 
 Jeffrey Bullock, Hotel Manager
In its history, the Marco Beach Ocean Resort has attracted the brightest lights of the hotel industry to its management team, professionals who have a passion for the highest standards of luxury and customer service, and more importantly, the vital acumen and experience to attain those standards.
One of those leading lights is Jeff Bullock. Like many dedicated hotel executives, Bullock was “hooked on hotels” at an early age.
When Bullock was growing up in New Hampshire, his family owned and managed an elegant, 17-room colonial style inn, a defining experience that instilled in Bullock a lifelong appreciation for treating guests like royalty in a beautiful, well-maintained environment.
When it came time for college, Bullock chose a school in Tampa and worked part time at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge, an opportunity for him to enjoy his two favorite pastimes, hotel operations and golf. His experience with his family’s inn served him well in his front office job, where he was a direct liaison for guest services.
Bullock furthered his hotel management studies as a business major at Penn State, and then joined the accounting department of the landmark Hotel Hershey.
He returned to Florida in 1997, when he joined The Ritz-Carlton, Naples as guest services coordinator for the front office. He was promoted several times, and ultimately attained the position of Assistant Front of the House Manager.
In 2003, the year-old Marco Beach Ocean Resort was making headlines as a “boutique Ritz,” and Bullock took notice. The appeal of making an impact on a boutique-sized hotel was irresistible. When he heard about the hotel’s available position of Front Office Manager, he sent his impressive resume and immediately secured an interview.
“I was attracted to the elegance of the hotel. The smaller, intimate setting and the enhanced opportunity to lavish attention on guests,” he says.
Bullock notes with pride and a sense of privilege, “I am part of a group of professionals who have a personal commitment to bring refinement and polish to the hotel. Our common goal has fostered the essential ‘esprit de corps’ among the staff, which translates into how we treat our guests.”
Today, Bullock oversees all aspects of the hotel. He also is entrenched in staff training programs, in which his younger colleagues benefit from his platinum-quality experience and learn to live the hotel’s motto: “Doing common things uncommonly well.”
Robert Fesik, Director of Sales
With a career in the hospitality spanning more than 25 years, Robert Fesik brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to Marco Beach Ocean Resort Robert is responsible for growing and managing the business development strategies amongst the corporate, tour and travel, transient, and group markets including weddings.
His accomplished background and experience in the Southwest Florida and New England hotel industry spans into all catering segments. Robert began his hospitality career as a sales representative and tour guide back in 1978. He climbed up the corporate ladder quickly, focusing on the food and beverage operations prior to moving into sales.
Robert held the position of Director of Banquet Services at several properties including Radisson Hotel in Connecticut, Westin Hotel and Sheraton Providence Hotel in Rhode Island. In early 2004, he relocated to Southwest Florida and began working at Naples Grande Beach Resort as Director of Social Catering. Fesik has a talent for personalizing events and incorporating unique detail that sets a new standard in service quality.
Robert Fesik epitomizes the uncompromising service philosophy of the Marco Beach Ocean Resort.
 Branka Guberina, Operations Manager
Branka Guberina, Operations Manager and chef concierge at the Marco Beach Ocean Resort, has been inducted into the prestigious Les Clefs d'Or, the exclusive, international organization of the finest hotel concierges in the world. She is now eligible to wear the organization's signature gold keys, an industry icon of experience, dedication and professionalism.
Guberina has 13 years of guest services experience at Collier County's finest hotels, beginning in 1992 with The Ritz-Carlton, Naples, where she was a concierge for guests of the hotel's exclusive Ritz-Carlton Club. In 1994, she was the Ritz-Carlton's "Employee of the Year." In 1998 she joined the Trianon Hotel Company as guest services coordinator, before accepting a guest services position with Naples' Hotel Escalante in 2000. She joined Marco Beach Ocean Resort in 2002.
Guberina's credentials also include food manager certification from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and a Master of Science in Italian language and literature from the University for Languages in her native Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Guberina is fluent in English, Italian, French, and Yugoslavian.
 Chef Alberto Varetto, Sale e Pepe Executive Chef
Alberto Varetto was born in Torino, the capital of Italy's Piedmont region, and began his culinary apprenticeship at the age of 12. Now in his early thirties, he reigns as executive chef at Sale e Pepe, an ornate Renaissance-style palazzo on Marco Island's Gulf of Mexico beach, a destination restaurant that is part of Marco Beach Ocean Resort.
Chef Varetto is Italian to his soup bones. "Sale e Pepe's food is truly authentic because we import the fundamental ingredients, including flour, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and herbs, from Italy," said Chef Varetto. "In addition, we make fresh, pasta, sauces, sausage, and breads every day ... just like they do in Italy." The menu showcases Italy's 22 regions and continuously changes based on the ingredients available, which vary with Italy's seasons, as well as what is fresh and abundant in South Florida.
Varetto received his Diploma Alberghiero di Cucina before beginning his culinary career in Italy. Varetto brought his international culinary skills and expertise to the United States in 1997, joining the renowned Chef Roberto Donna, a family friend from Piedmont, at the Galileo Ristorante in Washington, D.C.
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