Hotel Consulting Leadership

Tom Baker is the Founder and Managing Principal of AHA Hotel Consulting and former CEO of Access Hotels and Resorts, where he provided executive oversight and strategic leadership for a diverse portfolio of hotels and resorts across the United States. Properties under his oversight included Bacara Resort & Spa, SAX Hotel Chicago, The Allerton Hotel Chicago, The Wilshire Hotel Los Angeles, and numerous other independent hotels and resorts.

Throughout his career, Tom has held leadership positions with recognized hospitality brands and destination properties including Enchantment Resort & Spa, Hotel del Coronado, The Melrose Dallas, Westin Great Southern, and the Washington Court Hotel.

His experience spans hotel operations, revenue strategy, capital planning, organizational leadership, and ownership advisory, providing clients with practical recommendations grounded in real-world operating experience and financial accountability.

Mark Hindle is a principal at AHA Hotel Consulting. Prior to joining AHA, Mark was the CFO/COO for Harbaugh Hotel Management Corporation for 29 years, overseeing a portfolio that included both independent and branded properties. In this role, he implemented cost saving measures in the areas of labor, benefits, contracts, taxes, and insurance that saved the properties millions of dollars. Mark wrote the Controller’s Manual and introduced a self-audit program to establish internal control monitoring. In addition, he has extensive union labor management experience, helping to negotiate collective bargaining agreements in D.C, Dallas, Houston, San Bernardino, and Las Vegas. Lastly, he was a Trustee for the 401k/Profit Sharing Plan, Benefit Administrator for all insurance plans, Risk Manager, and Liaison to the Asset Managers.

Mark has a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State University in Hospitality Management. He began his career with Sheraton, where he held various positions in operations and accounting. Mark successfully completed the Controller’s Training Program in Stamford, CT, then moved to the 1500 room Sheraton Washington Hotel. As Capital Project Manager for this property, he was responsible for the disbursement and tracking of multi-million-dollar projects. Mark was promoted to Assistant Controller in less than a year, overseeing a staff of thirty. After 3 years, he accepted a Controller’s position at the Washington Court Hotel with Harbaugh Hotel Management Corporation.

Mark has been a member of the professional organization HFTP since 1990. He was the DC Chapter President in 1996 and Chairman of the Board in 1996. He earned the Certified Hospitality Accounting Executive (CHAE) designation in 2002.

Mr. McAfee held the general manager positions in the Tides Inn, Irvington, VA where he executed a $17 million dollar renovation of the resort, club house and golf course. He successfully repositioned the market demographics and achieved a $2 million dollar turnaround in year one also achieving 4 diamond status and being recognized by Conde Nast as the top resort in Virginia.

Mr. McAfee was the general manager for the historic Warwick Melrose Hotel, Dallas where he executed and oversaw a complete property renovation, maintained a 4-diamond ranking for the hotel and the Landmark Restaurant. The Library Bar is recognized as being the best bar in a hotel by Dallas Magazine. He maintained a ranking of 14 or better during his tenure in TripAdvisor out of 220 hotels ranked. He held the position of general Manager at the Lodge of 4 Seasons in Lake Ozark MO. He oversaw a $16 million renovation. He successfully repositioned the resort in the group, and transient markets. Mr. McAfee held the position of general manager at the Iconic Warwick New York Hotel, A 426 luxury hotel in mid-town. He was successful in repairing the working relationship with Union Local 6 where through leadership he established worker “buy-in” and overall morale and culture. He rebuilt and refocused the sales department resulting in growing top line revenue by 12% and improving service standards achieving a 4 diamond ranking in his first year. He steered the property through the recent pandemic by closing and successfully reopening with a Covid -19 service protocol achieving a 150% RGI Index in STR within 4 weeks of reopening.

Prior to hotel management Mr. McAfee spent 20 years as an executive chef and food & beverage director in 4 and 5 star hotel properties. As food & beverage director at the Diplomat Resort project he was involved in the planning and building of the 1064 room resort-an $850 million dollar project. Here he planned and designed 8 restaurants and 225,000 square feet of convention, exhibit and conference space. He has held several hotel association board positions in Virginia and Dallas, Texas. In addition he has served on the board of the Oak Lawn Committee in Dallas Texas Reviewing all proposed construction for the city of Dallas. He served on several non-profit and profit boards and was appointed by the president to the board of the Selective Service Mid Atlantic Region,