The Face of Experience

Behind Lodging Unlimited’s remarkable track record of success is our exceptional management team. Their years in the business is your guarantee of a commitment to service excellence and real results you can count on each and every time you work with us. They are:

Morris E. Lasky, Chief Executive Officer and founder of the LUI Group, has worked in the hospitality industry for more than 40 years.

He formed Lodging Unlimited in 1970 to provide quality management, consulting and marketing services to the hospitality industry. During the past 38 years, he has successfully directed Lodging Unlimited's corporate growth and overseen $7 billion in management activity, consulting, development, real estate acquisitions, sales and financings to the hotel industry.

Before forming Lodging Unlimited, from 1962 to 1970, he served as Senior Vice President of American Motor Inns, a Helmsley-Spears, Inc. subsidiary formed to acquire troubled hospitality properties. He began his hospitality career in 1956 with Motel Enterprises, Inc. as a General Manager and was promoted to Vice President of Operations for the entire chain at age 23.

Mr. Lasky has successfully testified as an expert witness in multi-million dollar cases involving nationally recognized hotel brands. He is a member of the prestigious "Waldorf-Astoria Distinguished Alumni" group, and has been featured in many major business publications such as Time, Business Week, and Success. He has also appeared in the hotel, real estate and financial trade press, and has been a guest lecturer for many hospitality, banking and pension administration groups.

Mr. Lasky is chairman and co-founder of The Lodging Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, now in it's 14th successful year, and co-founder and producer of the 6th annual International Hotel Conference in Rome, Italy.

Mr. Lasky has been a guest lecturer at The School of Hospitality Business, Michigan State University, and a panelist for the University of Delaware’s Hotel Restaurant & Institutional Management roundtable series as part of the University’s Mind Extension cable programming.

In addition to being a member of the organizing committees for Rudnick & Wolfe’s Lodging and Timeshare Summit and the ABA/IPBA Joint Seminar on International Hotels, Resorts & Tourism held in Spain, Mr. Lasky has been a member of the speaker faculty for these events. He has also participated in the International Multicultural Tourism/Hotel Ownership Summit

As Executive Vice President of Lodging Unlimited, Inc. Ms. Koys is involved in strategic planning and decision-making for the company. She participates in the planning and development of current and future business opportunities and hotel conferences. She also takes an active role in the day-to-day management and operations of LUI. She is responsible for the marketing of the various business of Lodging Unlimited including management, consulting, asset management, litigation support and hotel conferences. Additionally, she serves as a consultant on national and international hotel projects.

Ms. Koys is also Co-Chair of the International Hotel Conference in Rome and Marketing/Creative Director of The Lodging Conference in Arizona. Ms. Koys is responsible for marketing, advertising, brochures, websites and set design at these two highly successful, annual hotel conferences. She is also involved in the annual planning of the conference locations and agendas, coordination of the staff requirements, managing and planning of all matters at the venue hotel site, and support for the conference sponsors, exhibitors and attendees.

Prior to joining Lodging Unlimited, Ms. Koys was a Director for the Bank of Montreal, financing commercial real estate properties in the USA and Canada. She was responsible for a portfolio of real estate loans totaling $750 million and was directly involved in the origination, underwriting, negotiating, servicing and oversight of these properties. Her activities involved construction and permanent loans, whole loans and participation financings on hotels, office buildings, apartment complexes, regional malls, and residential properties. She managed current assets and work out loan portfolios for sale and/or development. She was also responsible for taking over and merging the operations and assets of the west coast office commercial property portfolio into the Chicago central operations in the USA.

Additionally, Ms. Koys previously worked for Republic Savings Bank as a Commercial Real Estate Lending Officer, Metro Financial Group as a Mortgage Banker/Real Estate Analyst, AHW Enterprises as a Sales and Marketing Representative for a commercial and residential real estate development company and as Vice President, Office Manager and Personnel Counselor for Pat Thompson & Associates, a personnel and recruiting firm.

Ms. Koys has an MBA from DePaul University in Chicago, specializing in real estate finance, and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. Her undergraduate business studies in finance were at DePaul University and the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. She has also studied interior design at Harrington Institute of Interior Design in Chicago and graphic arts at Columbia University in Chicago.

Ms. Chelmow began her distinct career 30 years ago in the market research field where her dynamic organizational style and attention to customer service afforded opportunities for continual growth and responsibility. During her 13-year career with a Pennsylvania based market research firm, national clients relied on Ms. Chelmow's expertise to target consumers with effective brand awareness campaigns.

