than sixty new hotels. Janos was instrumental in the creation of new food concepts, menu design, and special F&B promotions, as well as streamlining the purchasing process and creating updated product and service standards. In 1999, Janos’ contributions were recognized when he received the degree of Doctor of Culinary Arts, Honoris Causa, from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Uwe Roggenthien , Vice-President Operations

Uwe began his career after graduating from Florida International University with a degree in Hospitality and joined Hyatt Hotels Corporation. His extensive hotel opening experience as well as regional operations responsibility offered him the opportunity to be associated with many successful new ventures for Hyatt including both resort and major metropolitan properties. Additionally, Uwe served as Corporate Director of Food and Beverage for Sonesta Hotels. As a General Manager for Delaware North, he was an integral partner in the redevelopment of such iconic hotels as The Balsams Resort in New Hampshire and The Queen Mary in Long Beach, California . Understanding both corporate and entrepreneurial entities has afforded Uwe the ability to nurture and develop the many relationships needed to manage underperforming operations as well as grow operations that have stagnated. Uwe has also owned several restaurants in the Palm Beach area and is therefore able to bring many needed experiences to our client base.
Uwe also posesses additional experience with other corporate entities such as Hyatt Hotels and Resorts and Loews Corporation as well as independently owned hotels and resorts. Uwe’s experience includes strong technical and business qualifications with an impressive track record of hands-on experience in operations management and business development. As a strategic thinker and results-oriented professional he is able to handle various organizational functions and lead productive teams in exceeding their goal. Uwe has the ability to deliver results based on his excellent analytical skills and keen attention to detail by analyzing situations and developing sound and ethical solutions. These are qualities that many corporate companies need to identify in this ever changing business environment. Uwe posesses effective interpersonal and communication skills while being adept at building productive relationships and rapport with diverse individuals. This continues to impress many clients within our portfolio.

Barry Kaplan, Vice-President Operations

Barry’s goals and career began with an MS degree in Business and Hotel Management from the University of New Hampshire. This degree lead to a Master’s Degree from Michigan State University followed by countless general management positions in hotels and resorts as well as academic positions at three universities while still finding time to author a culinary text book. Allied industry positions included casino and golf course management along with the ownership of an award winning, distinctive dining restaurant located in the greater Boston area. Barry has also been a franchisee of a number of fast casual restaurants.

Although from New England, it was logical that Barry’s career would begin with New Hampshire based, Dunfey Family Hotels, then the largest Sheraton franchisee that later became Omni Hotels. A move to Aruba with Americana Hotels and later to the Americana Hotel in New York, now the Sheraton Center, was followed by the El Conquistador in Puerto Rico when American Airlines divested itself of its hotel division. In Las Vegas, Barry managed the Riviera Hotel and Hacienda Hotel. More recently, Barry concluded twenty years as General Manager with Hyatt Hotels and Resorts and now is excited by the reunion with Chris Aldieri and the talented team of Associates he has gathered together.

Achievements and accomplishments include proven successes in improving property revenues and profit through enhanced guest satisfaction. On budget completion of a number of large scale renovations and the re-conception of many hotel and resort food and beverage outlets. Marketing skills and positioning were clearly demonstrated for the island of Aruba during Barry’s two five-year Tourism Board tenures while concurrently managing properties on the island.

Mary O’Connor, Vice-President Meetings and Convention Services

Mary O’Connor has been making a name for herself in the meeting management, hospitality and food service industries for many years. Her reputation as a sought-after expert in her field is based on her breadth of business leadership credentials including her years in management with Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. Her expertise spans executive relationship-building, strategic planning, staff support, vendor relations, contract negotiations, P&L management, budget development and management, revenue growth, sales, marketing, incentives, staffing, policy and procedure development, client services and team-building.
Mary held the assistant vice president of catering and conventions position for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. Through her experience there, Mary developed her renowned capability to orchestrate conference and event F&B with absolute command of detail, insistence on perfection, creative presentation that enchants and, underlying it all, teamwork that results in fun and fulfillment for all. While at Hyatt, Mary directed 551 field managers and directors with responsibility for new market development, strategic marketing, special events planning and staff hiring and training.
Mary has the ability to lead a team to work with clients on meetings, events and travel involving 100 to more than 20,000 guests in the U.S. and internationally. Her goal is always to achieve planned results while exceeding customer expectations, and she reaches it with a combination of creativity and innovative thinking and the business sense and practical skills to stay on budget and reach ROI goals.
Mary’s key differentiators are attention to ensuring the right culture fit for the client, creative programs that are memorable, and an unwavering “can-do” attitude, regardless of the challenge at hand. On the operational side, Mary is also well equipped for the many facets of logistics planning and management including comprehensive site search and analysis, large-scale conference housing and web-based registration management.
Mary was a founding member of the Multi-Cultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance (MFHA) and first executive director of the Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF). These organizations work to promote diversity and advancement for women and minorities in the foodservice and hospitality industry.
In addition to holding a Bachelor’s degree in Hotel Managment from the University of Denver, she is a Certified Meeting Planner (CMP), Learning Environment Specialist (LES), and Professional Catering Executive (PCE).

Cindy Kelly Spilman, Vice-President Meetings and Off Premise Catering

Cindy is a recognized expert in all aspects of market trends as well as off premise production, design and décor. Bringing multiple years of experience in meeting planning, catering and hotel food & beverage, she has been the “go-to” person for future trends analysis for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts. She is an innovator in culinary and décor design.

Cindy worked for Hyatt Hotels & Resorts as Director of Catering & Convention Services and as an integral member of Executive Leadership Team. The majority of Cindy’s career was spent in Washington DC, however; positions in Denver & San Francisco gave her further exposure to all major social & convention markets and experience in building teams for pre-opening hotels. One of Cindy’s notable accomplishments was the inception of Grand Cuisine, the successful off-premise catering arm of the Grand Hyatt Washington. She also created Grand Floral and Design, the floral & design component to the catering department. Cindy was the recipient of Director of Catering/Convention Services of the Year, Catering Team of the Year and Off-Premise Catering Team of the Year during her tenure at Hyatt.
Her favorite project is creating the annual Trend Forecast, which is presented to the Food & Beverage teams throughout Hyatt.

As Associate Producer for the prestigious Horatio Alger Awards, Cindy’s hands were firmly entrenched in the creative content of the award show. The membership comprised of a Who’s Who in Corporate America, demanded extreme attention to detail, exceptional organizational skills and the highest level of professionalism and decorum.

As a Certified Meeting Planner, she is a seasoned professional with exceptional communication and problem solving ability. Her skill at balancing priorities with budgets while meeting deadlines in high-pressure environments is a proven strength.

Cindy graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree from The University of Massachusetts at Amherst in Hotel, Restaurant & Travel Administration.

Mark Aldieri, Vice-President Architectural Services

Mark Aldieri has provided planning, design, as well as construction consulting services to his clients since 1998. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, and the Connecticut Society of Architects.

Mark’s expertise is drawn from his unique collective experience in the fields of architecture, building construction, and construction consulting. Project experience includes commercial, institutional, industrial, historic preservation, and custom residential projects. Mark also has extensive experience in historic preservation and adaptive reuse projects, and has met the federal qualification standards of the United States Secretary of the Interior for Historic Architect.

Mark is experienced in providing construction-consulting services to owners, lenders and corporations in dealing with issues related to real estate investment projects. Services include property condition assessments, constructability reviews, owner’s representation, and construction loan monitoring. Mark has also provided expert testimony regarding the resolution of commercial and personal injury litigation involving Premises Liability issues.