Huntington Hilton has a new general manager

A major Long Island hotel and meeting space, the Hilton Long Island-Huntington on Route 110 in Melville, has a new general manager.

Ellen Ruane will run the 340-room hotel for the co-owner and management company Dow Hotel Llc of Seattle, which bought it a few weeks ago in a joint venture with New Jersey-based Prudential Real Estate Investors. 

“The Hilton Long Island - Huntington has one of the area’s largest meeting facilities, which means we will attract groups from around the world,"  Dow Hotel Co. chief executive Murray Dow said Tuesday in a  news release.

Ruane's "depth of experience will help the hotel to expand its leadership position in the market. . . Ellen has a wide range of experience in the hospitality industry, which will be a great asset to the Hilton," Dow said.

Ruane has managed several other properties, including the Founders Inn and Spa, in Virginia Beach, Va.; the North Maple Inn, in Basking Ridge, N.J.; and The Forrestal at Princeton, in Princeton, N.J.

Dow says it will spend $15 million improving the rooms, corridors, public space, heating and air conditioning, parking and landscaping. 

Dow company currently operates in  Portland, Ore.; Seattle, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Calif., Chicago, Houston, San Antonio and Atlanta.

The real estate broker representing the seller was Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman's global hospitality group led by Tom McConnell and Ernest Lee.

Photo:  Ellen Ruane