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Global Update: Who's where and doing what: March 2009

Global Update: Who's where and doing what: March 2009

Category: Worldwide - Careers - Appointments
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2009-04-27


THE AMERICAS

Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts has promoted Steve Halliday to Executive Vice President, Development, for North America. Halliday previously served as President of the company, after serving as General Manager of the Pan Pacific Vancouver.

Delta Hotels has promoted Hank Stackhouse to President and Chief Executive Officer. He has been with Delta for more than twenty five years and had been serving as its President since 2006. Along with the title of President, he was most recently serving as Chief Operating Officer.

Jeff Wagoner has returned to the Wyndham Hotel Group as President, succeeding Peter Strebel, who is stepping down after nearly four years with the brand and eight years with the company. Wagoner was previously with the company for eight years as Senior Vice President of Operations before pursuing opportunities with WhiteFence as Chief Operating Officer and ZipRealty as Senior Vice President of Sales.

Ian Nicholson has been promoted with Hotels AB to Vice President Hotel Operations, taking over from Jim McPartlin. For the past two years, Nicholson had served as General Manager of the Standard New York along with serving as General Manager for André Balazs Properties. He had previously held the General Manager role for the Soho Grand Hotel and Tribeca Grand in addition to the Hudson Hotel.

Eva Ziegler has been promoted to Global Brand Leader for W Hotels Worldwide. She joined Starwood in 2005 and will continue her current duties as Global Brand Leader of Le Méridien.

The Thayer Lodging Group has appointed Jin Lee Managing Director/Chief Investment Officer. Lee, a Cornell graduate, was most recently the Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development at HEI Hotels & Resorts. He had held similar roles for Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, and Marriott International.

The Ritz-Carlton Club has appointed Nicholas DiMeglio Vice President of Operations. Most recently, DiMeglio was the General Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Club Aspen Highlands after serving as General Manager of the Williamsburg Inn.

Michael Platt has been promoted by Hilton to the position of General Manager at the El San Juan Hotel & Casino, a Blackstone-owned property, soon to join the Waldorf=Astoria Collection. He moves up from the position of Executive Assistant Manager at the New York Hilton and Tower. Platt, a South African, previously spent three years as Vice President of Hotel and Food and Beverage Operations at the Pechanga Hotel and Casino in Southern California.

Andrew Gajary has been named General Manager at the InterContinental Toronto Yorkville. He was most recently the Hotel Manager at the InterContinental Chicago. Gajary previously served in various management positions for the Willard InterContinental Washington, the InterContinental Budapest, the InterContinental Cleveland and the InterContinental Buckhead.

Andy Peters has been named General Manager of the Davidson-run Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham. Since joining Davidson in 1995, he has served as Director of Food and Beverage, Regional Vice President of Operations and General Manager of the Hilton Eugene & Conference Center in Oregon.

Kelly Lewis has moved to Miami as General Manager for the Hotel Victor. For the past two years, Lewis had been with Noble House Hotels and Resorts, running the Grove Isle Hotel & Spa in Coconut Grove. Lewis had previously served as General Manager of the Carefree Resort & Villas in Arizona, and the Daufuskie Island Resort.

The Georgian Terrace Hotel has named Carl Dees General Manager. He was most recently the General Manager of the Livonia Marriott in Michigan.

Jan Rozenveld has been appointed General Manager for the Ace Hotel New York. He was most recently the General Manager of New York’s Greenwich Hotel. He had previously held the General Manager position for the Tides South Beach, the Royalton and the Paramount.

Maarten van Wijk has been appointed General Manager at the Hershey Country Club. He was most recently the General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of the Columbia Club in Indianapolis. Van Wijk had been with Hershey from 1991 to 2003, in various roles, including that of General Manager of the Hershey Country Club.

Steve Shalit has joined the Westin Kansas City as General Manager. He was most recently the opening General Manager of the Trump International Hotel and Tower Las Vegas. Shalit had previously served as General Manager of the St. Regis Fort Lauderdale, the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa, the Westin Maui and the Westin Galleria Dallas.

Brian Baudreau takes over from Shalit at the Trump International Hotel and Tower as General Manager. Previously, Baudreau was the Vice President of Development for the hotel.

Michael Allen has been appointed General Manager of the Mystic Marriott Hotel & Spa in Connecticut. He was most recently overseeing the Providence Biltmore. He had previously served as General Manager of the InterContinental Milwaukee, the Inn and Spa at Loretto and the Grove Isle Hotel & Spa.

James Hughes has moved over to open the W Santiago as General Manager. He most recently spent seven years running the Ritz-Carlton Santiago, following an early career with Hyatt.

Taking over from Hughes at the Ritz-Carlton Santiago as General Manager is Chris Sariego. He had previously served as Hotel Manager for the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman and Managing Director for the Marriott Beach Resort Grand Cayman.

The Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Las Vegas has named Thomas McCartney President and Chief Executive Officer. He was most recently the Executive Vice President of the Luxor Hotel & Casino.

Matthew Stern has transferred to the new Fairmont Battery Park in Boston as General Manager. He was most recently the Hotel Manager at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess.

Taking over for Stern is Christophe Le Chatton who has transferred to the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess as Hotel Manager. He was most recently the Director of Operations at the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac. He had previously overseen food and beverage for the Fairmont Royal York, the Waldorf=Astoria and the Four Seasons Palm Beach.

Jeff David has been promoted to General Manager of the Viceroy Snowmass. He was most recently the Resort Manager at the Viceroy Anguilla and the acting General Manager at the Viceroy Palm Springs.

