Meet Our Team

At its best, travel should challenge our preconceptions and most cherished views, cause us to rethink our assumptions, shake us a bit, make us broader minded and more understanding.” –Arthur Frommer

A trusted advisor to her clients and to leaders in the luxury travel industry, JoAnn Kurtz-Ahlers brings a holistic view to the travel destinations and cultural riches that lie behind the world’s Hidden Doorways.

Kurtz-Ahlers, president and founder of Hidden Doorways Travel Collection, has twice appeared on Travel Agent Magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women in Travel” list and been selected as one of Meeting News’ “25 Most Influential People.”

Before founding Hidden Doorways, Kurtz-Ahlers worked for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. During her 15 years with the company, she was the first woman executive named vice president of sales and marketing, leading the Ritz-Carlton’s 11 global sales offices and supporting the development of properties from 5 when she joined the company to 62 properties when she left. In addition, she worked in new developments in Europe and the Middle East, including properties in Egypt, Dubai, Qatar, Turkey and Spain.

Kurtz-Ahlers and Associates was founded in 2002 and re-branded in 2018 as Hidden Doorways. One of the company’s early, and lasting, points of distinction has been its competency in connecting niche, luxury properties in emerging countries with adventurous, affluent travelers.

Today, Kurtz-Ahlers is a familiar figure at the world’s most influential industry events, including ILTM in Cannes, LE Miami and PURE in Morocco. On dates in between, she can be found visiting the world’s most remote destinations — or at home in Dana Point, California.

“With age comes wisdom. With travel comes understanding.”  -Sandra Lake.

Denise’s affection for the hospitality industry began during her college days working summer jobs in resorts on the coast of Maine.  As her fascination with hotels grew, so did her career and wanderlust.  Her successive roles within the high-touch, luxury hotel segment led her from Maine to Maui, then Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and now Dallas.  Over the past 25+ years, Denise has worked with iconic brands such as Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and has been privileged to travel the world sharing and discovering properties with clients, many of whom have become cherished friends.  Her entrepreneurial spirit and collaborative approach has enabled her to strategically engage with both internal and external colleagues alike .

When not immersed in the world of hospitality, she can be found with friends and family, especially her twin middle school daughters, and enjoying food and wine.

“Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport.” -Anonymous

Farimah Parang draws upon 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry, of which 12 years have been working at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. During which she has held numerous positions in addition to Western Regional Director of Travel Industry Sales and Marketing. As a result, she has established strong, personal relationships with key travel agencies and wholesalers throughout the western United States, priceless assets in an industry where relationships are the key to success.

Farimah is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Farsi and having lived 17 years in Paris has given her a thirst for culture and shopping French style! Argentinian Tango and Flamenco dance are her passions. Paragliding in Oman, Scuba diving in The Maldives, Co-Piloting a Cessna in Kooh Kood, Thailand, Elephant Polo in India, horseback safari in Kenya are to name a few of her most memorable adventures.

“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher

Maureen began her career in the hospitality industry 18 years ago selling various markets and has specialized in the travel industry since 2007.  She possesses a strong sales foundation and level of professionalism that she consistently attributes to her tenure with respected hotels brands such as Park Hyatt and Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.

Having represented hotels, resorts, safari camps, DMCs and other global luxury travel products around the world, Maureen’s wanderlust grows with every passing day.  If she isn’t traveling, she is taking advantage of everything San Francisco has to offer from its bountiful farmer’s markets to its world-class restaurants and bars and, of course, wine country!

Patrick has been active in the hospitality industry for 34 years and has held various positions with Hyatt, followed by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company in Washington, DC and London, including director of sales at the UK Regional office. After relocating to New York in 1999, Patrick was appointed director of sales at the Waldorf Towers, New York. In 2004, Patrick moved back to Orlando where he began his career in the representation field and worked with many hotels and resorts around the world. Patrick joined Hidden Doorways in 2008, focusing on Six Senses Resorts & Spas. In 2011, Patrick began working with the entire Hidden Doorways collection and has done so ever since, handling the Southeast and Southwest luxury travel trade. Patrick has extensive management, sales and marketing experience and brings experience in incentive, transient, entertainment and wholesale markets to the Hidden Doorways team.

In his spare time, Patrick loves spending time with his husband either at the beach or at their cabin in the Asheville area. He also likes spending time with his family and friends, which includes so many of the travel professionals he has been working with for years.

“Travel brings power and love back into your life.”- Rumi

Rachel is driven by her passion for travel and discovery. British-born with a nomadic spirit, her travels brought her to New York in 2000, where she helped open two high-profile restaurants and Bottega Veneta’s flagship store for Gucci group.

Prior to joining Hidden Doorways, Rachel spent five years at Design Hotels as Director of Sales, Americas, handling all leisure and entertainment sales for a global portfolio of independent, boutique hotels. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two intrepid sons. She loves to craft experiences for her clients and friends.

