�A.J. has a long history of successfully managing major hotels that, like the Riverside, serve the local community and visitors alike,� said Bob Van Fleet, President of The Las Olas Company Inc., which owns the Riverside Hotel.

�It is an honor to have the opportunity to manage a landmark hotel in the heart of one of the country�s most exciting cities,� said Jabbour. �The hotel is beautiful and ideally located and I am impressed by the staff�s professionalism and commitment to guest services.�

Jabbour said his plans for the future include expanding the marketing efforts of the hotel and its first-class facilities to corporate clients and to the community at large.

�The Riverside Hotel has a great potential to meet the needs and expectations of the corporate market and to be the location of choice for our community�s many prestigious social events,� Jabbour said.

Jabbour comes to the Riverside Hotel from Tenafly, N.J., where he was regional manager for Concord Hospitality, with responsibility for three hotels, and general manager of the Clinton Inn Hotel. Prior to that, he held various managerial positions at four prestigious Omni Hotels�the Parker House in Boston, the Omni Park Central and Omni Berkshire Place in New York City and the Omni Marquette, a preferred hotel, in Minneapolis. Before joining Omni, he was general manager for the Winegardner & Hammons Inc. hotel chain based in Blue Ash, Ohio.

Jabbour added that he intends to be active in local community organizations as he has been in the other cities where he has worked. Most recently, he was president of the Chamber of Commerce of Tenafly and a mayoral appointee to the board of Tenafly Downtown Revitalization. He is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in hotel administration. He and his wife, Pam, have a son Patrick, 14.

The Riverside Hotel, which opened in 1936 and has undergone extensive expansion, renovation and modernization, is the only hotel serving downtown Fort Lauderdale. It is situated at the juncture of the Las Olas shopping and entertainment district and downtown�s office and residential skyscrapers and convenient to the airport, seaport and Fort Lauderdale�s famous beaches.

A recent $25 million expansion and renovation project, including the addition of a new 12-story Executive Tower, expands the Riverside�s meeting and banquet facilities to more than 11,000 square feet and guest capacity to 221 penthouse suites, suites and rooms.