Tony Tam Compared to the rest of the hospitality industry, the intersection of Senate Street and Park Street in The Vista is doing all right - really well, actually. The northeast corner, the former fire station, will be headquarters for Stevens & Wilkinson of S.C., Columbia's largest architecture firm. And at the southwest corner, the Hilton Columbia Center and its Ruth's Chris Steakhouse anchors the area.

Away from The Vista, the U.S. Department of Labor reports the loss of more than 200,000 travel- related jobs for 2008, and another 247,000 could disappear in 2009. Occupancy at Charlotte- area hotel rooms in January fell by 16.3 percent from the same month a year earlier. But in Columbia, hotel occupancy fell by only 1.3 percent for the year.

In Charleston, hotel occupancy fell by 7.7 percent, and Myrtle Beach is down 9.6 percent. Even so, Myrtle Beach is still doing better than most Florida destinations.

Above it all, back to the intersection of Senate and Park, rises the Hilton Columbia, open since August 2007. Developed by Windsor/Aughtry and managed by Hospitality America, the Hilton Columbia has received the top ranking for overall guest services and amenities among the 287 full- service Hilton hotels in North America.

TripAdvisor.com places the Hilton Columbia as its #1 recommendation for a Columbia stay.

Ruth's Chris is also rated the best steakhouse in town.

Tony Tam is the general manager of the Hilton Columbia. He oversees operations at the Hampton Inn on Gervais Street, too, another hotel owned by Windsor/Aughtry and operated by Hospitality America. In February, Tam was recognized as South Carolina's Hotel Manager of the Year by the Hospitality Association of South Carolina.

Tam was born in the Jackson Street Hospital in China Town, San Francisco. His parents worked in the garment industry, but they soon moved into restaurants.

Tam had a great uncle who owned the Chinese restaurant in the former Heart of Columbia Motel on Columbia's Assembly Street, and that success attracted Tam's parents to South Carolina. They worked inside the restaurant at the Heart of Columbia Motel for about three years before moving the family to Spartanburg to join another member of the family in a restaurant venture.

Tam and his younger brother Alex and their parents left Spartanburg for Tampa, Fla., where they grew their restaurant holdings for another ten years.

As Tam turned 17, he and and his family moved back to Spartanburg, S.C., to open another restaurant, New China, on East Main Street, just beyond Converse College. His parents continue to live in Spartanburg, and brother Alex works in quality control for BMW at Greer, S.C.

Growing up in a restaurant family, Tam and his brother worked every aspect of the business as part- time and summer jobs all through their secondary school education. After graduating from Spartanburg High School, where he was on the varsity wrestling team, Tam entered USC- Upstate as a marketing major.

Tam and his wife Kelly met at USC- Upstate. Kelly is director of marketing for Dennis Corp., a civil engineering firm located in Thurmond Mall near the governor's mansion.

The Tams have two children. Daughter Abigail is five years old, and son Carter is five months old. Abigail plans to attend Oak Point Elementary, while Carter will work his way into kindergarten at Riverland Hills Baptist Church.

Tam and his wife celebrate their tenth anniversary this May.