Orlando “Tito” Carlo, ’01 civil engineering, appeared on the December 2012 season premiere of the Travel Channel’s hit series “Hotel Impossible,” a show known for revamping struggling hotels. Carlo, who was working for his family-owned company, Orlando Carlo Inc., in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, at the time, served as a contractor to transform Caribe Playa Beach Resort in Puerto Rico from a chaotic, cluttered hotel into a renowned travel destination in just four days.

“We demolished the existing front desk and built a custom desk with tile inserts and a wall-to-wall storage unit,” says Carlo. “We also created hanging bookshelves that had a nautical theme, as well as remodeled one of the hotel guest rooms using a plan by [show designer] Blanche Garcia. It was designed to be economical so the hotel could duplicate the work in the other rooms after we left.”

Carlo was contracted by “Hotel Impossible” again this year to remodel the Casa Verde Hotel in Rincon, Puerto Rico, where he worked with designer Alison Victoria from the DIY Network’s “Kitchen Crashers.” In this episode, Carlo and his team remodeled the hotel’s wild surf bar and converted it into a sleek wine lounge. The project included a light fixture consisting of more than 200 wine bottles.

Carlo is now working for Volkert Inc., as a project manager in Birmingham.

[miniflickr photoset_id=72157633488721475&sortby=date-posted-asc&per_page=50]