About Us

About RAMM Hospitality Hotels

RAMM Hospitality, Inc. is a fast-growing, privately-owned hotel management and development company located in Bakersfield, CA. Founded in 2013 by the Verma family, the six pillars of character, trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship, remain entwined into the core of the company still today.

Effective leadership from the ground floor to corporate is the key to our success. Collectively with over 50 years of hospitality experience, our experienced professionals have an unparalleled expertise, so we can continue to grow with confidence to reach new heights and discoveries in the hospitality industry. Centralized accounting and administration for all the properties is a primary focus for growth. Area Managers were added to oversee additional properties under Raju's direction. The Project Management Team honed in on design skills and worked alongside the assigned brand standards representatives, in design, construction and procurement for our growing portfolio. Rhea leads the Sales and Marketing corporate team in revenue management, developing solid sales team at each hotel and producing company initiatives that lead to sale growth throughout the year. As the second generation is stepping up to the plate and work in various roles throughout the organization. RAMM currently has a workforce of over one hundred Associates, Managers, Accountants, and Operational Directors. Continued efforts by individuals and teams are appreciated and promotions from within is something of which we are proud. We establish value and character with uncompromising quality, standards, and passion. Our projects are executed by intellectual and strong business planning, with the purpose of delivering an appropriate return of investment by strictly residing with our convictions and refusing to never compromise our character.

Our portfolio consists of award-winning midscale/upscale, extended stay, and full- service hotels, joined with effective partnerships with iconic brands such as Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and InterContinental Hotels Group, RAMM's focused determination for long range strategy, entrepreneurial vitality, and commitment to quality has helped us create new modern, cutting-edge hotels.



“Fostering For Future Generations”


Mission

At RAMM Hospitality, Inc. our associates, guests, and owners are at the forefront of everything we do. We strive to contribute to our partners’ successes by focusing our efforts on leadership, community involvement and reducing our overall carbon footprint.


Vision

The future of hotel management and development starts with RAMM Hospitality, Inc., and our goal is to be visionaries in our field. By investing in our associates, our communities, and hotel assets, we are building a culture for success. Our greatest asset is our people who continue to exceed expectations for quality service and guest relationships. Building a legacy based on our integrity, teamwork, and perseverance.


Values

RAMM Hospitality, Inc. establishes value and character with uncompromising quality standards and passion. Pursuing our mission and vision as a dedicated group of individuals with a spirit for service. Our company was built on the Six Pillars of Character:

  • Trustworthiness
  • Respect
  • Responsibility
  • Fairness
  • Caring
  • Citizenship

Meet Our Team


Raj Verma - President CHA, CHO

Raju Verma, Principal and President of RAMM Hospitality, Inc. is a hospitality veteran who has successfully facilitated the growth of several major branded hotel franchises. In 2013, Mr. Verma launched his own company, RAMM Hospitality, Inc. which has grown from one hotel to a portfolio of 15 award-winning hotels under Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide and Intercontinental Hotels Group brands. Throughout his life, Mr. Verma has made many life-altering decisions, and while remaining humble, he has never compromised his beliefs or convictions. Beginning as a young man, he left the safety of his home and familiar surroundings for adventures to the unknown. Mr. Verma has extensive experience in all phases of hotel operations and development. He began his hospitality career as a housekeeper, while simultaneously developing his education in Hotel Management And went on to hold an array of positions throughout his hotel career before assuming full ownership and operational control as a franchisee.

Working together with his wife of two decades, Meenakshi, they continued striving for success. With the continued support of his wife and children by his side, Mr. Verma’s desire to never accept less than his best continues; Never letting the fear of the unknown dictate his future. RAMM allows him the opportunity to focus on cultivating employee relationships by spending time observing, guiding, coaching, and encouraging employees in both the hotels and the corporate office.


Meenakshi Verma - Vice President

Meenakshi Verma, Vice President of RAMM Hospitality, is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry. In 2013, she joined her husband in forming RAMM Hospitality, Inc. From her start as Front Desk Agent, she worked her way up to Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) at a Four-Star hotel property in Lonavala, India. Throughout her career, Mrs. Verma has been recognized for her drive and operational excellence, allowing the creation of award winning hotels that rank high in guest surveys.