Leslie Pchola has been appointed General Manager of the Hilton Austin. She was most recently the Hotel Manager at the Hilton Chicago. Pchola had previously served as Resident Manager of the Hilton Atlanta before transferring as General Manager to the Hilton Cleveland East.

John Hutar has returned to the Bay Area as General Manager of the Sofitel San Francisco Bay. For nine years, he was at the Hotel Nikko San Francisco as Vice President and General Manager, before relocating as Vice President of Hotel Operations to the MGM Grand Detroit in 2006.

Ramon Antelo has been appointed General Manager for the Hilton Bentley Miami/South Beach. He was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables.

Peter Guarneiri has been named General Manager of the Roslyn Claremont Hotel. He was previously the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hilton Long Island.

André Boersma is the new General Manager at Jalousie Plantation on the island of St. Lucia. He comes from the Querencia Private Golf Community in Los Cabos, where he was the General Manager. Boersma is also a former One&Only man, who served as General Manager at the Ocean Club (Bahamas) and Resident Manager at Palmilla.

Thomas Pagels has been appointed General Manager of the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, Chicago. He was previously the General Manager of the Hyatt Regency St. Louis.

Ross and Sunny Lusted have been appointed co-General Managers of Amanresorts' latest, Amangiri, in Utah. Amanresorts veterans, they had previously managed Amankila, after working at the Grand Hyatt Singapore.

Mark Stiebeling moves a few blocks from General Manager of the Grand Hyatt Seattle to General Manager of the Seattle Hyatt at Olive8. He is also a former General Manager of the Park Hyatt Washington, DC.

Heather Steenge has been promoted to General Manager of the Chicago W City Center. An eighteen-year Starwood veteran, she was previously the General Manager of the W Chicago Lakeshore.

Michael McLaughlin is the new General Manager of the Westin Jersey City Newport. He was most recently the Hotel Manager of the Sheraton New York.

Todd Orlich has returned to the Montage Laguna Beach as Resort Manager. He was previously the Director of Food and Beverage for the resort before stepping up last year to the position of Hotel Manager for the Montage Beverly Hills.

Fernando Gibaja has joined the Mandarin Oriental Riviera Maya as Resident Manager. He was most recently the General Manager of the Aqua Hotel Cancún. He had previously served as Executive Assistant Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Millenia and had overseen food and beverage for the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach and the Palace Hotel in Madrid.

Aref Sayegh has joined the Atlantic Hotel in Miami as Director of Operations. For the past thirteen years, he had been with Ritz-Carlton, most recently as General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Jupiter. He previously served in operational positions for the Ritz-Carlton Naples, the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island and the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia.

Rudolf Gimmi has been promoted at the Fairmont Mayakoba in Mexico to Director of Operations. He joined the resort in 2005 as Rooms Division Director. He had previously spent seven years at the Turnberry Isle Resort, most recently as Rooms Division Manager.

Akis Neocleous has been named Resort Manager of Las Ventanas al Paraíso. He was most recently the General Manager of the nearby Misión La Serena Resort. Neocleous had previously served as General Manager of El Careyes Beach Resort in Puerto Vallarta and Hotel Director of the Hotel Gran Bahia Principe Tulum.

At Rosewood Corporate Headquarters, Gert Kopera has been promoted to Vice President of Food and Beverage. His Rosewood career started at the Hotel Seiyo Ginza in Tokyo and took him to Saudi Arabia before he became the General Manager of Rosewood’s (former) Dhrmawangsa in Jakarta, and Managing Director of Rosewood’s Corniche in Jeddah. He was most recently a Director of Operations for the group.

John Gallman has been appointed Director of Finance for the St. Regis Atlanta slated to open next month. For the past four years, he had served in the same position for the Westin Buckhead.

Daniel Moore has relocated to New York to take over as Director of Finance at the Gramercy Park Hotel. For the past year, he was with Sage Hospitality Resources in Denver, as Corporate Director of Property Accounting.

The Arrabelle at Vail Square has named Rob Dorey Director of Food and Beverage. He was most recently overseeing food and beverage for Colorado's Snowmass Club.

Felipe Gomez-Kraus has joined Rosewood’s Sand Hill in the Bay Area as Director of Food and Beverage. He was most recently serving as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage for the Four Seasons Macau.

Raymond Alexander has been named Food and Beverage Director for Branson’s Chateau on the Lake Resort. He was previously the Director of Food and Beverage and Executive Chef at the Provo Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, and Executive Chef at the Salt Lake City Hilton.

Benchmark Hospitality in Houston has promoted Alex White to Director of Training, from his most recent role of Director of Recruitment. He had previously served as Director of Human Resources for the Hotel Contessa in San Antonio and the Lajitas Resort.

The Wyndham Hotel Group has appointed Kathleen Chiechi Flores Executive Vice President of Human Resources, based in the company's Parsippany offices. She was most recently the Chief Administrative Officer at WhiteFence in Houston. WhiteFence is the company where Eric Danziger, Wyndham’s CEO, served as Chief Executive Officer.

David Green has transferred to the Four Seasons Great Exuma as Director of Engineering. He had previously served as Director of Engineering at the Four Seasons Canary Wharf and Assistant Director of Engineering at the Four Seasons Dublin.

Joe Aguilera has been appointed Vice President, Sales, for Elysian Hotels & Resorts. Aguilera, who had been with Four Seasons throughout his hospitality career, joined the Ritz-Carlton Chicago in 1994 and most recently served as its Director of Marketing. He had previously held sales roles at the Four Seasons Dallas and the Four Seasons Philadelphia.

Jason Prost has left Four Seasons after fifteen years to join the Hotel Bel-Air as Sales Director. He had recently returned to the Four Seasons Los Angeles as Director of Sales after working up the sales ladder at the hotel for eleven years. He briefly left the property to move to the Four Seasons Westlake as Sales Manager, where he remained for two years.

