How a hotel manager worked her way to the top of the Grand Hyatt Atlanta

When Buckhead’s Hotel Nikko became the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in 1997, Kristi Cotten-Morris’ hospitality career was just getting started.

Now, as general manager of the luxury hotel, she oversees 145 employees and nearly 440 rooms. After 30 years in the industry, managing through roles at 12 Hyatt properties, multiple renovation projects and a pandemic, she has learned the value of listening. She also prizes diversity, collaboration and challenging yourself to grow.

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“The role of a general manager, it’s ever evolving” she said. “You’re really balancing the needs of the business, the needs of the colleagues, the needs of the stakeholders, the ownership groups, the guests, so it’s kind of all encompassing.”

Her interest in hospitality began as a child traveling for gymnastics competitions, which came with a lot of hotel stays.

“It seemed like a really cool career,” she said. “You were making people feel comfortable away from home and that resonated with me.”

There are 2.1 million people who work in the hotel industry across the U.S., according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association, which established Sept. 1 as National Hotel Employee Day.

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Over the years, Cotten-Morris’ job has taken her from Georgia to Maryland, Texas, California and Pennsylvania before returning to Atlanta to open the Hyatt Centric Buckhead in December 2021 and taking the helm of the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in September 2023.

She arrived at the Grand Hyatt just in time for an 18-month renovation project, which was completed in April 2025. In addition to revamped guest rooms, the redesign includes an easier-to-find front desk and a 24-hour market in the lobby.

“A lot of the touches … really speak to what the customer told us they want,” Cotten-Morris said. “It’s not just to do a renovation to make it look better, but how do we make it really functional and how do we make it special?’”

It’s listening — and acting with care, as she put it — that is arguably the most valuable lesson she’s learned on the job.

When it comes to the guest experience, that means understanding what’s important in any given moment, like finding a quiet room for a weary traveler or replacing a broken bottle of cologne.

But it was the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020 — in which more than 680,000 employees at U.S. hotels lost their jobs — that really underscored the importance of listening and acting with care.

“Sometimes you can just be a good listener because you can’t fix everything,” Cotten-Morris said. “I couldn’t fix having those conversations [about job loss] … but just being human and an active listener and empathizing and doing what we could to support, I think that made me a better leader, having gone through that.”

She believes the increase of women in leadership is one of the most significant changes in the hospitality industry in the last 30 years. Hyatt Hotels Corp.’s 10-person executive team at its headquarters in Chicago now includes three female leaders: Joan Bottarini, chief financial officer; Kristin Oliver, chief human resources officer; and Margaret Egan, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary.

Cotten-Morris says diversity allows for different voices and perspectives when people collaborate.

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Her advice to young women starting out in the hospitality industry is to find people that challenge you to embrace opportunities, even if you think you aren’t ready or it may be outside your immediate responsibilities. A bonus: Pushing yourself through uncomfortable moments fuels growth.

“In terms of my leadership, it’s being a good listener, being empathetic, but also challenging people in a way to maybe see a part of themselves that they don’t normally see for themselves,” she said. “Through the years, I’ve had a lot of influential people in my Hyatt career and I want to be that person to my employees and then really invest in their future.”

AJC Her+Story is a new series in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution highlighting women founders, creators, executives and professionals. It is about building a community. Know someone the AJC should feature in AJC Her+Story? Email us at herstory@ajc.com with your suggestions. Check out all of our AJC Her+Story coverage at ajc.com/herstory.

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Lisa Lacy

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