Downtown Richmond Marriott gets new GM

The downtown Richmond Marriott has a new general manager.

Lars Friedriszik has been named general manager of the 410-room hotel, which is managed by White Lodging and owned by Apple Hospitality REIT Inc.

Friedriszik was previously the assistant general manager at the hotel in 2018, but left to serve in other management roles at White Lodge properties. He served as the assistant general manager at the Teaneck Marriott at Glenpointe in Teaneck, New Jersey, before arriving at the downtown Richmond Marriott as assistant general manager in 2018. Friedriszik served as the general manager of the Courtyard & Residence Inn Richmond downtown since 2019 before returning to the Richmond Marriott, which completed an extensive multimillion-dollar renovation in December. The hotel also opened a comfort food restaurant in September.

Friedriszik earned his degree in hospitality operations management from George Brown College in Toronto and a certificate in culinary arts from Yukon College, in Yukon, Canada. He also holds certificates in hotel management, restaurant review management and leadership for the hospitality profession from the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology in Ireland and eCornell, the online education program of Cornell University.

The 18-story hotel is connected to the Greater Richmond Convention Center via skywalk and has more than 26,000 square feet of event space.