Irene Aviles – Founder & President
Before founding Private Trade Winds, Irene Aviles spent nearly 20 years as a senior executive in the real estate
business. Among other projects, she spearheaded the repositioning and redevelopment of over 8,000 apartment units,
and led investor-relations efforts with high net-worth individuals, public & private pension fund investors, REITs and
investment banks. In addition, Irene has pursued her passion of developing and managing various collections of private
luxury vacation homes since 1984.
Read Irene’s personal story of founding Private Trade Winds here.
Chief Financial and Investment Officer — Hugo F. Aviles
Mr. Aviles is the financial and investment partner, bringing a track record of 25 years of successful entrepreneurship to
the company. He has a true macro & micro understanding of the capital markets, investment markets, and real estate
industry where he has developed and managed several successful real estate companies and over $1.8 billion of real
estate projects. Mr. & Mrs. Aviles have a successful history of working together for over 20 years.
Read Hugo's personal story and love for villa travel here.
Growing up as a child in Los Angeles in a Hispanic family, Hugo spent his early childhood days sharing tight living quarters with
numerous family members.
Vacations were about returning to Mexico to visit other family members and again - sharing tight living quarters with relatives.
Hugo dreamed of the day where he could vacation with ample space and privacy. Finding success at an early age, Hugo began
traveling the finest hotels worldwide, and enjoyed every minute of it. One thing that continued to bother
him was the need for more space! He quickly learned about the “Suite Life” and began booking one
bedroom suites at his favorite hotels, in an attempt to satisfy his desire for space and privacy. This
especially helped when traveling with his wife, Irene, who ironically had opposite sleeping patterns, and
did not enjoy rising early to face coffee, newspaper and television while on vacation! The desire to
accommodate each of their vacation needs grew into traveling into condos and homes, which allowed
them to enjoy the pleasures of a vacation home as a couple, with their kids, or even extended family.
Hugo is a true lover of Five-Star Villa Vacation™, and happily supports the launch of his wife's business in
Private Trade Winds.
Director of Sales - Andra Minnehan
Andra worked in direct sales and sales management for over 25 years before joining Private Trade Winds. With a
proven track record of sales in the travel, cosmetic, entertainment and recording business, Mrs. Minnehan is
accustomed to high volume sales and large account management. In her previous role as National Sales Manager for
a major music distributor, Andra consistently exceeded goals for accounts such as Costco, Wherehouse Entertainment,
Tower Records, Walmart, Sam's Club and Fry's Electronics.
Read Andra's personal story and love for villa travel here.
Andra's Rough Introduction to Villa Rentals
“All my life, I'd had a romantic fantasy of a handsome man sweeping me off my feet, and whisking me away to a
beautiful villa in Italy. In my mind, I knew just how I wanted it to be – I'd walk to the market each day in a Sophia
Loren dress, buy my groceries at the market, my hair flowing in the breeze, smiling at friendly locals as they
zipped past on their scooters. The villa itself would be spacious and elegant – graceful columns, marble floors,
sweeping vistas of the Italian countryside.
Well, I got to a certain point in my life when I decided to stop waiting for Prince Charming and decided to make it
happen myself. So one Christmas, I cashed in all my frequent flier miles and bought plane tickets for my sisters
and me. My younger sister booked a villa outside of Siena. It looked great – the pictures were beautiful, and it
looked like an easy walk into town.
We finally arrived, and not speaking much Italian, we had to drive all over town trying to find out how to get the
key, which was eventually given to us by a sweet grandmother. When we got to the “villa,” we were horrified.
Bugs were everywhere. No beds, just cots. It wasn't rustic – it was rusted! We walked to town, but discovered
the town was practically barren. Walked back to the villa, and my sisters and I cried all night long. We pushed
all of the cots into one room because we didn’t feel safe. I slept in my raincoat on top of the covers. It was
awful! We left the next morning. We lost all the money we had put down on it. We ended up having an
adventure – we picked out towns on the map, drove to them, and found accommodations as we went. But I was
over the whole villa idea.
It took me 15 years to try another villa vacation – this time, I took it Private Trade Winds style. It was at our
property in Ko Olina, Hawaii. My husband and I walked in – the music was playing, the champagne was chilled,
the cookies were ready. The frig was stocked – no need to go to the store. The bellman swung two interior doors
open to reveal a huge patio and panoramic view of the ocean. Once the bellman left, we ran around the room
like little kids, exploring every detail and amenity. We looked at each other and said: “Why don’t we travel like
this all the time?” We just sat back and relaxed. My first villa trip was rough, but it really made me appreciate
personal service and quality guarantees that makes PTW different.
