Trailborn Hotels & Resorts, the fast-growing US outdoor hospitality brand, has appointed Paul Eckert as chief operations officer (COO). The appointment, announced on 26 February 2026, positions Eckert at the helm of Trailborn’s operational infrastructure as the brand prepares for its most ambitious expansion phase to date, with major resort openings planned in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Mendocino, California.
Eckert brings more than 30 years of resort and hotel operations experience to the role, with a career that spans independent boutique properties, large-scale luxury resorts and multi-brand management portfolios across the United States. He joins Trailborn from Davidson Hospitality Group, where he served most recently as executive vice president of operations and business intelligence – a role to which he was promoted in July 2025 following four-and-a-half years of consistently strong performance across the Atlanta-based company’s portfolio.
At Davidson, Eckert oversaw a portfolio stretching from Florida to Hawaii, managing 13 assets with $400 million in top-line revenue and $100 million in net operating income. In that role, he combined direct property oversight with responsibility for leading Davidson’s corporate strategic operations team, focused on data analysis, efficiency improvements, proprietary operating tools and new revenue identification. His appointment to the EVP role came alongside the broader reorganisation of Davidson’s operations leadership, which also saw Nick Gregory named executive vice president for Pivot, the group’s lifestyle vertical.
Prior to Davidson, Eckert served as vice president of operations at Interstate Hotels & Resorts – subsequently acquired by Aimbridge Hospitality – where he spent three years building out the company’s Lifestyle Vertical for strategic growth. He carried a substantial portfolio of resort, lifestyle and independent hotel assets, developing expertise in supporting both development pipelines and day-to-day operational excellence.
Earlier in his career, Eckert spent nearly three years with White Lodging, where among his assignments he served as opening dual general manager for the Le Méridien Denver Downtown and AC Hotel Denver – a high-profile dual-branded project that required him to manage complex pre-opening operations across two distinct hotel concepts simultaneously.
The foundation of his career, however, was built during a 15-year tenure at Omni Hotels & Resorts. His roles at Omni progressed through general management to senior leadership, culminating in an appointment as vice president of special projects, where he oversaw brand standards, spa operations and development on several landmark projects including The Omni Frisco Hotel, The Omni Louisville Hotel and The Omni Atlanta Braves Hotel. During his time at Omni, he also served as managing director of the Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia and as general manager of the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort – a position he describes as his most formative, during which he recorded a ten per cent improvement in overall guest satisfaction within nine months, reduced staff turnover by ten per cent and raised associate engagement scores by five per cent.
In his new role at Trailborn, Eckert will oversee operations across the brand’s growing portfolio, working closely with on-property leadership teams to ensure the guest experience reflects Trailborn’s identity as a design-forward, nature-centred hospitality brand. His mandate will become progressively more complex as the brand enters the larger-scale resort segment with its forthcoming openings.
Trailborn was founded by Mike Weiss and Ben Weinberg and is backed by Castle Peak Holdings, the investment firm they co-founded after careers at Goldman Sachs. Castle Peak closed its second real estate vehicle with $315 million in committed capital in mid-2025, with the acquisition of Snow King Resort in Jackson Hole – which will be converted and expanded into a 203-room ski-in/ski-out mountain destination – marking the vehicle’s first investment. The Mendocino property, known as Hill House at Trailborn Mendocino, is a 93-room cliffside campus on the Northern California coast, scheduled to open in spring 2026. Trailborn Jackson Hole is expected to follow in summer 2026.
The brand currently operates five properties: Trailborn Rocky Mountains and Trailborn Rocky Mountains Outpost in Estes Park, Colorado; Trailborn Highlands in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains; Trailborn Surf & Sound in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina; and Trailborn Grand Canyon in Williams, Arizona. In October 2025, Trailborn became a founding member of the Outdoor Collection by Marriott Bonvoy, giving it access to Marriott’s global distribution network while remaining an independently operated brand.
“Paul is a proven leader with a deep understanding of how to scale operations without compromising guest experience or culture,” said Weiss and Weinberg in a joint statement. “As we enter our next chapter with larger, more complex resort-style properties, Paul’s operational rigour, track record of achieving top guest satisfaction, and passion for hospitality make him the ideal partner to help us build enduring systems and empower our on-property teams.”
The appointment reflects Trailborn’s focus on strengthening its corporate infrastructure ahead of what will be a defining period of growth, as two of its most complex and commercially significant properties come online within months of each other.
