Juan Surarez

Director, Lodging Development | Midscale Brands at Marriott

Speaker

Juan is a 23- year hospitality industry veteran based in Miami, Fl. He has been with Marriott International for almost 15 years. Throughout his career with Marriott, he has taken on roles of increased responsibility in the US and abroad, in areas such as HR, Operations, Performance Improvement, Feasibility and most recently Lodging Development.

Prior to his current role, he served as a liaison between hotel owners and franchisees, and Marriott International, representing Marriott brands with over 2000 open hotel units. His primary role involved connecting owners to resources that enabled their success, while also supporting them throughout their journey of hotel acquisition, disposition, contract negotiations and with general business-related matters.

In 2024, Juan joined Marriott’s Lodging Development team and leads efforts in Marriott’s Southeast region in the fast-growing Midscale segment. Both brands in the segment, City Express by Marriott and StudioRes, are poised for rapid growth in the coming years. Juan led the development process to bring to market the first City Express by Marriott in the United States, which opened in Duluth, GA on March 4^tt, 2025.

Juan holds a BS degree in Management and Organizational Leadership from St. Petersburg College, in St. Petersburg, Fl and a MS in Employment Law from Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl.