Helen Jorgensen is happiest at her job when she sees the results of a completed project. “When we’ve reinvented a hotel,” she says, “all the teams come together—the design team, the project team, the brand, the customers—and you’re there to celebrate the joy and energy of this new story, this new hotel.”
Jorgensen has had many such occasions in her 30-plus-year professional journey. Born in Baltimore, she holds a bachelor’s in business and mass communications from Towson University, and received a certificate of graduate studies in administration and management from Harvard University.
She calls her professional path “meandering,” in that each of the stops along the way “built upon my skillset.” That includes 10 years as strategic sourcing manager at Disney, and a number of procurement management positions within Marriott International’s architecture and construction division. “That’s where I got a great hospitality background,” she adds.
Jorgensen is effusive about her career. “I have the [best] job because I work with dynamic people,” she says. “Everyone is so passionate, and we use that energy to transform spaces into beautiful stories and designs.” Indeed, since Host Hotels & Resorts has close to 100 properties in its portfolio, mostly divided across major brands such as Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton, she works with many and sees a lot.
Among her many accomplishments, Jorgensen has been a champion of nurturing distinct lifestyle properties that are imbued with local flavor and personality. She has helped create the Axiom in San Francisco, the Camby in Phoenix (both by New York firm Stonehill Taylor), and the Logan in Philadelphia from Dawson Design Associates out of Seattle, Host’s first foray into independent properties. But when asked to choose a favorite, she doesn’t hesitate: The Phoenician in Scottsdale, which recently underwent a makeover by Sudbury, Massachusetts firm Parker-Torres Design. A number of challenges made the process difficult, she explains, but “in the end, it was a property that rose from the ashes, literally. It was totally transformed.”
Jorgensen admits to frustration when a project gets pressured by timelines and tight schedules. “That’s when the team comes together,” she says, “and has to come up with a great design in a difficult time period. But, [when it’s finished], you walk in and only you know [the challenges], not the guests. Then, you’re satisfied.”
