By Megan Sayles,
AFRO Business Writer,
msayles@afro.com
Prince George’s County native Ramond J. Sneed recently became the new general manager of Hotel Revival Baltimore, an art boutique hotel in the Mount Vernon neighborhood. The 43-year-old brings 21 years of experience in the hospitality industry with him.
“Hotel Revival has a name for itself,” said Sneed. “The previous leadership did an amazing job of marketing the hotel, promoting what they were doing and doing great things for the community. I look forward to carrying that on and collaborating with the Revival team members, vendors and local community partners.”
“I just want it to feel like home to the visitors of Baltimore,” he said.
Sneed runs the day-to-day operations of a hotel in an industry that is predominantly White. According to the 2022 Black Representation in Hospitality Industry Leadership report, one in 7.3 industry employees were Black in 2022 compared to one in 5.7 in 2020.
The report, created by the American Hotel and Lodging Association’s Castell Project, concluded that the industry’s Black workforce population is on a continuous decline.
Andy Ingram, president and CEO of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers (NABHOOD), said Black hotel ownership is key to providing more African Americans with industry opportunities.
African Americans currently own less than two percent of the 68,000 hotels in the United States, according to Ingram.
“As you see more Black ownership, you’re going to see more opportunities for Black people to advance,” Ingram said. “Unfortunately, while this is a great industry, we have not done a good job with diversity and [enabling] more people of color to break the glass ceiling.”
Sneed’s passion for the hospitality industry began years ago. He fell in love with hotels as a child. Sneed said his family had the means to travel often, staying in hotels and resorts.
“I thought they were the coolest thing in the world. My parents knew that, and my dad would buy me Forbes magazines whenever there was a hotel issue,” Sneed said. “They really poured into my love of the hotel industry.”
After graduating from University of Maryland Eastern Shore in 2002 with a degree in hotel and restaurant management, Sneed began his career in hospitality at the Philadelphia Airport Marriott.
Sneed’s most impactful experience thus far has been at the Residence Inn Greenbelt by Marriott in Greenbelt, Md.
“I took over the housekeeping department there, and I was quickly humbled while working in that department. The one thing that job taught me was people skills,” Sneed said. “Eighty percent of the department spoke a foreign language, and a lot of them are first-generation immigrants.”
Sneed said he had to step up and help his employees handle personal issues.
“I was helping them pay bills online because they didn’t know how to do it. I was the one driving from Greenbelt to Baltimore to take them to their immigration appointments. I was going to Target with them,” Sneed explained.
The experience taught Sneed the importance of supporting and celebrating his employees, while ensuring that they know they are valued.
Most recently, Sneed served as the general manager for the Sonesta Select Arlington. While he enjoyed the job, his work commute was more than two hours, causing him to miss out on quality time with his daughter and wife.
He said he thinks he only had the opportunity to take his daughter to school two times during his two-year stint at the Sonesta Select Arlington. In Sneed’s new role, Hotel Revival is less than 20 minutes away from home, and he’s able to attend all of his daughter’s extracurricular activities.
“Ultimately, I want to continue to elevate Revival as the years go along,” said Sneed. “It’s a big responsibility for me to make sure that we’re keeping that momentum going and building on Revival’s connections and initiatives that benefit Baltimore.”
Megan Sayles is a Report for America Corps member.
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