Julian MacQueen

‘Creating fun, memorable experiences’ for guests began when Julian MacQueen was just a young boy on vacation himself. That summer in Florida, he told his parents he wanted to stay at the beach forever. “Get a job,” they told him.

That he did. And he never left the hospitality industry. Hitchhiking the shore, Julian found a job at the Jack Tar Beach House. He worked there during summers until college, when he took up Night Auditing positions at hotels back home in Alabama.

In 1985, after dabbling in hot air balloons before working his way to an executive position with Family Inns of America, Julian founded Innisfree Hotels out of room 201 in the first hotel he developed and owned.

A charismatic leader, he inspires loyalty in his team and a companywide commitment to service. Work, as he says, is worship – if it is done in the service to mankind. And hospitality is a way to change the world, one guest at a time. By these and other principles, Julian has cultivated his team and grown the Innisfree portfolio along the Gulf Coast and beyond.

Julian has been married to Kim MacQueen for more than four decades. They share two children, Skye and Jonathan, and two grandchildren. A lover of aviation, Julian recently piloted his HondaJet for a trip ‘Around the World in 80 Stays,’ breaking boundaries and world records while discovering new ways to be hospitable.

Transitioning to an active Chairman of the Board position in 2018 after more than 30 years at the helm of Innisfree Hotels, Julian is still deeply involved in the operations of the company he founded – and the culture by which it is defined.