Ellen Thornton has joined the Montage Beverly Hills as Director of Sales. She was most recently the Director of Catering Sales at the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey. Thornton had previously served as Director of Sales at the Hotel Bel-Air and as Sales Manager, Western Region, for the Leading Hotels of the World.

Rebecca Huetter has joined the Thompson Beverly Hills as Director of Sales and Marketing. She was most recently overseeing the Standard Downtown LA as Regional Vice President of Sales. She had also previously served as Director of Marketing for Las Ventanas al Paraíso and served in regional as well as on-property sales roles for six years with Ian Schrager Hotels.
Dee Doak has been promoted with Hilton Hotels to the newly created position of Managing Director, Marketing for the Beverly Hilton and the Waldorf=Astoria, Beverly Hills, currently in development. Doak had been the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Beverly Hilton since 2004.

Johanna Koch has changed positions at Ventana Inn to Director of Sales and Marketing. Since March 2008, she had been the Director of Public Relations and Marketing at the resort. Koch had previously served as Marketing Director for the San Luis Obispo Visitors & Convention Bureau and Marketing Communications Manager for Sea Island Resorts.

Manya Duhoffmann has joined the Nomad in New York as Director of Sales and Marketing. For almost four years, she had served as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hollywood Roosevelt. She had previously held sales and marketing positions at the Standard Downtown LA, the Avalon and Maison 140 in Beverly Hills.

Annessa Hand has joined André Balazs Properties in Miami as Regional Director of Sales, responsible for the Raleigh and the Standard Miami. She was previously the Director of Sales of the Mandarin Oriental Miami.

Benchmark Hospitality has appointed William Courtney Lowe Regional Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Bedford Springs Resort. Previously, he had served as General Manager of the Equinox Resort & Spa after joining as Director of Sales and Marketing.

Robert Humphrey has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing at the Avenue Hotel Chicago. He was most recently the Corporate Director of Sales and Marketing for the Whitehall Chicago.

John Laclé has joined the Hilton Bentley Miami/South Beach as Director of Sales and Marketing. He had previously held sales positions for the Hilton Miami Airport and the Hyatt Regency Bonaventure Conference Center and Spa.

Jacques Lavergne has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for the Fairmont Winnipeg, taking over from Jim McEachern who moved to the Fairmont Heliopolis and Fairmont Towers Heliopolis in Cairo. For the past two years, Lavergne was at the Fairmont Palliser in Calgary as Director of Group Sales.

The Obadon Hotel Group has named Doug McLain Regional Director of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently the Corporate Director of Sales and Marketing at Core Hospitality and previously oversaw sales and marketing for the (former) Wyndham El Conquistador Las Casitas Village, and the (former) Wyndham El San Juan Hotel and Casino.

Richard Brooks has been named Director of Sales and Marketing of the Omni Bedford Springs Resort . He was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing of the Umstead Hotel & Spa.

Sherrie Bigler has joined the InterContinental Los Angeles Century City as Director of Sales and Marketing. She had previously overseen sales and marketing for Le Méridien Los Angeles (now the SLS at Beverly Hills) and the Westin Bonaventure.

Armon Haagen has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for the Doubletree Chicago Magnificent Mile. He had previously held numerous sales and marketing roles for twenty four years with Hyatt in Milwaukee, Orlando and Chicago.

Crestline Hotels & Resorts has appointed Michael Quinn Director of Sales and Marketing for both the Sheraton Reston and the Westin Reston Heights. He was most recently with Dolce International as Regional Director of Sales and Marketing. Quinn had previously held sales and marketing roles with Interstate, Mirage Resorts and Doubletree.

Allen Goodman has been named Director, Sales and Marketing, of Hawks Cay in Florida. For the past nine months, he had served as Vice President, Sales and Marketing, for the Ginn Hammock Beach Resort. Previous sales and marketing positions include Director of Marketing at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, Regional Vice President, Sales and Marketing, for Destination Hotels and Resorts, and Director of Sales and Marketing at the Monarch Hotel in Washington, DC.

Daniel Preston has been promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing for the InterContinental Chicago. For the past four years, he had held the position of Director of Sales after joining the property in 2002 as Group Sales Manager. He had previously served in various roles for the W Chicago City Center and the Ritz-Carlton Chicago.

Verhonda Sercey has joined the Georgian Terrace Hotel in Atlanta as Director of Sales and Marketing. She was most recently the Director of Sales at the Embassy Suites Atlanta-Airport.

The Skamania Lodge in Washington has named Dave Griffin Director of Sales and Marketing. He most recently served as General Manager of the Lodge of Four Seasons, Lake of the Ozarks.

Barbara Ward has been named Director of Sales and Marketing at the Crowne Plaza St. Paul Riverfront. She was previously the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hotel Ivy, Minneapolis.

Janet Johnston has been named Director of Sales for the Resort at the Mountain in Oregon. She was previously the Director of Sales at the Salishan Spa & Golf Resort.

Murielle Ferdinand has been promoted to Regional Sales Director for the Sofitel Regional Sales Office in Los Angeles. For the past year, she had served as Director of Entertainment Sales for the Sofitel Los Angeles. Ferdinand previously served in sales roles for the Renaissance Hollywood and the Renaissance Stanford Court.

Anna Jones has been appointed Director of Global Sales - Northern California, for the Preferred Hotel Group. She had previously served in sales roles at the Hyatt Regency Monterey and the Lodge at Pebble Beach.

The Loews Don Cesar Beach Resort has named Heather Buss Director of National Accounts. She most recently served as National Sales Manager for the Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort.

