AC Hotel Bethesda introduces leadership team

Chris Raines will be
General Manager of the 
AC Hotel Bethesda

The executive leadership team of the new AC Hotel Bethesda, expected to open next month at 4646 Montgomery Avenue, was introduced today by OTO Development, the firm that developed and will manage the Marriott-branded hotel. Chris Raines will be General Manager of the property; Maria Bardos, CGMP, will be Director of Sales; and Jim Barnett will serve as Director of Food & Beverage, his primary responsibility being the Corella Café & Lounge on the building's ground floor.

Raines currently serves on Marriott International's DMV Business Council as co-chairman, and as a board member of the Rosslyn Business Improvement District. He has previously been a general manager at an IHG hotel property in Arlington, where he also was active with the Arlington Chamber of Commerce. “I’ve always heard opening a hotel is the highlight of any hospitality career — and now I know it’s true,” Raines said in a statement.

Maria Bardos
Director of Sales

Bardos is a native of Montgomery County, and has worked at Marriott and Hyatt properties during her twenty-two year career in hospitality sales. “It’s easy to be passionate about a location you love,” she said. “I’m so excited to bring the AC brand to life in downtown Bethesda.”

Jim Barnett
Food & Beverage Director

Barnett also knows Bethesda well, having worked in Marriott hotels in our town, Philadelphia and Hershey, Pensylvania. He is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts, and is celebrating 21 years with Marriott International, which is opening its new headquarters a few blocks from the new AC Hotel this summer. “I’ve learned from some of the best Marriott minds in the company,” said Barnett, who twice earned the Leader of the Quarter title at Marriott International.

The 18-story, 220-room AC Hotel Bethesda is anticipated to open in mid-August, OTO Development said. Corella Café & Lounge will literally be front and center at the property, with prominent signage and patio seating on the Wisconsin Avenue side of the site. OTO Development currently operates around 70 hotels under the Hilton, Hyatt, IHG and Marriott brands.