FRANCES ALICIA LALAS
Frances Lalas is a creative, entrepreneurial operations and membership leader with 10+ years of experience across hospitality, luxury travel, property development, and management consulting. She is known for thriving in complex, fast-moving environments - often with limited resources and high expectations - where she quickly builds trust, develops strong cross-functional relationships, and delivers high-touch, design-led experiences.
Her work spans hotel and resort development, cultural programming, real estate and residential concepts, nonprofit restructuring, and membership community building. She excels in customer experience strategy, operational design, brand voice, storytelling, and creating cohesive, human-centered journeys that deepen engagement and elevate service culture.
At Virgin Group in New York, Frances helped design the proposition and customer experience model for a new residential membership community, creating a wellness- and community-focused journey map and service blueprint. Prior to that, she served as Executive Director at Faena Hotels & Residences in Miami Beach, overseeing operations, arts and culture programming, and member engagement for the Faena District’s residential properties and Faena Rose, its private cultural members club.
Before Miami, Frances spent several years in Mendoza, Argentina, where she served as Vice President at The Vines of Mendoza. She played a key role in developing and opening The Vines Resort & Spa - named a Leading Hotels of the World property and recently ranked #6 Best Hotel in the World by Travel + Leisure. She also led the company’s community impact and CSR initiatives (and rescued a street puppy, Jack, along the way).
Her broader consulting portfolio includes work across philanthropy, hospitality, membership organizations, and global development. She has partnered with organizations such as Virgin Voyages, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, John Legend’s Show Me Campaign, the Washington State Department of Health, Bulgari, and other U.S. and international nonprofits, Fortune 500 companies, and government agencies.
Frances is passionate about giving back and currently serves on the Board of Directors for The Vines Foundation and 3 Generations. She previously served on the Board of Directors for The Global Foundation for Children with Hearing Loss and volunteers with Reading Partners and Lotus House.
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Frances is an outdoors lover, arts and culture enthusiast, and dedicated community builder. She holds a B.S. from the University of Washington and an MBA from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business.