Adriana Marianella

Principal

Adriana is a lifestyle hospitality leader with a unique—culture-meets-commerce—expertise resulting in some of the world’s most notable hospitality offerings, from rarified hotels & restaurants, through to luxury retail, members clubs, private aviation and arts organizations.  

As the Principal of Mara Partners, she oversees a multi-disciplinary hospitality advisory firm based in New York with Partners in London and Paris.

Adriana was formerly the Chief Development Officer for private members club, NeueHouse, and photography museum, Fotografiska, where she led the brands’ global expansion and design development in new markets throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. 

Adriana commenced her journey in hospitality as Chief-of-Staff to André Balazs, whereupon she discovered her passion for creating compelling guest experiences and bringing to life transportive, atmospheric hospitality concepts. 

As The Standard’s Vice President of Brand Development & Experiential she worked at the nexus of Design, Development & Brand strategy, thereby playing a dynamic role in the company’s global growth.

On the Experiential front, Adriana built and led an industry-leading VIP//Guest Experience program across iconic hotels such as The Mercer, Chateau Marmont, Chiltern Firehouse, Sunset Beach, The Standard Hotels and Bunkhouse Hotels. 

Adriana is a Board Director of the award-winning B-Corp sustainable tequila, Mijenta and and an Advisory Board Member on Menlo Plaza, a forthcoming Silicon Valley experiential luxury development in collaboration with Stanford University.

Adriana is actively engaged as a senior leader in the hospitality design industry. She speaks at the industry’s key gatherings such as the FastCompany Innovation Festival, YPO, ALIS, ILC, BLLA, BDNY, Hospitality Design Expo and is an Advisory Board Member for the Independent Lodging Congress. She has also served as a judge for Sleeper Magazine’s AHEAD Global & Americas Awards and the Hospitality Design Magazine Awards. 

Philanthropically, she is a longstanding UNICEF NextGen board member, specifically dedicated to addressing clean water initiatives through leadership of the UNICEF Tap Project, and was a founding board member of Chefs for Impact.

Academically, Adriana holds a B.A. from Brown University, and serves as a visiting guest lecturer at SciencesPo in Paris and at Parsons in New York.