Since he came to Jacksonville in 2007, Dan King has almost tripled a key average in his chosen field.
After seven years as the general manager of Downtown’s Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront hotel, King is moving in a few weeks to San Antonio, Texas, where he will be general manager of the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa.
King said since he became a Hyatt executive 26 years ago, the company has moved him and his family every two or three years to a different property, with the exception of the time he’s been in Jacksonville.
That way, he said, managers can gain experience in a variety of hospitality service environments. Transferring from an urban core convention and business hotel to a resort property allows King to take another item off his list of what he wants to accomplish.
From May 1991-April 1994, he was executive assistant manager of the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort in Arizona. That tour of duty made an impression and led to a goal.
“Everyone at Hyatt has known that I wanted to one day be the general manager of one of our resort properties,” said King.
The 500-room Hyatt Hill Country will be quite a change of atmosphere. The property, about eight miles west of Downtown San Antonio, features a 27-hole championship golf course, tennis courts, a luxury spa and boutique, general store and a five-acre water park.
King has made his mark on the community in the past seven years. He is a member of the executive committee of Downtown Vision and a trustee of the JAX Chamber.
King is a past president of the North Florida Hotel and Lodging Association board of directors, past chairman of the Jacksonville Hospitality Institute board of directors and past chairman of the Visit Jacksonville’s board of directors. He also has served on the boards and committees of Goodwill Industries, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Florida and the Gator Bowl Association.
King said his new post is a career goal he has long held, but leaving Jacksonville isn’t without a taste of the bittersweet.
“This is my eleventh Hyatt property and I have never enjoyed living and working anywhere more than Jacksonville,” he said. “This hotel — and the community — has such a spirit of hospitality and teamwork.”
While it’s impossible to predict where King’s Hyatt career might lead in the future, he said he knows where he will head after he leaves his last office in the executive suite.
“We have been blessed to have been in Jacksonville for seven years. My wife and I already decided we will retire in Northeast Florida,” he said.
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