Soyuzivka's new management staff optimistic about resort's renaissance (03/23/03)

Soyuzivka's new management staff optimistic about resort's renaissance

by Andrew Nynka

KERHONKSON, N.Y. - Tasked with spearheading the recently unveiled Soyuzivka Project Renaissance - a project aimed at renovating and revitalizing the Ukrainian National Association's Soyuzivka estate - members of the resort's new management staff, who bring to the table over 36 years of combined experience working in major American resorts and hotels, appear positive and determined about Soyuzivka's future.

Setting that tone as the newly appointed director of hospitality services at the resort is Nestor Paslawsky who, despite the difficult circumstances he faces in his job, appears optimistic about his mission to revitalize the resort. A 45-year-old from Ramsey, N.J., Mr. Paslawsky has made a career of helping financially troubled hotels regain their footing.

Mr. Paslawsky's career in the hotel industry is specifically well-suited to help reinvigorate the historic resort, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in November 2002.

His previous work at three other hotels, ones he described as financially troubled or bankrupt, is good experience for his new role, he said recently in an interview conducted in his cramped Soyuzivka office located just off of a newly repainted Main House lobby.

His work in the hotel industry has taken him from working under fellow hotelier and Ukrainian Orest Fedash - Mr. Fedash is well-known in the Ukrainian community as the executive general manager of the Ramada Hotel in East Hanover, N.J. - to working as the director of sales and marketing at the Sheraton Hotel in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.

With a map of the resort and nearby Minniwaska State Park hanging on a wall near his desk, Mr. Paslawsky said inefficiency had hurt the resort in the past. "We have so much here that we're not utilizing," he explained.

Pointing to the map on the wall, he said the resort uses a small amount of its property and has not capitalized on its location - only miles from the myriad hiking trails and scenic vistas of Minniwaska State Park.

In an effort to expand Soyuzivka's usable property, Mr. Paslawsky said the resort is beginning a project to clear and mark wilderness trails on the grounds that, additionally, could be linked with the Minniwaska State Park trail network.

"We're going to build on small successes," Mr. Paslawsky said. "We're going to move ahead and focus on the positives." Doing so, he added, would allow him to become more aggressive in rebuilding the resort.

"There's so much more we can do here," Mr. Paslawsky said, referring to the resort and his staff. According to Mr. Paslawsky the resort is currently completely re-evaluating its food services and by May will have an à la carte restaurant.

In updating Soyuzivka's food services Mr. Paslawsky will rely on his head chef and banquet manager. A 1995 graduate from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Andrij Sonevytsky has spent the past eight years working full time at Soyuzivka and has been at the resort part time from 1982 to 1995.

Mr. Paslawsky seems intent on challenging his 40-year-old head chef. Born in New York City, and a 17-year member of the Ukrainian band Vodohrai, Mr. Sonevytsky appears excited about the changes. He has on numerous occasions shown his ability to handle large weddings, boisterous summer camps and, most recently, an intimate Valentine's Day gathering done with an à la carte menu.

Mr. Sonevytsky's education at the CIA included stints honing his skills in two renowned New York City restaurants, namely, Tribeca Grill - a restaurant owned by Oscar-winning actor Robert DeNiro in partnership with noted restaurateur Drew Nieporent, and Tribeca's famous and award-winning Montrachet, a classic French restaurant also owned by Mr. Nieporent. (Celebrity investors in the Tribeca Grill include Bill Murray, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Sean Penn, Ed Harris, Lou Diamond Philips and Christopher Walken.)

Other staffers of the new management at Soyuzivka also bring to the UNA resort a wealth of knowledge of the hotel and resort industries, plus an intimate familiarity with Soyuzivka.

Taking over many of the duties of the front office is Olesia Guran. Born in Indiana and raised in Rochester, N.Y., Ms. Guran has assumed the duties of reservations, front-desk manager, sales and advertising, and she will also be involved in coordinating the resort's activities program.

Ms. Guran's family owns a chain of Best Western hotels in Florida where, working in the family business, she learned many of the responsibilities and functions of running a hotel. She brings to Soyuzivka her experience as a director of sales and marketing at Best Western.

Ms. Guran moved to Florida from California in order to rejoin her family on the East Coast. She said the move to Soyuzivka was the result of her wish to rejoin the Ukrainian community she was once a part of as a past employee of Soyuzivka some years ago.

Sonia Semanyshyn, who has been with Soyuzivka since 1989, has assumed a new position as manager of accounting and back-office operations. The move relieves some of the numerous responsibilities Ms. Semanyshyn dealt with prior to the staff changes. It will also allow her to focus more directly on her new responsibilities, Ms. Semanyshyn said.

Daria Nyzankiwsky has taken the role of Soyuzivka operations manager, in charge of maintenance and housekeeping. Ms. Nyzankiwsky worked at Soyuzivka for nearly four and a half years before moving to the nearby Nevele resort in 2000 where, as the director of housekeeping, she managed a staff of nearly 90 people.

Prior to 1996 Ms. Nyzankiwsky worked in hotels in West Point and Roslyn, N.Y., and spent six and a half years working in the hotel industry in Cancun, Mexico.

Her work in the hotel industry, and specifically at the Nevele resort, which was conducting various renovations at the time, taught her how to manage guest needs while working within a resort undergoing renovations and improvements - a situation Ms. Nyzankiwsky said she foresees at Soyuzivka.

Sitting in his office at the resort, Mr. Paslawsky described his vision for Soyuzivka. He said the need to improve the resort is urgent in order to entice guests, but he understands the burden that doing so could be on the UNA's financial situation. Within that framework, Mr. Paslawsky said, "we must take the pressures off of the UNA - reducing expenses and increasing revenues."

"It's difficult for a guest to spend money here," Mr. Paslawsky said. "We need to increase activities, service and cleanliness. The idea is to come in and make noticeable changes, to show them [guests] honest changes and energize everyone for the next phase."

Mr. Paslawsky described many of these changes as incremental, building slowly from one to the next while at the same time reinvigorating not only the resort, but its clientele.

Mr. Paslawsky is looking for individuals to help clear wilderness trails on Soyuzivka grounds. Anyone interested in helping on April 12-13, the weekend designated for this project, should contact the resort by phone at (845) 626-5641.

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