Richard Pauley has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for the Chattanoogan. He had previously served as Director of Sales for the French Lick Resort Casino.

The Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa has named Michael DiFrancesco Director of Sales and Marketing. He most recently served as Director of Sales for Marriott’s Los Angeles market.

The Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Tampa Bay has named Shelley Smith Director of Midwest Sales. She most recently served as National Sales Manager at the Marriott Suites Clearwater Beach.

Susan Trembal has been appointed Director of Northeast Sales for the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club. She most recently served as Director of Northeast Sales for the Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa.

The Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort has named Todd Hunter Director of Group Sales. He most recently served as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas.

Michael Swyney was named Regional Area Director of Sales and Marketing for Dolce Hotels and Resorts. He was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Lakeway Resort and Spa in Austin.

The Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club has named Daniel Miller Director of Sales. He previously served as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Crowne Plaza, Cherry Hill.

Danielle Babilino was named Senior Vice President of Sales for Wynn Las Vegas and Encore Las Vegas. She formerly served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Bally’s Las Vegas.

Jay Best has joined the Hilton Anatole in Dallas as Director of Sales and Marketing. He most recently served as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort and Country Club.

The Hyatt Regency Vancouver has promoted Sam Lee to Director of Catering and Convention Services. He has been with the hotel since 1987 in various positions, including Assistant Director of Catering and Convention Services for the past six years.

The Westin Ottawa has named Robert Lemieux Director of Sales and Marketing. For the past year, he had been the Director of Sales with the Sheraton Boston.

Whitney Sapp has been named Catering Director for the Elysian Chicago, scheduled to open in late spring 2009. For the past ten years, she had been with Hyatt, most recently as Senior Catering Manager at the Park Hyatt Chicago.

Horseshoe Bay has named Stuart Fowler Senior Account Executive Group Sales. For the past thirteen years, he had been at the Barton Creek Club & Resort in Austin in various roles, most recently serving as Sales Manager.

Greg Wilshire has joined the Rocco Forte Collection as Corporate Sales Manager. He was most recently in a similar position for the InterContinental The Barclay in New York.

Jami Poe has joined Rosewood at Sand Hill in Menlo Park as Associate Director of Sales. She was most recently serving as Director of Sales for the Solage Calistoga for Auberge Resorts. Poe had previously served as Director of Business Travel for the Fairmont San Francisco, Director of Individual Travel for the Hotel Palomar, and Travel Industry Sales for the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey.

Megann Spohn has transferred to the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay as Director of Sales, Travel Industry. For the past five years, she had been with the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey, most recently as Director of Transient Sales.

Shelly Jin has joined Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts in Los Angeles as Director of Business Development. She had previously held various sales positions for La Quinta Resort & Club, the Hotel Zoso in Palm Springs, and Estancia La Jolla.

Star Haury has been named Sales and Marketing Manager at the Goodstone Inn & Estate. She was previously the Group Sales Manager for Blackberry Farm in Tennessee.

Erica Hinshaw has been promoted to Director of Catering at Estancia La Jolla. She has been with Estancia for nearly three years, most recently as Senior Catering Manager. Hinshaw had previously coordinated weddings for the Hyatt Regency Islandia.

Diana Wellman has been named Director of Catering and Food Services at the Naples Bay Resort. She had previously held similar roles with Island Global Yachting in Fort Lauderdale, the Montauk Yacht Club, and the Cheyenne Mountain Resort.

Longtime Waldorf=Astoria Executive Chef John Doherty has left. After twenty years at the hotel, he departs to form the restaurant development company, JCM Hospitality Group with Mark Wood and Christian Palikuca.

Andrew Carmellini has joined Robert De Niro’s Ago in the Greenwich Hotel. He was most recently the Executive Chef at A Voce in New York. He had previously served as Executive Chef at Café Boulud.

The Arrabelle at Vail Square has appointed Darrell Jensen Executive Chef of the brasserie, Centre V. He started his culinary career at the Century Plaza Hotel and Tower. He previously served in the kitchens of the former Citrus in Los Angeles and as Executive Chef at Vail Resorts' Game Creek Restaurant.

Matthew Pinner has been promoted to Executive Chef for the Chattanoogan. He was most recently the Executive Sous Chef for the resort and has spent fourteen years in the area in culinary roles for the Southside Grill, and the Vine Street Market, both in Chattanooga.

The Woodlands Resort & Inn in South Carolina has promoted Nate Whiting to Executive Chef. Whiting moves up from his past position as Executive Sous Chef for the resort, to take over from Tarver King, who relocated to Hilltoppers at the Goodstone Inn & Estate.

The Westin Imagine Orlando has appointed Robert Mason Executive Chef for Fiorella’s Cucina Toscana. Since 2001, he had served as Executive Chef of the Grand Bohemian Hotel.

Scott Crawford has joined the Umstead in North Carolina as Executive Chef. He was most recently the Chef de Cuisine for the Georgian Room at the Lodge at Sea Island. He had previously overseen the kitchens for the Woodlands Resort and Inn and the Amelia Island Resort.

Laurent Berthon has been named Executive Chef at the Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa Valley. He has been with the resort since 2006. He had previously served in the kitchens of the Jefferson Hotel in Washington, DC, Miraval Spa in Phoenix, Auberge du Soleil and Silverado Resort in Napa.

Stephen Quigg has been appointed Executive Chef at the Wyndham Nassau Resort. He joins the resort from Sandals Whitehouse, Jamaica, where he served as Executive Chef for three years. He had previously served as Executive Chef at the Reefs Beach Resort and the Wyndham Bermuda Resort and Spa.