Design Manager - Jill Lewis
As the Design Manager for Private Trade Winds, Jill uses her decade of experience as an interior design expert
to maximize the pleasure of PTW’s traveling guests, and to maximize value for PTW’s vacation homeowners.
Prior to joining Private Trade Winds, she designed the interiors of over 200 luxury homes while working at
Kreiss Collection, as well as building her own practice doing specialty projects for private luxury home owners.
Jill has travelled all over the world, and has lived in places as diverse as Beirut, Australia and Switzerland.
Today, she is particularly passionate about the culture and architecture of Europe, and she is leading our efforts
to acquire more villas in Italy, France and Spain.
Among other responsibilities, Jill heads the Private Trade Winds Villa Evaluation Team, a multi-disciplinary team
that personally inspects every property considered for entry into our worldwide villa portfolio. Sometimes we call
it our “Tough Love Team,” because they insist on the extremely high quality in comfort, design and amenities
that our traveling clients have come to expect. They look first for absolute pristine cleanliness and a fresh
feeling throughout. Kitchens must be well-equipped, with attractive matching silverware, a complete set of
matching kitchenware, and matching high-end appliances such as coffee-makers. Kitchens to be designated as
“gourmet” must have amenities such as commercial-quality ranges and sub-zero refrigerators. Jill was one of
the primary architects of our 100-Point Luxury Assurance Test.
Read Jill’s personal story and love for villa travel here.
How Jill Got the “Villa Hunting Bug”
Remember the story of Andra’s horrible Italian villa experience? (see above) The one booked for her by her
sister? Jill is the sister! As she remembers it…
As I looked for a villa, I did some research online, but there just wasn’t a lot available back then. I
spent a solid month leafing through full-color brochures from villa companies. It turned out that some
of it was deceptive, and we ended up with a lemon, despite my research. Back then you had to pay
100% up-front – even if you didn’t like it, you still lost everything and had no recourse. That’s what
happened to us – we stayed the first night and left the next morning. But while Andra had lost her
enthusiasm for villas at that point of the trip, I was enthralled. With each town we went to, we looked for
someplace to stay, and I loved it. I could have spent days just touring the villas. I’ve always been
interested in design and architecture and travelling in a way that really brings you close to a culture – and
all of those things suddenly came together in exploring villas.
Information Technology and Accounting - Brittany Mason
Brittany manages PTW’s accounting department, and has developed many of PTW’s “back end systems”,
including our reservation database and our industry-leading trading program (which allows for vacation
homeowners to trade time at their property for time at a different property in our villa portfolio). She has over 20
years of experience in combining her unique skills: business analysis, computer programming, and accounting
expertise. Prior to joining Private Trade Winds, Brittany managed large scale development projects for
corporations such as Mitsubishi Motors and Automobile Club of Southern California.
Read Brittany's personal story and love for villa travel here.
Brittany’s Villa Vacation for Mother’s Day
Brittany has the admiration of her colleagues. Of course they admire her for doing a great job as PTW’s
systems and accounting guru, but she is most admired for the fact that she does all that while being a fantastic
mom to seven (!) kids, including 3-year-old triplets (!!!). So she was more than deserving when she got treated
to a long Mother’s Day weekend at one of PTW’s villas near her home in in Southern California. Her whole
team squeezed into their Toyota Sequoia, and when they arrived at the villa, she was struck by what those in
our office call “the PTW moment” – opening the door to find, not a sterile hotel room, but a warm, inviting private
residence, with music playing, and a welcome basket of fruit and cookies (which were quickly devoured).
Three bedrooms were quickly doled out – one for the boys, one for the girls, and one for Brittany and her
husband. The boys room had a television with DirecTV, and they were excited by the taste of freedom that
having their own bedroom provided. The girls liked their room as well, but soon after getting tucked in, they
trudged together into mom and dad’s room to sleep on the floor (it was Mother’s Day, after all, and they wanted
to be extra close to mom).
The garage was filled with a variety of pool toys, and a private pool was within feet of the back door. They invited
the friendly family next door to join them at pool, but otherwise, they had the pool to themselves. The kitchen
was fully stocked, including kid-friendly plastic cups and plates (the beds also had bedrails for kids, and
Brittany's pre-arrival concierge team asked them ahead of time if they wanted them set up). There were a host
of other services available, including babysitting, grocery shopping, and a full-maid service –
but because they were mostly at the pool, and it was Mother’s Day, they decided to pass on most of them.
Brittany was impressed by the unique aspects a villa vacation – as she put it, “It had all the conveniences of a
five-star hotel. But the private pool, multiple bedrooms, a full-kitchen, kid’s plates… you don’t get those things in
a hotel.” But the highest praise came from the kids. As the family pulled out of the driveway, the kids all wanted
to know when they were coming back.
