I believe hospitality is felt.
It shows up in how people feel welcomed, cared for, and at home.
Creating the setting starts with vision aligned with purpose, shaped by decisions that first consider the guest, the host, and the experience being brought to life.
I help owners and their project partners align vision with purpose.
— Vito F. Lotta
Founder | AIA, RID, LEED AP
LOTTA Strategic Hospitality
The best time to align is early.
The next best time to engage is before the project drifts further.
Let's talk about your vision. Vito@LottaHD.com
Perspective is the advantage
After nearly 15 years inside Hilton’s design organization, I saw what every stakeholder was trying to protect: the promise, the guest experience, the investment, the idea, and the path to execution.
LOTTA brings that perspective to the table early, helping teams see unspoken realities before they become delay, redesign, diluted intent, or expensive compromise.
It begins by addressing the questions that give the project direction:
What is the narrative?
What is the story behind this place?
What should guests feel, remember, and want to return to?
The work is not only alignment.
LOTTA helps define what makes a hospitality project distinct, then protects that vision, narrative, and intent as the work moves through design, operations, brand, execution, guest experience, and business performance.
Curating the Right Collaborators
The right team changes the outcome.
For decades, I have helped shape project outcomes by helping align the focus of designers, procurement teams, contractors, consultants, brand, and operations around a shared project vision.
Through LOTTA, I help ownership curate the right project partners, informed by long-standing relationships, observed performance, and an understanding of each collaborator’s capabilities. Once the team is assembled, I help sustain alignment, supporting smoother progress with purpose, clarity, and discipline.
About Vito
Vito Lotta is an owner-side strategic hospitality advisor working across ownership, operations, brand, and creative teams.
With 30 years in hospitality design, including nearly 15 years inside Hilton’s design organization, he brings uncommon pattern recognition shaped by responsibility for thousands of projects, including renovations, new builds, conversions, adaptive reuse, refreshes, and repositioning.
As Hilton’s former Vice President of Architecture & Design, Vito helped translate brand strategy into architecture and design ethos, narrative, and guidance for Hilton Hotels & Resorts and DoubleTree, and helped co-create Curio Collection, Tapestry Collection, and Signia by Hilton.
Previously with Gensler Hospitality and The Gettys Group, Vito is a licensed architect, registered interior designer, and LEED Accredited Professional.
El San Juan | Jeffrey Beers International - EDSA - Morris Lapidus & CMA
El San Juan | Jeffrey Beers International - EDSA - Morris Lapidus & CMA
The Statler Dallas - Curio by Hilton | Merriman Anderson Architects & Interiors
El San Juan | Jeffrey Beers International - EDSA - Morris Lapidus & CMA
Hotel Phillips | Curio Collection
PERSPECTIVE
"Vito was more than
a insightful collaborator.
He was a curious critic and partner, focused on understanding the unique needs of each client and market.
His goal was always the same as ours: to achieve a truly evocative product."
— Kraig Kalashian
Principal & Founder, KKAD
Public Speaker | Design Juror | Advisory Board Member
Beyond client work, this perspective informs advisory roles, speaking engagements, and industry conversations about the future of hospitality, design, and guest experience.
The Hotel of Tomorrow
My interest in innovation and hospitality found a natural home with The Hotel of Tomorrow, created by The Gettys Group and
Ron Swidler, CEO.
Our 'H.o.T.' teams of hospitality experts
collaborated to ideate, prototype,
and test innovations for the near and
distant future of our industry.
Juror & Advisory Board
American Institute of Architects
Design Is Awards
Gold Key Design Awards
Radical Innovation - Juror
Radical Innovation - Advisory Board
International Luxury Hotel Association -
Advisory Board
Speaker Engagements
Boutique Design New York
Global Hospitality Talks
HD Expo + Conference
INSPIRE Luxury Hotel
NEWH Annual Conference
NYU Investment Conference
The Lodging Conference
Defining Hospitality Podcast
Hospitality Design Podcast
Hotel of Tomorrow Podcast
"Thank you, Vito!
We are thrilled to have your sustained engagement with Radical Innovation as Juror and Advisory Board. Your passion, insights, opinions, and experience hold immense value for our organization."
— Leah S. Blank
Director of Radical Innovations
The Hardy Group
Sustainability & Decarbonization
Hotel Marcel
1st Net-Zero Hotel in the United States
Adaptive-Reuse of Brutalist Masterpiece
Certified historic rehabilitation and adaptive re-use of mid-century modern Armstrong Rubber Company Building aka Pirelli Building, originally designed by Marcel Breuer in 1967.
The best time to align is early.
The next best time is before the project drifts further.
Vito F. Lotta
Founder | AIA, RID, LEED AP
LOTTA Strategic Hospitality
+1 571 314 6071