Ms. Chelmow joined Lodging Unlimited, Inc. in 1991 in order to further her career with a successful and diverse organization. Meeting challenges head on, Ms. Chelmow successfully transformed the corporate office into a vital, effective marketing and operational tool consistently meeting and surpassing client expectations.

Currently, Ms. Chelmow is the Managing Director for Lodging Unlimited, Inc. Additionally, Ms. Chelmow is the Conference Director for The Lodging Conference, an annual event held at the Arizona Biltmore, a position she has held since the first annual conference in 1995. Ms. Chelmow is also the Conference Director of the International Hotel Conference in Europe, a position she has held since the conference began in 2003.

Martin Schiffman is responsible for all facets of asset management including recommendations on renovation and construction strategies, financing options, liquidation strategies, legal issues and all activities associated with the restoration and creation of asset values.
                                                    
Martin Schiffman has been a recognized leader in all facets of real estate investment management for his entire career. He has participated in over $1 billion in transactions, in all asset classes in the industry. Mr. Schiffman's most noteworthy achievements are as a "turnaround investment manager", deploying skills most associated with such activity; construction and renovation, credit reorganization and financing. He has a unique combination of skills in the area of real estate development, operations and capital market strategies employed to finance all types of real estate. He has been, both, a public and private manager of real estate investment.

Mr. Schiffman has been a Managing Director of Carl Marks & Co. Inc., one of the nation’s oldest investment firms, where he founded the real estate group on a theme of "value-added" strategies. Through one such partnership, he founded the Greater Philadelphia World Trade Center, which will be built on the site owned by the partnership. He serves on several Boards of Directors; the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia, the corporation he established in concert with the Delaware River Port Authority to provide trade related services to local area businesses; the World Trade Centers Association, the global governing body for over 340 WTC’s around the world, and; The Philadelphia Developer’s Workshop, a trade industry group which monitors the effect of legislation on the city’s real estate community.

Prior to Carl Marks, he was President and CEO of Lehman Realty Corporation, where he led a dramatic expansion of real estate investment on behalf of Lehman Brothers’ customers. Earlier, Mr. Schiffman was Chief Workout Specialist to various affiliates of Sonnenblick- Goldman Corp., a leading international real estate finance specialist, in its investment management capacity to MGI Properties and North American Mortgage Investors, two NYSE REITs.
 
Mr. Schiffman holds a Masters Degree from New York University, and a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Bernard M. Baruch College. In addition to the above mentioned affiliations, he is a licensed broker in the State of New York and a member of numerous professional organizations such as The New York Real Estate Board, The Urban Land Institute, The Young Men’s/Women’s Real Estate Association of New York, The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the Global Interdependence Center at the University of Pennsylvania, TriState Realtors (N.J., Pa., Dela.) and the Southern New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. He regularly contributes to industry media, is a speaker at real estate industry conferences and has been a guest lecturer at Columbia University, Temple University, NYU and numerous economic development councils.

Ira Marcus is in charge of all property management operations for Lodging Unlimited Inc. He served as the Director of Asset Management for the Carl Marks Real Estate Group for over 22 years. As an executive and officer of various real estate affiliates of Carl Marks, Mr. Marcus managed the assets of the Carl Marks Real Estate Group to maximize value, with responsibility for the due diligence, acquisition, financing, development and re-development, operation, and disposition of portfolio real estate assets. Mr. Marcus also performs stress-testing, operational and cash flow analysis of assets under management.

Associated functions include hiring and supervising property management companies and personnel, cash management, operating and capital budgeting, property level management as required, construction administration, loan servicing, real estate tax servicing including tax appeals, obtaining insurance, negotiating and administering leases, hiring and supervising brokers, lawyers, contractors, on-site personnel and other professionals as required. Mr. Marcus also assists in the management of legal issues which arise from ownership and operations.

Prior to his affiliation with Carl Marks, between 1985 -1986, Mr. Marcus was an Assistant Vice President with Lehigh Financial Corporation, a real estate lending company. In this capacity, he originated loans, performed underwriting functions, and coordinated loan closings. From 1983 to 1985, Mr. Marcus was an Assistant Vice President at Prudential-Bache Securities, where he acted as an Asset Manager for various limited partnerships which the firm had sponsored.

Mr. Marcus received a B.A. degree in Economics/Business Administration with honors in 1978 from Rutgers University. He also received his M.B.A. degree with honors in 1986 from Rutgers Graduate School of Management, with a specialization in real estate, finance, and taxation.

Mr. Cauvin serves as CEO of Lodging Unlimited – West, and the management company entity of Windmill Inns. The company also provides hotel management and consultation services to hotels of all sizes and brand affiliations on the West Coast.