Travel and Customer Service Manager - Janet Anderson
Janet has been a travel industry professional for over 20 years, and is the hands-on supervisor of our travel
department. Among other things, she works with all of our travel consultants to provide the most thoughtful and
personalized service possible for our clients. Janet is also a key member of our Villa Evaluation Team, which
travels the globe identifying the finest private vacation residences for our villa portfolio. Before joining Private
Trade Winds, Janet was with Liberty Travel, one of the U.S. leaders in leisure travel.
Read Janet’s personal story and love for villa travel here
Around the World in 20 Years
In 20 years as a travel professional, Janet travelled more places and experienced more cultures than most
people will in a lifetime. Since joining Private Trade Winds, she's been to many of PTW's villas as part of our
Villa Evaluation Team. Among her favorites have been our properties at PGA West in Palm Springs (“everything
is top notch... gourmet kitchen… in a great spot right next to the pool”), the St. Regis in Aspen (“I was there at
the height of the season in February… it's absolutely breathtaking when the snow falls”), Sky Lodge in Utah
(“very modern… beautifully sleek”), and any of our Four Seasons properties (“one of the most consistently
excellent experiences in travel”).
Even though she has travelled extensively for Private Trade Winds, those trips are just the tip of the iceberg for
someone who has spent much of her life travelling the world. A few of her most magical and memorable travel
experiences include: The old world elegance of Monte Carlo and the French Riveria. Authentic fishing villages
in Italy such as Portofino. In Costa Rica, she ate in an open-air restaurant overlooking an active volcano,
complete with lava flows. In Australia she saw wave after wave of penguins pour out of the ocean and onto the
beach. She particularly likes trips with strong cultural and spiritual components, like the bushwalk she did in Fiji.
Another all-time favorite destination: Israel. She's traveled the entire country, touring churches, synagogues and
mosques, taking in the architecture and the archaeology, the history and the culture.
Asset Manager - Judy Sweetland
Judy has over a decade of experience in private home management, vacation management, and finance. As
Asset Manager for Private Trade Winds, she is entrusted with the care and nurturing of all of our properties. She
helps locate promising properties, negotiates special rates and inclusions for PTW clients, and oversees all of
the property managers who are on-site at our 400+ locations.
Read Judy’s personal story and love for villa travel here
Three's Company – Five-Star Villa Vacations for Multi-Generational Trips
“My first villa experience was with Private Trade Winds, and was to be a birthday gift to the two most important
women in my life – my mother and my daughter. A trip to Hawaii would be the perfect destination to honor these
two incredible lives that have brought so much joy into my life. The destination was easy to choose, but the
decision of where to stay posed the greatest challenge. After all, together we represented three generations; I
needed accommodations for my 74 year old mother, my 15 year old daughter, and myself – let's just say aged
somewhere in between. Hotels can be crowded, the rooms can be small, and the accommodations tend to be
geared toward a specific age group. Our little party spanned 59 years.
Our Travel Advisor suggested a beachfront villa in the Ko’Olina community of Oahu, and it was just the solution I
was looking for. Pre-arrival grocery shopping was arranged through the Private Trade Winds Concierge, and
daily housekeeping and airport transportation were arranged and surprisingly included as part of Private Trade
Wind’s comprehensive service.
Our vacation began and my mom, who has been crippled with arthritis for years and unable to walk on the
beach, felt alive sitting on the lanai a mere 200 feet from the water's edge, where my daughter swam with sea
turtles and spent countless hours snorkeling. Spacious accommodations with a gourmet kitchen brought alive
my love of cooking, and my daughter and mom were happy to indulge in my culinary delights each night. We
found amenities like golf, spa, dining, and fitness center were not only available on site, but could also be
arranged through Concierge. Unfortunately, we encountered a couple of rainy days during our stay, but our
spacious villa equipped with large flat screen Cable TV, DVD library, and board games brought an element to
vacations that often gets overlooked – REST! We all enjoyed our multi-generational trip. We came home rested,
refreshed, and just a little closer to each other than ever before.
I have always enjoyed the jobs I had in the past, but I have a true passion for Private Trade Winds. Yes, my
finance and property management background made me a good fit. But more importantly, I truly enjoy spending
my time caring for, managing, and locating properties that will create lasting memories like the ones created on
my trip. I believe that what I am doing will bring couples, friends, and families closer in a world that tends to tear
us apart. Villa travel encourages unity, strengthens relationships, and creates memories, and I’m proud to be a
part of it.”
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