HotelBrokerOne announces the passing of Bernard
Levine, hotel pioneer
Phoenix, AZ – HotelBrokerOne announces the passing of Bernard Levine, hotel pioneer, who passed away on
September 25, 2021, after a long illness. Bernie was well known in
the Arizona hospitality industry: Desert Sky Management, the Van Buren
Businessmen’s Association, and later through HotelBrokerOne where he continued
as the Designated Broker of their Arizona office for seventeen years.
After beginning his career as a real estate
lawyer in New York in 1959, Bernie drove head-first into the hotel / motel world
when he, his wife, and infant daughter moved to Jamaica and he became a
hotelier in 1963, with Ridgley’s Plaza in Montego Bay.
In 1969, Bernie and his family, which now
included two daughters, moved to Phoenix where he began working in commercial
real estate. He obtained his license in 1970 and became a Broker in
1975. In 1974 he purchased Quality Inn Desert Sky Motel and quickly
became involved in the governance of the International Operators Council, where
he served as President from 1981-1985. In 1989 he was given the
prestigious Harriet Kocher Award by Quality International, now Choice Hotels
International.
Around 1980 he purchased a second motel, Comfort
Inn Desert Sun, and formed Desert Sky Management Corporation. He
served on numerous boards in the Valley and held terms as President of both The
Valley Hotel & Resort Association and The Arizona Lodging and Tourism
Association. He was appointed by two governors to The Arizona
Tourism Advisory Council and was inducted into the Governor’s Tourism Hall of
Fame at the 2003 STAR Gala.
Bernie met his second wife, Lois Klein who was a
media relations manager for Best Western, and with travel and tourism in both
their blood, they really hit it off. Lois predeceased Bernie in
2019.