John Cauvin, a 35-year hospitality-industry veteran, is president and CEO of Scottsdale, AZ -based Windmill Inns of America, a lodging enterprise with properties in Arizona and Oregon. His management and ownership style are unique, as he takes a personal, active role in the daily management and operations of his six West Coast properties, and in the continual training and cultivation of his more than 250 hotel managers and staff members. The result is beyond impressive: Mr. Cauvin has achieved profitability of each hotel for 23 consecutive years, despite the economic cycles and varying marketplace conditions.

His winning management style stems from a multi-cultural hospitality background, extensive education and hands-on experience. Mr. Cauvin was born into a three-generation hospitality and restaurant family in France, and is a graduate of the two finest hoteliers’ schools in the world: L’Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne in Switzerland and the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, achieving a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in hotel administration.

While attending Cornell University, Mr. Cauvin received hands-on management experience while working in various management positions for ITT Sheraton Corp. at prominent New York hotels such as the Sheraton Centre N.Y., Sheraton City Squire, Sheraton Russell, and the prestigious Sheraton St. Regis. He also served as a Manager for Trusthouse Forte, a $3 billion British hotel giant, opening the $40 million five-star Garden City Hotel in New York.

In 1984, Mr. Cauvin headed west in search of building his own hotel enterprise. Settling in Oregon, he purchased the two struggling Windmill Inn properties in Roseburg and Medford. Despite a severe recession in the Pacific Northwest, he turned these properties around and made them profitable within a year, and has since opened four additional properties in Ashland, Oregon, and in Tucson, Chandler and Sun City West, Arizona.

Mr. Cauvin is an active supporter of the Phoenix Children’s Hospital, the Boys and Girls Club, the American Red Cross, ChildReach/Plan USA and Cornell University Alumni. He is also a licensed multi-engine pilot, flying jets, helicopters and gliders. He enjoys skiing, bass fishing, horses and spending quality time with his family.

Ed Kopp serves as the Manager of Information Systems for all Windmill Inns & Suites and Lodging Unlimited-West locations. In addition to this responsibility he coordinates the efforts of Sales and Marketing, Rate Management, Telecommunications and Web Administration.

Mr. Kopp joined Windmill Inns & Suites/Lodging Unlimited-West in 1998. Since then, he has successfully raised the level of technology at all properties and the support office. By completing as many tasks as possible in-house and through proper end-user training, he has reduced the costs typically associated with this type of advancement.

Currently, Mr. Kopp is responsible for coordinating all technology-related items. These include but are not limited to all software, personal computer, server, phone, lock, security, property management and interface systems. Additionally, he is actively involved in sales and marketing. His efforts have resulted in not only an increase of Internet bookings and have also yielded a higher percentage of company site bookings (over 3rd party OTAs) as compared to previous years. He also coordinates the annual marketing plan and budget processes and supports the property management and sales staff.

Prior to joining Windmill Inns/Lodging Unlimited-West, Mr. Kopp worked in the manufacture of flexible circuitry at Rogers Corp., was General Manager of Circuit/Dyne, and Database Administrator for United Stationers Supply Company.

J.D. King is the Manager of Purchasing for all Windmill Inns & Suites and Lodging Unlimited-West locations. In addition to this he is responsible for coordinating all facilities maintenance and company policies and procedures. Mr. King also coordinates all human resource efforts and travel management for the company.

Mr. King joined Windmill Inns/Lodging Unlimited-West in 1996. As manager of purchasing, he is responsible for coordinating the purchase of items for use at each location. His continued efforts to obtain the best value, maintain the inventory, eliminate waste and establish monthly conference calls with department supervisors in housekeeping, maintenance and property have resulted in excellent service cost controls.

He is also responsible for the annual capital expenditure process, including the identification of items that will be purchased in the following year, reviewing requests for proposal, establishing contracts and monitoring work in progress through completion. Mr. King also maintains company policies, procedures and guidelines and when appropriate, verifies their content to be certain it meets the requirements of federal, state and local agencies by having them reviewed by our legal counsel.

J.D. King holds a Bachelor of Science in education from the University of Connecticut. Prior to joining Windmill Inns & Suites and Lodging Unlimited-West he was the Director of Purchasing for Ann Taylor Stores Corporation (New York, NY). Responsibilities included the procurement and distribution of all supply items from operational forms to shopping bags and gift boxes for over 360 Ann Taylor stores located throughout the United States. He has also held purchasing positions with Waldenbooks and Xerox Corporation. Mr. King is a member of the Institute for Supply Management and has attended numerous supply management and negotiations seminars.