Last month, Charlestowne Hotels named Tom Roman as its new vice president of food and beverage. With more than 20 years of leadership experience shaping F&B programs across the United States and Mexico, Roman brings a wealth of knowledge to the role after previously leading F&B operations for Life House/Lark Hospitality. He credits each step in his career—from Tao Group and PUBLIC to Castlerock and Life House—with sharpening his skills and adding tools he’s ready to use at Charlestowne.
“Each step added a new layer of perspective and capability,” Roman said. “Today, in my role at Charlestowne, I feel I bring a full toolkit—operations, strategy, and concept development—and I’m grateful for the path that’s prepared me to lead at the VP level.”
As he steps into this role, Roman’s “focus is on properties and the people running them.” He believes strong relationships with employees are essential because earning their trust and respect creates teams that work together toward efficiency and success. Roman wants to “make it clear that I’m an extension of the operations team” when connecting with those on property. Roman also plans to “align on scalable systems that make our operators’ lives easier and our business stronger. For example, standardizing labor and inventory management platforms and choosing the right partners who provide the right tools and support will give us consistency across the portfolio, reduce inefficiencies, and set the stage for growth.”
Crafting the F&B Experience
Food and beverage plays a central role in Charlestowne’s guest experience, which is something Roman will now help shape. One of the company’s core principles is to “Obsess Over Guests,” a value rooted in creating hospitality that makes people feel welcome at every touchpoint. For Charlestowne, that means bringing hospitality to life through flavor, programming, and a sense of community that naturally unfolds when people gather around the table, according to Roman.
As an integral part of those guest journeys, Roman said, “My role is to ensure this philosophy is embraced by our teams and carried through in every service. That means welcoming each guest as if into our own home and delivering experiences where food and drink transcend the transaction to become lasting memories.”
To bring these experiences to life, Charlestowne focuses on creating food and beverage offerings that feel authentic and share each property’s story. Although he’s only been with Charlestowne for a short time, Roman has already found that “authenticity isn’t a buzzword here.” He added, “Authenticity and uniqueness go hand in hand; they should feel natural, not forced or overengineered.”
Regarding the part his new position plays in ensuring each food and beverage outlet seamlessly fits into its location, Roman continued, “My approach is to identify what’s missing in a market, what void can we authentically fill, and design food and beverage concepts that connect to that place, whether physically through local flavors and partnerships or metaphorically through storytelling and experience. At the same time, my role is to ensure that while each property feels distinctly its own, the service, culture, and operational standards consistently reflect Charlestowne’s values and commitment.”
Roman pointed toward partnerships as a powerful way to connect with guests and help create genuine, memorable experiences that feel fresh and exciting. “There’s an opportunity to leverage brand partnerships that align with our values, tapping into their reach and credibility within specific communities to extend our own,” he said.
Even with strong food and beverage programming in place, Roman explained there’s always room to innovate and find new ways to surprise guests and deliver fresh, exciting experiences. Charlestowne innovates by “leaning deeper into creativity and distinction across our portfolio,” Roman said. “It’s about moving away from playing it safe and instead offering experiences that truly surprise and delight our guests. Activations like bar and kitchen takeovers are a great example; they bring fresh energy, local talent, and a sense of discovery that resonates in many of our markets.”
Innovation, however, “depends on our people,” Roman elaborated. “By investing in how we onboard and train, through tools like an LMS platform, we can give our teams the confidence and consistency to deliver these creative ideas at the highest level. Innovation and relevance will set us apart, but only if our teams are empowered to bring them to life.”
Key Trends to Watch
In an ever-changing food and beverage landscape, choosing which trends to follow is exponentially important. Roman shared, “I think we’ll continue to see chef-driven concepts leading the pack, especially in smaller markets, where rising talent can build something authentic and lasting.” Another trend Roman believes the industry will see is service models evolving to focus more on what’s timely and relevant for guests.
However, success in this new position for Roman comes down to much more than following trends. “Ultimately, the real trend is about creating moments that move people: not contrived or forced, but natural, meaningful, and cool in a way you feel the second you arrive,” he explained. “And underpinning it all, I hope we see the industry finally align on fair, sustainable wages for frontline staff, because even the most innovative concepts depend on empowered teams to bring them to life.”