Christopher Stieh has been named Executive Chef of the Westin Jersey City Newport. He was most recently the Executive Chef for the Teaneck Marriott at Glenpointe.

Karen DeMasco has joined Ago in the Greenwich Hotel as Pastry Chef. She was most recently at Craft.

The Goodstone Inn & Estate has named Sheree McDowell Pastry Chef. She was previously the Pastry Chef at the Woodlands Resort & Inn in South Carolina.

The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort has promoted Hermes Del Rio to Director of Restaurants. He joined the resort in 1996 and has held various food and beverage positions within the hotel, most recently the position of Director of In-Room Dining and Banquet Beverage Manager.

Hervé Pennequin has joined the St. Regis Atlanta as Wine Director. His previous positions include Wine Director for the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel and Nikolai’s Roof at the Atlanta Hilton.

Laurend Abraham has moved to the St. Regis Atlanta as General Manager for the St. Regis Bar and Wine Room. For the past year, he had overseen Craft Atlanta as General Manager. He had previously served in similar roles at Posh in Atlanta and Le Bec Fin in Philadelphia.

Jim Assi has left the Peninsula Beverly Hills after sixteen years, where he was most recently the Director of Guest Services. He is now with the Montage Beverly Hills as Manager, Residences.

Ana Pulley has been named Director of Rooms at the Omni Bedford Springs Resort. She was most recently with the Pyramid Hotel Group as Director of Rooms for the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside. Pulley had previously served as Resort Manager at the Clarion Beach Quarters Resort in Virginia Beach and Director of Quality and Productivity for the Ritz-Carlton San Juan and the Ritz-Carlton Phoenix.

Maria del Carmen has joined the St. Regis Mexico City as Director of Housekeeping. She was most recently the Director of Rooms for the Mundo Imperial Acapulco. She had previously served as Director of Housekeeping for the Fairmont Acapulco Princess, Esperanza Los Cabos, and Le Méridien Cancún.

The Ritz-Carlton Jupiter has named Renae Cassam Spa Director. She had previously served as Spa Director of 29 Spa at the Mansion on Peachtree in Atlanta after gaining experience as Spa Director of the Wellness Spa by Jurlique at the InterContinental Buckhead.

EUROPE

Kristof Mares will be putting an end to his short hiatus from Mandarin Oriental, and return to take over from Liam Lambert as Director of Operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He had left his position of General Manager at the Mandarin Oriental London eight months ago to become the Chief Operating Officer of Address Hotels for Emaar.

Asaad Farag has left New York and his position of General Manager of the Crowne Plaza Times Square to take the position of General Manager of the Corinthia Nevskij Palace in St. Petersburg.

Olivier Servat has been named Hotel Manager at Le Méridien Etoile Paris, following three years as Executive Assistant Manager at Le Méridien Montparnasse Paris. He is also a former General Manager of Le Méridien Abuja in Nigeria.

Jean-Luc Cousty comes back to the Lutétia in Paris, as General Manager. He comes from Le Méridien Etoile where he was the Hotel Manager, after being the Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage at the Lutétia, where he originally started as Director of Finance and Administration in 1990.

Long-time Méridien Executive Emmanuel Caux takes over from Pascal Brun as Regional General Manager for Groupe Barrière in Cannes, specifically responsible for the Hotel Majestic and the Hotel Gray d’Albion. Brun recently left to become the Vice President Operations for Naiades Hotels in Mauritius. In his twenty six years with Méridien, Caux held General Manager positions in Saudi Arabia, the Seychelles and England. He was most recently the Area General Manager - Northern France for Starwood.

Richard Brekelmans will be the opening General Manager of the W Barcelona. He previously served as General Manager of Le Méridien Barcelona and Le Méridien Apollo in Amsterdam.

Gilles Fouilleroux has taken over from Franck Farneti as General Manager of the Mas de Pierre in St. Paul de Vence. Fouilleroux comes from nearby Relais & Chateau Le St. Paul where he was the General Manager for the past two years, following three years as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat.

As for Fouilleroux’s successor as General Manager of the St. Paul, he is Domenico Biamonte, who was previously the General Manager of Monaco’s Port Palace.

The former (and famous) Paris Hilton is no more, after forty two years. And has been reflagged Pullman Paris Tour Eiffel, with René Angoujard as its General Manager. A lifer with Accor, he most recently was the General Manager of the Sofitel Budapest and the Novotel London West.

Joseph Kirtley, a fourteen-year veteran of the Morgans Hotel Group, has been appointed General Manager of the Sanderson London. He was most recently the General Manager of the Royalton and previously served as Hotel Manager of the Paramount.

Krzysztof Olszewski has been promoted to General Manager for MaMaison Le Regina Hotel in Warsaw. He was most recently the Rooms Division Manager for the hotel.

The Hallmark Manchester has promoted Linda Gregory to General Manager. She has been with the hotel, formerly the Belfry House Hotel, for more than ten years, most recently as Sales Manager.

Macepark Hotels has appointed Bernard Zechner General Manager of Whittlebury Hall in Northamptonshire. Zechner joins from Guoman Hotels Tower Hotel in London.

Laurent Branover has joined the Hôtel Métropole Monte-Carlo as Assistant General Manager. Since June 2008, he had been with the Shangri-La Singapore as Executive Assistant Manager Food and Beverage. He had previously served as Director of Food and Beverage for the Sofitel Wentworth in Sydney and the Sofitel Jin Jiang Oriental in Shanghai.

Thibault Ruffat has joined Dolce International in Paris as Vice President Sales and Marketing - Europe. For the past four years, he had been the Director of Sales and Marketing for Warwick International Hotels.

