Hotel: Any advice on finding an experienced operator?

[Cody L.]

A buddy of mine is purching a few hotels.  All of them are vacant, non flagged.   He wants me to go in on the deal with him but I told him I couldn't do much more than write a check and help with financing.  I also told him that I'd only go in on the deal if he brought in someone with experience in not just running a hotel, but taking something from nearly ground up to operational  (i.e., hookups with where to get all the furnishings, contacts with designers, know how to get a hotel flagged, etc.).  

He asked "Where can I find someone like that".  I said "hell if I know.  I'm just a lowly class C apt guy.  But if you find one, I'll invest with you".

Anyway, then I thought "why not ask on BP".   So here ya go.  I don't do much in the way of asking questions but I am curious where you might find someone like that.  I figured sites like indeed will mostly have job seekers (like hotel people that have worked behind the desk, not on a higher operations level).  Then I thought I could smile and dial and 'steal' someone from an existing hotel.  Or heck, maybe someone on BP is or knows someone.

This is in Houston (though I'm in San Diego).  The two hotels come to about 600 doors.