Sonia Torres: A Decade of Service
When Sonia Torres joined M&R in 2013 as director of housekeeping at the Holiday Inn Express Manhattan Midtown West on West 48th Street, she thought of it as a job. Little did she know it would turn into a career. This summer, Sonia marked a decade of service: 10 years at M&R and counting.
To celebrate the milestone, Anthony Damiano, general manager of the Hyatt Centric Midtown 5th Avenue New York, where Sonia most recently served as director of housekeeping, hosted a gathering in her honor.
Soon after joining the Holiday Inn Express and proving her mettle, Sonia was appointed director of housekeeping at the neighboring Comfort Inn Midtown West, then also managed by M&R. Working at those two brands gave Sonia experience with the housekeeping standards of IHG, parent of the Holiday Inn Express brand, and Choice Hotels International, parent of Comfort Inn.
“I was on my way,” Sonia said. Then, seven years after joining the company, the COVID-19 pandemic turned the lodging industry upside down, and M&R with it. “We all worked through those difficult days, when it was more important than ever that housekeeping standards were not only met, but surpassed,” she said.
Sonia’s next assignment took her out of Manhattan. When M&R was contracted to manage Tarrytown House Estate on the Hudson in Westchester County, New York, she was appointed director of housekeeping. In the process, she left the world of nationally branded limited-service hotels to work for an independent, full-service hotel with 30,000 square feet of meeting space.
“It was an excellent opportunity to put together the best of what I had learned,” she said.
Sonia, who was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in New York City, subsequently served on short-term task force assignments beginning with the Hyatt Centric, where she learned yet another brand’s housekeeping standards. Her next assignment is director of housekeeping for the new DoubleTree by Hilton Long Island City, now completing construction. Sonia says she’s excited to learn Hilton’s housekeeping standards.
In congratulating Sonia on her milestone anniversary, Anthony Damiano praised her seriousness. She knows that seriousness can lead to magic when guests check in and discover their room is perfect, from bedding to the bathroom.