The soon-to-open Solís Palmyra Resort in Jamaica has appointed Susan O’Brien Regional Director of Sales, based in London. She was most recently the Assistant Director of Sales at (sister property) the Capella Hotel at Castemartyr Resort in Ireland.

Jason Schellenberg has been named Director of Leisure Sales – Europe for the Preferred Hotel Group based in London. He had previously served as Senior Sales Manager at the Old Course Hotel, St Andrew’s in Scotland, and Golf Sales and Marketing Manager for MacDonald Hotels & Resorts.

Vivian Slater has joined Hallmark Hotels as Director of Sales and Marketing based at the Hallmark Manchester. She had previously served as Director of Sales for Golden Tulip in the UK.

Séverine Gréault has been named Director of Sales for the Hotel Powers and Claridge Bellman in Paris. She was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hotel Marignan Champs Elysées.

The Embankment Hotel in Bedford has appointed Christophe Perney Executive Chef. He had previously served as Chef-Patron of three restaurants: the Waggoners near Welwyn, the Tilbury in Datchworth and the Boot in Chipperfield.

Jean-Pierre Hupin has been appointed Executive Chef at the Casino Barrière in Lille (France) due to open in November. He comes from the recently shuttered Hilton Rabat, in Morocco, where he spent three years as Executive Chef. Hupin was also the Executive Chef at the Hilton Nassau, Bahamas, the Hilton Adana in Turkey and the Hilton Madagascar.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Liam Lambert has been named President of Oberoi Hotels. This follows a long tenure with Mandarin Oriental in both Asia and Europe, culminating with the position of Operations Director, Europe.

The Kahala Hotel and Resort has named Thomas Pauly General Manager, succeeding John Blanco. Pauly was previously at the Embassy Suites Mexico City, where he was the General Manager. He had previously managed the Normandie San Juan and the Westin Regina Cancún.

Arne Heuwekemeijer has been appointed Director of Operations and Pre-Opening Services of Carlson Hotels Worldwide – Asia Pacific. He was most recently the Executive Assistant Manager at the Radisson Shanghai New World. Heuwekemeijer had previously served as Director of Food and Beverage at the Grand Mercure Baolong Shanghai, the Sofitel Hyland and as Director of Sales for the Hotel Okura Hotel Shanghai.

Bruce McKenzie has been appointed Chief Operating Officer for InterContinental Hotels Group in Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, based in Sydney. McKenzie replaces Keith Barr, who has relocated to Shanghai as Chief Operating Officer, Greater China for IHG. McKenzie was most recently the Regional Senior Vice President, Operations for InterContinental Hotels Group Greater China.

Christopher Newbery leaves Afghanistan and his position of General Manager at the Serena Kabul to come back to Kempinski as General Manager of the Leela Kempinski in Mumbai.

Yasuhisa Kita has been promoted to General Manager at the Four Seasons Tokyo at Chinzan-so. Kita takes over from Masahito Mochinaga who has transferred to the head office of Fujita Kanko, and will take on a special project in their Human Resources department. Kita has been with the property since 1991 filling various positions before taking on his most recent position as Executive Assistant Manager.

Starwood Asia Pacific has appointed Stephen Ford Vice President and Area Managing Director for South China, and General Manager of the Sheraton Sanya Resort. He had been in India in the position of Regional Vice President for India, Bangladesh, and Nepal since 2006. Ford has been with Starwood since 2001, when he started as General Manager of the Westin Bund Center, Shanghai.

Philippe Frugère is the new General Manager for the Coco Palm Resort & Spa Dhuni Kolhu in the Maldives. He was most recently serving as Executive Assistant Manager at the One&Only Sugar Beach Resort.

Peter Wynne has moved to Swire Hotels as General Manager of Projects and Development. He recently had been promoted with Raffles Hotels & Resorts as General Manager of Raffles Cambodia Hotels. Wynne had previously served as General Manager for the Raffles Beijing.

Marco Groten has been named General Manager of the Alila Villas Soori in Thailand. He was previously with Six Senses Resorts & Spas for six years, most recently as opening General Manager for the Six Senses Hideaway Yao Noi.

Tamir Kobrin has joined the Leela Kempinski Udaipur as General Manager. Kobrin was most recently with Per Aquum as General Manager of the Soul Maldives.

Roberto Pelliccia has been appointed General Manager for the Pelangi Beach Resort and Spa in Malaysia. For the past two years, he had been the General Manager for the Grand Lido Negril & Spa in Jamaica.

Kjell Rognoy has been named General Manager of the Radisson Plaza Hotel Tianjin, which is scheduled to open by mid 2009. He previously spent a year as General Manager of sister hotel, the Regent Shanghai.

Chris Koehler has returned as General Manager and Area Vice President of the Grand Hyatt Shanghai. He had previously served as General Manager of the hotel before taking on his most recent position of General Manager for the Grand Hyatt Beijing as well as Area Vice President of North China for Hyatt.

David Wicker has joined the New World Hotel Wuhan as General Manager. He had previously held similar roles in Shanghai at the Plaza Royale Oriental Shanghai and Shanghai JC Mandarin.

Nigel Grocock has been named Managing Director of Singapore’s Sentosa Resort. He most recently opened two hotels for Carlson in Beijing (the Regent Beijing and the Park Plaza Wangfujing). Grocock previously had a long career with Shangri-La throughout Asia.

Alex Kassatly has moved to Raffles Hotel Le Royal and the Raffles Grand Hotel D'Angkor as General Manager. He was most recently the General Manager of the Fairmont Towers Cairo and previously served as General Manager of the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac.

