NMI-born Adriano is GM of Hyatt House

Adriano

Claudia Adriano’s story began on Saipan, where she learned the value of hard work and perseverance from her mother, Margaret Castro Camacho.

She excelled both in academics, being a member of Marianas High School’s National Honor Society, and in extra curricular activities as she was elected president of MHS’ student council.

Adriano is also into sports as a Saipan Swim Club member where she represented the CNMI in the 1991 Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea. Her best time also earned her an invitation to compete in the Hawaii National Kamaka’eha Swimming Tournament where she finished in the top 10.

After high school, she studied and graduated at Menlo College in Atherton, California with a Business Management major and concentration on the field of International Business Management in 2001.

She even trained and became a model for more than three years for John Robert Powers, which called for her to regularly travel to Los Angeles and New York.

Flash-forward to 2016, Adriano was recently named the general manager of Hyatt House in New Orleans in Louisiana—a 194-room hotel in Poydras Street in the downtown area.

It is a fitting 10th anniversary gift to a person who rose from the ranks working for a Fortune 500 company. She began working for Hyatt on April 16, 2006 at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch in Arizona.

From there, she moved to Washington State to work at the Hyatt at Olive 8 in Seattle and then Washington and at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue. She transferred to Hyatt Regency in New Orleans where she worked under the guidance of hotel GM Michael O. Smith.

The job, however, does not come without any challenges. “It’s not easy being a woman in the corporate world, that’s an unspoken rule,” said Adriano in an email to Saipan Tribune.

“The environment is unforgiving and requires endless hours of dedication. Learning how to manage the workforce is the challenge that you face everyday,” she added.

Adriano first worked as executive housekeeper for almost two years at the Hyatt Regency-New Orleans and was promoted to assistant director of rooms. “We did not have a director of rooms for seven months giving me the opportunity to learn directly under Smith.”

Smith is considered to be a legend among the GMs of Hyatt hotels. Being the GM of Hyatt-New Orleans, Smith oversees 200,000 square feet of meeting space and 1,193 rooms.

“I am grateful to have a wonderful mentor that kept a watchful eye for me to be able to learn things that helped me in my career,” said Adriano. “[Smith] helped me get exposed in a high caliber environment that has accommodated numerous huge events.”

Hyatt-New Orleans was the headquarters of the 2013 Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four in 2012, the United Negro Foundation, the Make It Right Foundation of Hollywood actor Brad Pitt, and the Hyatt’s National Sales Forum.

“My accomplishments won’t be possible without my mother’s strong guidance and influence. She pushed me to move through, no matter what I face. She is my rock and became my anchor to help me get through the difficult moments in my life. I’m forever grateful to have a strong mother and lifetime mentor like her.”