Today, Mrs. Verma remains to be a part of making key decisions with her husband at RAMM, but she has taken a step back from her own career goals to focus on the education, development and personal growth of their two children. As the children get older, she is looking forward to returning to her career aspirations in hospitality in a more hands-on atmosphere.


Shiv Kapoor - Vice President of Operations CHA, CHO

With a career that spans almost two decades, Mr. Kapoor brings a wealth of world-class hospitality experience and boundless optimism to his role as Director of Operations. His ongoing operational expertise and support extends to all facets of hotel management and operations including revenue management, training and quality assurance. Guests feel confident knowing that they are receiving expert local knowledge, dedicated hotel staff, highly trained management and higher than expected guest expectations.

Prior to joining RAMM, Mr. Kapoor spent an impressive 12 years with Wyndham Worldwide as Director of Franchise Operations. With this experience, he encourages innovative hotel management that continually sets higher standards of excellence. He ensures that everyone from our management team to our hospitality associates understand and abide by the same guiding principle: to deliver personal attention to all our guests.

Mr. Kapoor holds a BA in Business Administration Management from Fresno State University. He is also is a CHA (Certified Hotel Administrator) and a CHO (Certified Hotel Owner).


Muskaan Verma - Assistant Regional Operations Manager

Muskaan is responsible for the daily operational oversight of the multiple hotels in RAMM’s portfolio. Muskaan works under many different hotel flags from the Marriott, Hilton, and Intercontinental Hotel Groups brands. Her primary focus has been hotel transitioning from the pandemic, successfully monitoring new procedures, and effectively revamping staffing patterns without impacting guest service levels.

As an aspiring hospitality professional, Muskaan is a skilled communicator, an active listener, and possesses an unparalleled work ethic, three keys that have set her up for success in the hospitality industry. Juggling work and her second term at California State University Bakersfield, have strengthened her mental fortitude with greater self-confidence, discipline, and tenacity in her everyday life and within her hospitality career.


Arwin Verma - Development and Acquisition Intern

Prior to entering his freshman year at the University of California Bakersfield, Arwin worked with his father studying the protocols of building ground-up hotels, as well as acquiring already constructed and operational properties. He also spent time experiencing all phases of operations, from front desk to housekeeping to working in the grill at our Four Points Elkhart hotel. Arwin is excited to be working in an entrepreneurial environment with RAMM and focusing on the evaluation, structuring, and execution of structured financing of projects.


Craig Chattmon - Regional Operations Manager

Teach, Inspire, Energize and Encourage is the vision of Craig Chattmon. This New Orleans, Louisiana native has been in the hospitality industry for over twenty years and believes he is just beginning. Mr. Chattmon joined RAMM Hospitality in 2019 as the general manager of the Four Points by Sheraton in Elkhart, Indiana, where a culture of excellence, integrity, pride, and support was established as the core value to the beautiful property. Mr. Chattmon believes in training people to stretch out of their comfort zone to achieve a higher purpose. Eager to assist where needed, Mr. Chattmon provides support and encouragement that stems from his experience in hospitality and willingness to unleash the full potential of anyone he encounters.


Dasha Ybalonskaya - Project Assistant Administrator

Dasha was promoted from her front desk agent position at Residence Inn Bakersfield West to join the RAMM team in 2021. Recognized for her extraordinary commitment to detail, Dasha was selected as our new Project Administrative Assistant. Driven by her dedication to detail, she takes pride in giving her best to the team. As a Project Administration Assistant, her primary job functions involve both new construction, renovation, and existing retail and commercial projects.

She is a capable professional who works as an assistant to Mr. Verma where she manages his calendar and project meetings with management, contractors, and vendors. As the company grows her dedication to the highest hospitality quality standards is her goal. Dasha is excited to be a part of the RAMM team.

Personal interests are family and church. In the last two years Dasha worked in Europe with a Christian outreach group helping people in difficult life situations.


Dianna Martin - Corporate Administration

Dianna has provided administrative support to the CEO Raju Verma and Shiv Kapoor for more than three years. She also supports the supports the corporate office team, coordinates investor partnership meetings, and review of legal and franchise contract documentation. Previous to joining the RAMM family, Dianna worked in the finance department for AT&T Wireless and BellSouth and was the executive Manager for a California Independent Oil and Gas Producer where she led corporate business development. She was involved in exploring private placements, joint ventures, investments, acquisitions, and negotiations to create a multi-project portfolio for her company.