Douglas Ariza-Giammaria has been appointed Hotel Manager at the Laguna Resort & Spa, Bali. For the past two years, he had been the Director of Rooms for the Regent Singapore.

Las Vegas Sands has named Leonard De Angelo Senior Vice President of Asia Operations. De Angelo most recently served as Executive Vice President of Operations for Penn National Gaming. He had previously served as President of both the Hilton Casino Beach Resort and the Sands Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City and as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sun International.

Nigel Roberts has joined Las Vegas Sands as President of its Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President of Operations for Langham Hotels and Resorts.

Klaus Rauter has been named General Manager at the Andara Resort Residences in Phuket. His previous positions include General Manager at the Bandara Resort in Koh Samui the Zeavola Resort and Spa in Thailand and Director of Food and Beverage for the Banyan Tree Phuket.

Laurent Garrido has stayed on as General Manager to what is now the Hilton Hotel Tahiti. The Sheraton Tahiti, the Sheraton Moorea and the Bora Bora Nui Resort have recently been reflagged from Starwood to Hilton.

The Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon has appointed Vella Ramasawmy General Manager. He was most recently the General Manager of the Kempinski Hotel Khao Lak.

John Lim has joined the InterContinental Century City in China as Hotel Manager. He was most recently the Resident Manager at the InterContinental Beijing Beichen.

Scott Hodgetts has been appointed General Manager of the Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel and Spa, expected to open in July. For the past two years, he had been the General Manager of the Sheraton Bandung Hotel and Towers in Indonesia.

Dominic Brennan has joined the Crowne Plaza Century Park Shanghai as General Manager. He was most recently the General Manager of the Holiday Inn Downtown Shanghai.

James Kim has been appointed General Manager of the Plaza Royale Furongguo in Changsha. He was most recently the Director of Operations at the Renaissance Tianjin and Sanya Hilton Resort.

The Pullman Reef Hotel Casino in Cairns has named Adrian Williams General Manager. He has held a variety of senior management positions with Accor, most recently overseeing the Formule 1 brand as its General Manager nationally. Prior to this, he was the General Manager of the Mercure Grosvenor Hotel in Adelaide.

Wendy Morris has joined Lizard Island in Australia as General Manager. She was most recently the General Manager for the Hotel Lindrum in Sydney in addition to others for Australian Super Developments Ltd.

Foued El Mabrouk has been promoted to General Manager of the Grand Hyatt Beijing at Oriental Plaza. He has been with the hotel since 2001, joining as the Director and Marketing before taking on his most recent role as Resident Manager.

Eka Ananta has been appointed Resident Manager of the InterContinental Beijing Beichen. He was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing of the Regent Beijing and Park Plaza Wangfujing Beijing.

Boris Blobel has moved to the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island as Resident Manager. This past year, he joined the Conrad Shanghai as Director of Operations, after serving as Director of Rooms for the Grand Hyatt Beijing for two years.

Scott Ward has joined the Hilton Waikoloa Village as Resident Manager. Most recently, Ward was the General Manager of the Crowne Plaza Tampa East.

Philipp Knüpfer has transferred to the Mandarin Oriental Singapore as Executive Assistant Manager Food and Beverage. Since 2006, he had been with the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi as Director of Food and Beverage. He had previously held food and beverage related positions for the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur and the (former) Kahala Mandarin Oriental.

Mark Gailey is the new Director of Food and Beverage at the Orchard Hotel Singapore. He was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage for four years at Singapore’s M Hotel.

The Hilton Waikoloa Village has named Abby Murtagh Director of Food and Beverage. A Cornell graduate, Murtagh was most recently Vice President, Food and Beverage for HEI/Merritt Hospitality. She had previously served as Director of Food and Beverage for Hershey Entertainment.

Kimberly Tate has transferred to Hawaii and will oversee both the Four Seasons Lana'i at Manele Bay and Four Seasons, The Lodge at Koele as Director of Human Resources. She was most recently in the same position at the Four Seasons Whistler.

Robert O' Kennedy has returned to Bangkok as Director of Marketing for the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok. He previously served as Director of Marketing at the Four Seasons Bangkok before taking on his most recent position as pre-opening Director of Marketing for the Four Seasons Beijing.

Matthias Bernard has been appointed Director of Sales of the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta and the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place, replacing Walid Birak now in Cairo with Ritz-Carlton. Bernard had previous served as Assistant Director of Sales and Marketing with the One&Only Royal Mirage in Dubai.

The Preferred Hotel Group has named Keisuke Kishi Director of Global Sales – Japan, based in Tokyo. Most recently the Assistant Director of Sales at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo, Kishi had previously served in various sales roles for Hilton and the Park Hyatt Tokyo.

Vineet Mahajan has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing at the Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon in New Dehli. He had previously served as Director of Sales for the Grand New Delhi.

Juliana Yeo has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for the Regent Beijing. She has previously held various sales roles for the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai and Singapore's Mandarin Oriental, Conrad, and Raffles The Plaza.

The Nikko Dalian has appointed Dolly Leng Director of Sales and Marketing. She had previously served as Sales Manager at the Gloria Plaza Hotel Shenyang and as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hyatt Boutique Hotel Shenyang.

Thomas Figovc has been appointed Executive Chef at the Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon. He had previously held the title of Executive Chef for the Shangri-La New Delhi, and the Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort Singapore.

Joachim Kreisel has joined the Westin Grande Sukhumvit in Bangkok as Executive Chef. He was most recently the Executive Sous Chef at the Westin Sydney. Prior to that, he worked with the Sheraton on the Park as Banquet Sous Chef.

New York celebrity chef Wayne Nish is in Singapore as Executive Chef for Privé. He was previously the Executive Chef at the Supper Club in New York and the owner of March, also in New York. Nish originally made his name as Chef of New York’s much-missed La Colombe d’Or.