“There are no bad spas, only bad matches.” – Mel Zuckerman, Founder of Canyon Ranch

Having grown up in a fitness-focused environment, it is no wonder Scott’s life pursuits have been centered on health and well-being. Prior to entering the luxury travel business, Scott spent 20 years coaching women’s gymnastics at two of the top collegiate programs in the country: UCLA and the University of Georgia. When the time came for a career change, he knew it must still center on helping others better themselves. This led him to Canyon Ranch in Tucson, Arizona. After 15 years, Scott learned all aspects of the destination spa business with a focus on selling the wellness experience to travel professionals. In 2010, he began his current position overseeing the Wellness Collection for Hidden Doorways. The past eight years of representing wellness properties all over the world have been some of the most rewarding of his career. His favorite part of his job is to match the right property with the right client.

“We travel not to escape life but for life to not escape us.” -Anonymous

Stephanie has always had three passions in life: love of family, travel and living life to the fullest. Her love for adventure and exploring the unknown began while growing up in the rugged Pacific Northwest, spending every weekend with her family on the nearby ski slopes, biking or boating around Lake Washington or discovering the beauty of the San Juan Islands. Family vacations were planned sightseeing and skiing in beautiful British Columbia, Canada, on the beach under sunny skies in Hawaii and Southern California or shopping the streets of San Francisco.

Spending a semester abroad in London as a college student with weekend trips throughout Europe only further fostered her desire to have a career in which travel was a key component. After graduation, Stephanie spent her formative years with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, transitioning to Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, where she spent over a decade traveling internationally while focusing on the corporate, group and entertainment markets. The best part of working in worldwide sales is the relationships she’s managed to cultivate over the years, ensuring clients get the most up-to-date, exceptional experiences that exist. Her love of different cultures, food and people creates the perfect relationship with clients worldwide, and her life in Southern California affords Stephanie the ability to continue to be curious and enjoy the latest new restaurant, film or sporting event with her family.

“You never really travel alone. The world is full of friends waiting to get to know you.”

Dori is a New Yorker at heart and understands the most valuable commodity anyone has is time. Her work ethic is strong and tells it like it is — always with a sense of fun!

A desire for personal growth and a willingness to “roll up her sleeves” allow Dori to see things with an eye for precision and detail that ultimately led her to work for some of the finest, most exclusive hotels in Beverly Hills. Dori is always inspired by five-diamond service as well as the prospect of developing new relationships along the way. Dori’s background consists of working in Los Angeles for hotels such as Hotel Bel-Air, The Peninsula Beverly Hills and The Beverly Hills Hotel, where she looked after the needs of clients who included major Hollywood stars, music industry professionals and top executives. Managing some of the most demanding clients in travel gave her an excellent foundation for the needs of high-end luxury travelers and those who work with them. Dori currently resides in Tampa with her husband and two children.

Throughout his career, Andrew Martell has helped dozens of independent destinations define their voice, articulate their values, and market their products. Equal parts brand strategist and visual storyteller, Andrew always looks to uncover the unexpected details and uncommon experiences that bring a place to life.

For over a decade, Andrew led marketing, communication, and branding efforts for a sales and marketing hospitality industry firm and its global roster of hospitality clients. As the firm’s Vice President of Branding & Creative, he helped spearhead industry promotional efforts for some of the world’s most respected hotels, tour operators, and tourism boards. He most recently served as Lead Strategist for a boutique creative agency, managing communication campaigns, brand positioning, and identity design projects for a variety of accounts in real estate, fashion, and retail.

A graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Andrew developed a passion for travel following a semester abroad in Milan, Italy. He counts his experiences caving in Belize, floating in the Dead Sea, getting lost in the Medina of Marrakesh, and stargazing while on safari in South Africa among his most memorable adventures. He currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two young sons.

“Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.” -Anonymous

Growing up in a family heavily immersed in aerospace, Jordan spent a large portion of her childhood on planes, traveling the world, visiting prestigious hotels and restaurants. These moments established her deep appreciation for unique hospitality experiences.

Building upon that foundation, Jordan spent the last decade as a marketing professional heavily immersed within the world of hospitality through entities such as Proper, Fairmont, Malibu Beach Inn, Marriott, Design Hotels, Virtuoso, and Leading Hotels of the World.

She’s also highly seasoned in food and beverage through her involvement with Jessica Koslow, Gabriela Cámara, Suzanne Goin, One Gun Ranch, MML Hospitality, Conde Nast, Eater, and more. Simultaneously, her time spent spearheading partnerships has expanded her experience into conglomerations such as Nike, lululemon, Goop, Kelly Wearstler, SouCycle, Le Labo, and The Getty.

Now, Jordan uses her wide array of experiences to contribute to the team as a highly equipped, multifaceted creative who specializes in marketing, content creation, and branding.

“Travel is most rewarding when it ceases to be about your reaching a destination, and becomes indistinguishable from living your life.” –Paul Theroux

Sandy’s passion for travel began as a young girl forever engrossed in books that took her on adventures to places she only dreamed of seeing. She was captivated and intrigued with cultures, geography and life abroad. At 13, she had visions of somehow making a difference in the world. These passions led to a fruitful career in the travel industry, now having spent time in 46 US states, traveled to 30 different countries and assisted in humanitarian efforts in five countries through local nonprofit organizations.

