A New England Hotel Company with A Visionary Spirit

Douglas Cohen focuses on the feasibility, financing, design, construction, and overall development strategy for hotel acquisitions and new developments.

For existing hotels in NHG's portfolio, Douglas concentrates on renovations, specific value-add strategies, and sales and marketing. Prior to founding Newport Hotel Group in 1993, Douglas worked in the real estate investment banking group of Bear, Stearns, & Co, Inc. in New York City, where he specialized in securitized and conventional debt financing, acquisitions, and other principal transactions for all types of real estate assets.

Douglas earned a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1993. He is also cum laude graduate of Harvard University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1989.

Douglas has served on the Zoning Board of Review and the Zoning Subcommittee of the Planning Board of Newport, Rhode Island. He is a former Trustee of the Newport Art Museum and served on the Board of the Newport County Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Newport Harbor Management Plan Commission.

Jon Cohen is responsible for the general management of Newport Hotel Group, including oversight of all facets of hotel operations, interfacing with management and human resources teams, and development of corporate strategy.

Jon has a valuable combination of legal and business experience. Prior to founding Newport Hotel Group in 1993, he worked as a real estate attorney for the law firm of Schulte, Roth & Zabel, LLP in New York City, where he specialized in restructuring of distressed real estate. He also worked as a financial analyst in the New York office of Merrill Lynch & Co., rotating through the equity analysis, mezzanine finance, and internal corporate profit-modeling groups.

Jon earned a J.D. with Honors from Duke University School of Law in 1992 and is a 1987 graduate of Brown University, where he received his B.A. in Business Economics.

Jon is licensed to practice law in the states of Massachusetts and New York. He served on the Planning Board for the City of Newport and is a former Trustee of the Newport International Film Festival. Jon is an adjunct professor at Brown University, where he teaches a seminar on entrepreneurship to juniors and seniors. He is also a member of the advisory board for the Brown University Entrepreneurship Program.

Scott Alemany joined Newport Hotel Group in 1995. Prior to assuming his current position, he served as the General Manager of the Hotel Viking and The Inn at Newport Beach (now the Newport Beach Hotel and Suites).

Scott supervises operations for all of our properties and serves as the direct supervisor to each of the hotel General Managers. Additionally, he is responsible for developing sales and marketing strategies and directly oversees their implementation at property level. Prior to joining the Newport Hotel Group in 1995, Scott was a Director of Marketing for Marriott Hotels. He received his B.S. in Sociology from the University of Connecticut in 1980. He is the Newport County Representative to the Board of Directors of the Providence and Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau and a former member of the advisory board of Historic Hotels of America.

Don McCall has been the CFO of Newport Hotel Group since 1999. He is responsible for corporate financial reporting, including tax compliance, lending relationships, and investor management correspondence.

Additionally, Don oversees hotel technology support systems and third-party technology relationships. Prior to joining the Newport Hotel Group, Don was an audit partner at Rooney, Plotkin & Willey, a leading regional accounting firm. Prior to that time, Don worked as a senior manager for Ernst & Young. He is a C.P.A. and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Don is a member of the Board of Newport County Chamber of Commerce and serves as Treasurer for Child and Family Services of Newport County. He received his B.A. in Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento.

Linda Nunes joined Newport Hotel Group in 1995, serving as Director of Human Resources at The Hotel Viking before assuming her current position.

In her present role, Linda is responsible for policy compliance with regional and federal regulations, implementation and management of employee benefit and compensation plans, managing organizational human resources practices, and overseeing the employee recognition and performance-management process. Linda received a B.A. in Psychology from Catholic University in 1992.

Alfred Gauthier oversees group sales activity, production, training and group revenue for all of the Newport Hotel Group properties.

Al has been working in the hospitality industry since 1981, most recently as Director of Sales for the Hotel Viking. Prior to that, Al worked as a Sales Manager for Caribbean Hotel Management for the Cayman Islands, Wyndham Hotels as a Regional Sales Manager in Miami, Director of Sales for Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale, and as Sales Manager for the Holiday Inn in Providence, RI.

Al is the former president of the Ft. Lauderdale Chamber Ambassador's and a member of the Florida State Association Executives (FSAE), Board Member of the New England Association of Executives (NESAE), American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), American Bus Association (ABA), and Meeting Professionals International - New England Chapter (MPI/NE).

Suzanne Buker has been the office manager for Newport Hotel Group since 2001, and prior to that at the Hotel Viking from 1990 to 2001.

Suzanne is responsible for overseeing all sales and marketing systems, updating web sites, and placing all advertising for the properties under our advertising division, Hospitality Advertising Ltd.