Charles Charbonneau has joined the Hilton Waikoloa Village as Executive Chef. He was most recently the Executive Chef at the Marriott at Sawgrass, under Waikoloa General Manager Debi Bishop. Charbonneau had previously served as Corporate Director of Food and Beverage and Corporate Executive Chef for Interstate Hotels.

Philippe Daue has joined the Imperial in New Delhi as Executive Pastry Chef. He was most recently in the same position for the Shangri-La Bangkok. He previously served as Pastry Chef for the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur.

Divya Prakash Ahuja has been named Director of Rooms for the Shangri-La Surabaya. For the past two years, he had been the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Shangri-La Jakarta and Shangri-La Residences, Jakarta.

The InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong has appointed Gottfrid Tse Front Office Manager. He was previously in the same position at the InterContinental Shenzen.

Michele Wilkin has joined former boss Debi Bishop at the Hilton Waikoloa Village as Kohala Spa Director. Wilkin worked with Bishop most recently at the Marriott at Sawgrass as Spa Director.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

Hilton Hotels has appointed Elie Younes Vice President of Development, based in Dubai. He was most recently with Starwood, where he served as Senior Director for Acquisition and Development.

Also with Hilton in Dubai, Carlos Khneisser has been named Director of Development for the Middle East. He comes from his most recent position as Director of Finance, Leisure and the Nuran Serviced Residence for the Emaar Hospitality Group.

Khaled Helmy has left Islamabad and his position of General Manager of the Serena, to become the General Manager, Gulf Operations, for Jumeirah.

John Pelling has been named General Manager of the Raffles Dubai. He was most recently the Regional Vice President, China, for Swissôtel. This is a return to Dubai for Pelling who previously served as General Manager for the Jumeirah Al Khor, the Jumeirah Mina A'Salam, and the Jumeirah World Trade Center Hotel.

Dagmar Woodward has been appointed General Manager of the Jumeirah Mina A’Salam in Dubai. She was until recently the General Manager of the Royal Monceau (now being converted into a Raffles) following a thirty-year career with InterContinental, which culminated with a seven-year stint as General Manager of the (former) InterContinental Paris.

The Fujairah Rotana Resort and Spa has named Mrad El Khoury General Manager. He had been the General Manager at the Burjuman Rotana since 2006. He joined Rotana Hotels in 2003 as Area Director of Sales and Marketing for Dubai and the Northern Emirates.

Frédéric Boulin has joined the Grand Hyatt Cairo as General Manager. For the past two years, he had been the General Manager of the Hyatt La Manga in Spain. Boulin previously served as Resident Manager at the Grand Hyatt Sao Paulo and oversaw food and beverage for the Grand Hyatt Seoul and the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong.

The Swiss-Belhotel Masirah Island in Oman has appointed Jose Martin Coelho pre-opening General Manager. He was most recently the General Manager of the Al Wadi Hotel, Sohar and Ruwi Hotel, Ruwi in the Sultanate of Oman.

Philippe Rubod has moved to Qatar to join the Ritz-Carlton Doha as Hotel Manager. He had previously served as General Manager for Bürgenstock Hotels and for the Hôtel d’Angleterre in Geneva.

The Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates has promoted Fuat Koroglu Executive Assistant Manager. He was most recently at the Ciragan Palace Kempinski Istanbul as Director of Food and Beverage.

Walid Birak has been promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing for the Nile Hotel Cairo, a future Ritz-Carlton hotel. He was most recently the Director of Sales of the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta and the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place.

Jim McEachern has moved to the Fairmont Heliopolis and Fairmont Towers Heliopolis in Cairo as Director of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently serving as Director of Sales and Marketing for the Fairmont Winnipeg.

The Hilton Hefei has appointed Robert King Director of Business Development. He was most recently part of the pre-opening sales and marketing team for the Hilton Guiyang.

Philip Carmichael has moved on to oversee the kitchens at Gordon Ramsay’s latest restaurant, Maze in Cape Town, within the One&Only Resort due to open in April. His most recent role was overseeing the opening of Maze at the Hilton Prague Old Town (no longer a Gordon Ramsay restaurant).

Jean-Christophe Basseau has joined the Beachcomber Group at the Paradis Hotel & Golf Club in Mauritius as Executive Chef. He was most recently the Executive Chef for the Colombo Beach and Spa Resort in Portugal. This is a return to Mauritius for Basseau who was previously the Executive Chef at the Legends Mauritius before moving to oversee the kitchens for Le Méridien Bora Bora.

Jacques Lollier has transferred within the Beachcomber Group as Executive Chef to the Royal Palm Marrakech, slated to open in 2010. He was most recently the Executive Chef for the Paradis Hotel & Golf Club in Mauritius.

Simon Sperling has joined the Conrad Cairo as Executive Chef. For the past five years, he had served as Executive Chef for the Jeddah Hilton. He previously served as Executive Chef at the Paradis Hotel and Golf Resort in Mauritius, the Mena House Oberoi in Cairo, and the Anassa in Cyprus.

Christian Jean has been appointed Executive Chef for the pre-opening of the Renaissance, Courtyard and Marriott Executive Apartments Doha City Center. His previous assignments include Executive Chef at the JW Marriott Seoul, Executive Sous Chef at the JW Marriott Dubai as well as at the Hilton Shanghai.

Max Binda is now in Marrakech as Director of Rooms for the Mandarin Oriental , slated to open this year. He was most recently in the same position for the Mandarin Oriental Geneva. He had previously served in various rooms related positions for the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong and the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park London.



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