A Los Angeles native, she studied business administration and business law at Cal Poly Pomona.


Veronica Zazueta - Accounting Manger

RAMM Hospitality Inc. proudly welcomed Veronica Zazueta as our Accounting Manager, bringing over a decade of work experience operating with integrity and an astounding customer service philosophy, building, and strengthening relations with vendors, employees, and guests. After 5 ½ years as a bookkeeper for a local construction company, she decided to make the transition to the hospitality industry for her love of travel. Eager to learn the industry, she started off as a front desk representative, demonstrating a “work smarter” philosophy, tackling challenges with the most effective solutions for continuous progression, proving to be a beneficial part of our team.


Jennifer Mendoza - Accounts Payable Manager

As a dedicated and detail-oriented accounting professional, Jennifer Mendoza has been meeting the accounting needs for RAMM Hospitality for the past 2 years. As part of the accounting team, Jennifer interprets and delivers actionable financial intelligence across 17 properties, to ensure the best accounting practices are implemented with each vendor to guarantee proper cash management and ultimately, improved property value based on performance. Her duties include not only account payable management but monitoring, monthly/quarterly/annual reports, and comprehensive internal audits.

Jennifer graduated from CSUB with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration. After a successful career, she now shares her experience and tactics with other people to achieve the same success. “Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a Team of People.”


Rhea Odchigue - Director of Sales

Rhea joined RAMM Hospitality Inc. in 2017 to oversee sales for several hotel properties within RAMM's portfolio. Rhea brings over 20 years of deluxe, full and select service experience to RAMM. Her experience has ranged with positions from Sales Manager, Senior Sales Manager and Assistant Director of Sales. She is an experienced sales professional with a demonstrated history working in the hospitality industry. Skilled in Sales, Delphi, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Account Management.

Rhea is a sale driven leader who always strive to maximize revenue, she has strong organizational skills and has a passion to achieve great results. During her employment with Hilton, she was awarded the Circle of Excellence in 2013 and Telefocus Achievement. Rhea graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Tourism focused on Airline, Hotel and Restaurant Management from the University of the Philippines.


Marilen Settlemire - Corporate Sales Manager

Marilen joined RAMM Hospitality in 2018. She has extensive experience in hotel operations from food and beverage, housekeeping, front office and sales. Marilen's passion is backed up with multiple recognitions and achievement from the hotel industry. These includes multiple "Employee of the Month" awards and "Upsell Champion" for two consecutive years. Marilen is continuously building strong connections with clients and colleagues in the industry and is in pursuit of expanding her horizons together with her team.

Marilen worked several years at the DoubleTree by Hilton. She also loved being a kitchen artist and worked as Chef Garde Manger at The Longboat Key Club Resort in Sarasota, Florida and The Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa in Tucson, Arizona. Currently, the task of handling multiple brand properties is a great opportunity to showcase her knowledge and expertise in the industry.

In her quest of developing her professional goals and networking, prior to graduating college, Marilen became an exchange student from the Philippines and took internship at the American Hospitality Academy in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. After her internship, she went back to the Philippines to continue her education. Marilen graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management from San Sebastian College Recoletos in the Philippines.


Cophil Morata - Corporate Sales Manager

Cophil joined RAMM Hospitality in February 2020. He started as Front Desk Agent and worked his way up for promotions. Within six months of dedicated work in the operations, he was promoted as Front Office Manager. Cophil's excellent customer service and charismatic trait had drawn and won the attention and loyalty of many customers. In addition, with his varied positions in Management, Marketing and Sales from Top Companies in his past work experiences, they made him a desirable candidate for promotion as Sales Manager. The deterrent effects of this unprecedented and Pandemic era did not hinder Cophil from reaching his goal and even soared heights to the best that he can to consistently contribute to the Sales department. His persistence and actions allowed him to benefit numerous selling opportunities both in our California and Michigan properties.

Cophil had earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Major in Airline Management from Indiana Aerospace University, Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines. His vast experiences propelled him to continue his love in the corporate world and he is delighted to continue to grow with our prestigious organization.


