Hotel manager brings international flavor, sustainability to Oak Brook Hills

Stefan Muhle was born and raised in Berlin, Germany, an international city that helped feed his spirit for travel.

In fact, the new general manager of the Hilton Chicago/Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center has traveled to all the continents except one. He hasn't yet been to Antarctica. But don't rule it out just yet, said Muhle, 48.

He's been educated in Germany, Switzerland and the United States, and traveled the world, even after he married and had a baby. When his daughter was 2 1/2, they bundled her up and took her on a cruise, hike and train ride through South America.

He was also a foreign exchange student, staying with a Mormon family in Northern California, he said.

"Growing up in Berlin during the Reagan era, I was a rebel a little bit and ended up with a conservative family in California," he said. "It taught me a lot about their religion and tolerance and I loved the experience. After I left, the family had 19 more exchange students stay with them and I still keep in touch with them."

The host family's connection to a local congressman also brought them all to Washington, D.C. during the holiday season in 1982, he said. That was his first opportunity to get a private tour of the White House, the Capital Building and all the monuments.

"I didn't want to leave," he said.

When he returned to Berlin, he finished high school and wanted to go back to America. But his family encouraged him to decide what he wanted to do for a career and if he wanted to further his education. He then did an internship and an apprenticeship in Switzerland and Germany before earning bachelor's degrees in hotel and restaurant administration cum laude as well as in business administration with an option in marketing, both at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash.

His first major hotel job was at The Drake in Chicago, where he met and later married his wife, Betsy. After a few years, they decided to work for a vineyard and some hotels in California.

One of the companies he had worked for, Portfolio Hotels & Resorts, at first, wanted him to run the former Amalfi Hotel in Chicago, which was being renamed the Kinzie Hotel. It had finished its rehab projects and the company instead thought of Muhle for the Oak Brook Hills property, which Portfolio was going to remake into a Hilton hotel franchise.

The Oak Brook Hills hotel needed a lot of updating, and Muhle stayed on the property for a few days to look around last March.

"I wanted to get it active in the community again, to give it soul again," he said.

The hotel has since been undergoing a $10 million improvement project. The Oak Brook Hills property has 348 rooms, 38 suites, two swimming pools, banquet and meeting rooms, as well as 150 acres with a golf club.

"The resort had disappeared from the community's radar for many years," Muhle said. "I'm a boutique hotel operator at heart, with brand experience, and this combination is a solid basis for jump-starting community relations again. The resort is locally owned and operated, using the Hilton brand to help spread the good word. But in essence, we're a local business."

He said for about 10 years, he focused on "greening" the industry, not just the properties he managed, but using those hotels as "blue prints for sustainability efforts in the industry in general."

He's planning an Audubon tie-in for the golf course; a butterfly sanctuary; bird watching; bee hives and chef's garden.

Over 18 months of renovations, the property plans to have a chlorine-free pool, use sustainable materials, operate biodiesel transportation/vans; recycle, and use LED lighting.

"California is fairly trendsetting, and I am planning on using that knowledge to build upon our current setup here at the resort," he said.

Anderson to be honored

Becky Anderson, owner of Anderson's Bookshops in Naperville and Downers Grove, is being honored by her alma mater, North Central College, with its 2014 Outstanding Alumni Award. Anderson and four others will be honored during the college's Homecoming Reunion Celebration on Oct. 18 at the college. Anderson is a 1982 graduate of North Central and has been an independent book retailer who has promoted the importance of reading and value of book publishing. Her stores regularly attract authors, who make appearances and sign books.

Culver to talk with chambers

Craig Culver, founder of Culver's restaurants, will speak to members of the Bartlett, Batavia, Elgin, Geneva, St. Charles, and Western DuPage Chambers of Commerce during their first Fox River Luncheon & Business-to-Business Expo on Wednesday at 11 a.m. at the Eagle Brook Country Club, 2288 Fargo Blvd., Geneva. So why isn't the speech being done at one of his own Culver's restaurants? The expo required a bigger venue, a spokeswoman said.

FastTracks

McDonald's President and CEO Don Thompson of McDonald's in Oak Brook was one of several CEOs speaking at the UN Climate Summit last week at the invitation of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. ... Anne Pramaggiore of Barrington, president and CEO of ComEd, was honored last week at St. Joseph College Seminary with the Rerum Novarum Award.

Christina Chiamas and Sheila Andriola, co-owners of Inspire Salon in Bloomingdale, plan a grand opening on Monday. They opened the salon in June. ... Dan Timm, sales associates with Century 21 Kreuser & Seiler in Libertyville has earned the Century 21 System's Centurion Producer Award, for dedication to quality customer service and production. ... Ryan Lehman of Woodridge is a new project engineer at Oak Brook-based Krusinski Construction Co.

Chief Operating Officer Nancy Mueller at Zurich North America in Schaumburg has been named a Women in Insurance Leadership winner for 2014 by Insurance Networking News. Mueller will be formally presented the award at the 7th annual Women in Insurance Leadership Forum on Oct. 20-21 in Chicago. ... Michael L. Lauzon of Barrington Hills is the new vice president of client services and business development for Healthcare Business Consultants Inc. in Oak Brook.

Steve Spinell, principal of Chicago-based Kinzie Real Estate Group, said Kinzie has been tapped by Chicago-based Reva Development Partners to serve as general contractor and leasing/property manager for Northgate Crossing in Wheeling. ... John P. Calamos Sr. of Naperville-based Calamos Investments will be a speaker at the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce's economic forecast event at the Hotel Arista in Naperville on Oct. 24.

Daniel Schmitz has been appointed vice president of loan origination and Kenneth Schutter has been named senior vice president-credit director at Oak Brook-based Inland Mortgage Capital LLC. ... Beth Gaucher has joined the DuPage Convention & Visitors Bureau in Oak Brook as its new partner relations manager.

Michael S. Krzak of Elmhurst and partner at Clifford Law Offices has been invited as a faculty member to the annual American Bar Association program, "A Global View: What's New in Aviation and Space Law - Litigation in the U.S. and Abroad." The program includes speakers from around the country who concentrate their practice in aviation litigation. ... Scott Leavitt, who was born and raised in Buffalo Grove, joins the marketing team at Unity Hospira of Chicagoland. He previously worked at Stericycle of Northbrook. ... Patent attorney Monique Morneault has joined the team of intellectual property lawyers at Scherrer Patent & Trademark Law P.C. of Crystal Lake.

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