After spending 20 years in the hospitality industry, Steve Caloca brings his expertise to UCLA as the new director of the Lake Arrowhead Conference Center and Bruin Woods Family Resort.
The position entails the overseeing of all conference center operations as well as sales and development of the 40-acre, wood-nestled resort in Lake Arrowhead. Caloca said he will emphasize guest and worker morale and the guest retention rate.
“I want to make sure we have happy guests, happy team members and just a very high standard overall so that guests want to come back,” Caloca said. “Our goal is truly to make sure that our guests return.”
As part of UCLA’s Housing and Hospitality Services department, the conference center has long been a favorite location for retreats and conferences for corporations, educational groups, county and state departments and other such organizations. Throughout the summer, the UCLA Alumni Association hosts alumni and their children at the Bruin Woods Family Resort for a summer camp experience.
“It’s one property but two entities,” Caloca said. “For nine months of the year it’s the UCLA Conference Center and for the three months of the summer it’s the Bruin Woods resort.”
No newcomer to the hospitality industry, Caloca served most recently as the senior director of convention services and catering at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles. His additional hospitality experience includes 15 years of work for Hyatt Hotels and Resorts in Northern California, Phoenix, Chicago and Southern California.
Caloca said the picturesque location and the hospitality of the people drew him to the position.
“I had an instant connection with the property because of its beauty and serenity,” he said. “And then talking to the people at Hospitality and Housing, I thought they were just outstanding with their attitudes. They treated me, someone who was just interested in the position, as if I were a guest.”
Caloca replaces former director Peter Angelis, who was promoted to the position of assistant vice chancellor of housing and hospitality at UCLA .
Compiled by Julia Stephanides, Bruin contributor