Executive Team
Denihan’s core values—instilled by the company’s founder, Benjamin ‘Bud’ Denihan—continue to be the foundation of its culture. Mutual respect, hard work and a relentless focus on superior customer service are principles reflected in the company’s day to day business, as well as in the people it hires and the partners with whom it does business.
Brooke Denihan Barrett, CEO of Denihan, leads the operations of The James and Affinia brands and Denihan’s luxury independent boutique hotels. With a lifetime of hospitality management experience in her family’s 50+ year old hospitality business, she has helped lead the transformation of Denihan into a nationally recognized leader in the boutique hotel and management and investment industry.
In 2013, Real Estate Forum named Barrett a ‘Legend’ among influential women in real estate. In 2011 she was named an ‘Outstanding Woman in Real Estate’ by National Real Estate Investor, and in 2011, 2012 and 2013 was among Real Estate Forum’s ‘Women of Influence’. Brooke was honored with the Stevie Award for ‘Woman Executive of the Year’ in 2012. A strong and noted advocate of women in business she is a co-founder of the New York/New Jersey Chapter of the American Hotel and Lodging Association’s ‘Women in Lodging’, the New York Women’s Forum and the Committee of 200 (C200).
Patrick Denihan, CEO of Denihan, leads the real estate and investment arm of his family’s 50+ year old hospitality business. With a lifetime of experience in the business, he has led many of Denihan’s key milestone initiatives including several acquisitions and re capitalization’s and the profitable conversion of numerous assets.
Today, he focuses on financial investments for Denihan in collaboration with other partners and secures new management contracts that fit within the company’s overall business growth strategy. Patrick is a sought-after industry leader, often sourced for quotes, profiles, and opinions in key forums such as National Real Estate Investor, Real Estate Investor and FOX Business. He is an advisory board member of the Cornell University Center for Hospitality Research and is a former board member of the Hotel Association of New York City. He also serves as an advisory board member of the Convent of the Sacred Heart School in New York City, and on the boards of two highly respected educational institutions, St. David’s School and the Benedictine School for Exceptional Children, where he also chairs the board of trustees for the Benedictine Foundation.
Christina (“Chrissy”) Denihan has spent the past 12 years at Denihan Hospitality, where she is currently a Managing Director. Among her day-to-day responsibilities include overseeing all aspects of asset management, development and marketing for the company. Over the course of her ascension at Denihan, Ms. Denihan has proven to be an adept value creator, problem solver and manager, and her insights and perspectives have been instrumental in the company’s continued growth and transformation into a nationally recognized leader in the boutique hotel and management and investment industry.
She has experience serving in various hospitality positions, including revenue/hotel management, marketing/branding, food and beverage, development, sales, financial services and human resources, and has spearheaded many of Denihan’s most high-profile and profitable initiatives. These include playing a critical role in the company’s acquisition of The James hotel brand from The James Group, implementing Denihan’s strategy to grow revenue by acquiring management contracts, and upgrading the food and beverage lineup across each hotel to generate added cash flow.
Ms. Denihan is also responsible for overseeing the development of the first James hotel in Washington D.C., which is set to open in 2020 and will serve as the hotel component of the premier mixed-use Armature Works development. A graduate of Boston College, she began her career as a media buyer for Initiative, part of Interpublic Group. Ms. Denihan, who was named a ‘Rising Star of the Travel Industry’ by Vacation Agent Magazine in 2012, is a volunteer/fundraiser with Operation Smile and serves on the alumni board of Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City.
John Barrett has spent the last 11 years at Denihan Hospitality, where he is currently a Managing Director. Among his day-to-day responsibilities include overseeing all aspects of information technology, strategic business initiatives, and business processes and systems. Mr. Barrett’s deep knowledge of information technology has made him the go-to leader in several company-wide initiatives including its technology adaptation and compensation strategy.
During his tenure at Denihan, he has experience serving in various hospitality positions, including HRIS, compensation, hotel management and others. Mr. Barrett attended Mercy College and completed an Executive Education program at Columbia Business School.
Tom Felderman, Chief Financial Officer, is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Denihan’s finance department including centralized, full service accounting functions, risk management, treasury, legal matters, lender relations, debt placement and acquisition support.
He has over 35 years of experience in hospitality and more than a decade at Denihan, during which time he oversaw a large-scale restructuring of the company’s accounting functions.
Prior to Denihan, he was a Controller for multiple properties with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. He also held roles at Fairmont Hotels of Regional Director of Finance based at The Plaza and Executive Director, Operations Accounting. Tom holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.
John oversees Denihan’s portfolio growth efforts leveraging the Company’s 50+ years of boutique management expertise to develop new management and license agreements and strategic partnerships.
John joined Denihan from sbe Entertainment where he was SVP, Development responsible for growing sbe’s hotel and food & beverage development pipeline around the world across all of its lifestyle brands – from SLS, Delano, and Mondrian to Hyde, Umami Burger, and Katsuya.
Prior to sbe, John spent 12 years with Starwood Hotels & Worldwide across a range of functions including hotel acquisitions and investments aimed at strategically growing Starwood’s global full-service and luxury footprint, hotel divestitures, managed and franchise development growth strategy and administration, supply chain strategy, and corporate mergers & acquisitions.
John joined Starwood from Cendant Corp, the predecessor of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, where was a member of the Firm’s corporate mergers & acquisitions and strategy team. He started his career in investment banking with ING Barings Furman Selz.
John holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Columbia University.