Sandy began her career in travel when she joined The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company in 1996 as the corporate key account and tradeshow manager. She worked directly with the executive committee, worldwide hotel staff and international sales offices to establish select client relationships in all travel markets. Her principal focus was organizing tradeshows, road shows, client entertainment functions and various special events. She developed strong relationships within the association and travel industry markets, including corporation affiliates throughout the United States.

Since 2002, she has been the director of operations for Hidden Doorways, managing internal activities, budgets and communication to coincide with direct sales efforts on a tactical and strategical basis for the team and clients.

In her spare time, Sandy loves spending time with her husband hiking, kayaking and traveling the world, or riding the motorcycle in her own backyard of the North Georgia mountains. If missing, she is usually visiting one of her three adult children. She is still a passionate reader, loves to write and paint and, more often than not, you will find her behind a camera lens – her second passion, which beautifully captures her experiences traveling the world.

“Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life.” – Michael Palin

Judi began her hospitality career at the young age of 12 working odd jobs at her father’s hotel in South Florida. This experience led her to obtain a degree in Hospitality Management from Florida International University and then Management Training with Westin Hotels. Her love for the industry began a year later when she accepted a Catering/Conference Services Manager at the Flagship Ritz-Carlton Buckhead working for none other than JoAnn Kurtz-Ahlers. Judi has held several positions in the industry. She has traveled the globe, and lived in places she would never have expected. Traveling with her family is truly a highlight, and her children take after her with a wanderlust for adventure.  Her second passion is cooking. Judi loves learning about the science of food, and tries to fit in a cooking class or two whenever she is wandering abroad.

Having lived in Australia and the Middle East, Chris certainly has had the travel bug and seen different destinations and cultures firsthand. He has worked in some guise of the hospitality industry all his life, having gained hotel experience working for De Vere Hotels prior to moving into food service and the bar and restaurant industry. This saw a 12-year career in procurement roles for companies such as the Compass Group in the UK, Europe and the Middle East, where he developed his strong negotiation and interpersonal skills and saw different working cultures throughout the world. Of late, he has had his eyes opened to Latin America and is now looking to explore farther afield to add to his travel knowledge. He joined Justine in the Hidden Doorways UK office in 2010, helping grow the UK operation and gain a better family life-work balance at the same time.

With a strong interest in food and drink from both a professional and personal perspective, he has been lucky enough to combine the two through travel. He plays cricket and golf when family time allows and has recently taken up road cycling. Weekends, he can also be found helping coach his son’s rugby and cricket teams and supporting his daughter’s love of horse riding.

An inquisitive nature and very “itchy feet” from an early age showed that Justine was destined to travel. She left a career in banking to take up a position at Thomas Cook Holidays, where she worked for 15 years, latterly holding the position of head of sales and marketing. Upon moving to Dubai, Justine joined The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, where she looked after travel industry sales for the Middle Eastern region, before transferring back to London as director of travel industry sales, promoting to the UK market Ritz-Carlton properties worldwide. A growing passion for sustainability, well-being and more diverse destinations led Justine to join Hidden Doorways in 2008 to set up the London office. A love of nature, other cultures and food has taken her to many destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe and recently Latin America.

A keen horse-rider, cyclist, decorator/gardener and lover of the great outdoors (when she has the time), Justine lives in the countryside, a few miles outside of Cambridge, where she shares her thatched cottage (a labour of love), with Chris, her two beautiful children, two Hungarian Vizslas, two horses, and a tortoise.

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” -Henry Miller

Cris started her career in luxury hospitality while earning her college degree. After 12 years in positions in operations, sales and marketing in global-brand hotels, she started representing Four Seasons George V Paris in Brazil, a kickoff for worldwide traveling and her passion for exclusive hotels. Cris has been with Hidden Doorways for more than six years, during which time she has gained a true sense of connection to different cultures and languages, ultimately shortening distances no matter how remote the destination. Cris loves nature and sports, especially hiking and biking, as well as reading and watching films.

A Mexican native, Ana Cerna was captivated by the rich tapestry of global cultures and the art of hospitality. This passion has defined her career, which has spanned over 20 years in the luxury hospitality industry. Ana began her journey at Hilton, advancing through prestigious roles at the Guadalajara Conventions and Visitors Bureau, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, and Baha Mar in the Bahamas, where she played a crucial role in expanding their international reach and enhancing sales across Europe and Latin America.

Fluent in Spanish and English, Ana has dedicated her career to bridging cultural divides and bringing world-class hospitality to diverse markets. Her passion for travel extends beyond her professional endeavors, enriching her appreciation for global cultures and cuisines.

In her role as a Sales Consultant for Hidden Doorways, Ana leverages her expertise to represent our collection of unique luxury properties in the Mexican market.

Ana lives with her family in Florida, where she embraces every opportunity to travel with her teenage daughter, continuously enhancing her understanding and love for the diverse landscapes of global hospitality.