Jennifer Christensen - Director of Sales

Jennifer Christensen joined RAMM Hospitality, Inc. in October 2015 as the Sales Manager at the TownePlace Suites by Marriott Hotel in Fresno, California and assisted in the early stages of training of the newly developing team in the ever-growing RAMM Hospitality, Inc. Portfolio. Currently Ms. Christensen exclusively sells for the Visalia Residence Inn by Marriott Hotel, Fresno TownePlace Suites by Marriott Hotel and Hilton Garden Inn.

Jennifer Christensen enveloped the last vicennial in the Hospitality Industry during a luxurious era with Sunstone Hotels then Marriott International as Area Director of Sales & Marketing with Marriott International. Jennifer has worked with several hotel management companies transiting ownerships and branding implementations from GF Management, BNP Lodging, Lodging Dynamics, Prime Hospitality and currently RAMM Hospitality.

Jennifer Christensen has served as the Vice President of Client Administration for CPM, a California based Poultry Processing & Marketing Company and as the Marketing Manager host of Benart Standard and Luxury Custom Homes on the weekends for over 15 years.

During her free time Jennifer held the position as a preschool teacher for many years and as the Director Of Children’s Service and developed a more orderly path for the future with the teacher’s curriculum by restructuring the existing elements with a repeating plan to help expand and create a routine to mold the young minds of children with the Wednesday night services and eventually Friday night’s “Parent’s Night out”, weekend retreats, Mother Daughter Tea, Fashion Shows and numerous charitable events.

Jennifer has studied art, architecture, business and grew up during a traditional, joyous time traveling to hotels and homes with her family. From the Plaza in New York to high tea at the Empress and inspiration from the Vanderbilt Estate.


Rachel Hakim - Corporate Sales Coordinator

Rachel Hakim came to RAMM Hospitality in September 2020. Prior to RAMM, she worked at a nursing home in 2019. Since working at the hotel, she has gained more knowledge about hospitality and is looking forward to broadening her office administration experience in the Hotel Industry.

Rachel Hakim graduated from Pensacola Christian College in 2019 with a Bachelor’s in Business with a focus in Medical Office Administration. She is a great asset for bringing an adept ability and multitasking skills to the sales team and RAMM Hospitality


Penny Garcia - Human Resource / Payroll Manager

Her definition of what a rewarding job could be changed the day she began working for Holiday Inn Express as a sales manager in 1994. That experience introduced her to the graciousness of hospitality, the idea of assisting hotel guests to have a safe, positive hotel experience, and to provide guests with a high level of service that makes them want to return.

From that initial sales position in hospitality, she later had the opportunity to work as a Human Resources Manager/Director for IHG Hotels, Marriott, and Hilton brands. Most of her 10+ years of experience in Human Resources has been in hospitality where she constantly use the training she received while earning a BS in Business Management from California State Bakersfield.

As the Human Resources/Payroll Manager at RAMM Hospitality, Inc., she has great respect and empathy for the hard-working employees that make maintaining a clean, welcoming hotel seem effortless. For our company and for our employees, it is important for her to stay in touch with constantly changing regulations affecting our hotels in California, Michigan, and Indiana.

Hospitality is an amazing industry to be a part of, and as our company grows,she looks forward to continuing her role as part of the team.


Linda Conner - Food and Beverage Operations

Linda found the perfect when she joined RAMM Hospitality in 2016. She was looking for a ‘fun’ position where she could interact with the public after retiring from an office position as an Executive Admin for 19 years. In 2016, she became the Breakfast Hostess at the newly opened TownePlace Suites in Bakersfield.

Linda has become quite knowledgeable in her five years. A gifted motivator and leader comfortable with overseeing a service team of over 40 employees across multiple brands. She is comfortable in a fast-paced environment to provide quality service for guests while effectively mentoring new staff. Linda’s skills are now showcased by being responsible for training of new Food & Beverage members, upholding brand standards, ordering the products needed, and ensuring that the food and safety requirements are upheld while meeting and maintaining local compliance laws.

When not at work, Linda enjoys spending time with five grandchildren, watching one grandson race at Famoso Raceway, and baking.



A Sampling of Our Hotels

VIEW ALL OUR HOTELS

Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott North/Airport

8700 Spectrum Park Way Bakersfield, CA 93308

TownePlace Suites by Marriott

7127 N Fresno Street Fresno, CA 93720

Hilton Garden Inn

1300 Cinema Way Benton Harbor, MI