Richard Solomons has been named Chief Operating Officer, The Americas for Bass Hotels & Resorts. Prior to his appointment he served as Senior Vice President, Finance at Bass Hotels & Resorts 

Gary Pugatch is Vice President Meetings and Conventions for the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board, dealing primarily with Atlantis, British Colonial Hilton, Nassau Beach, Nassau Marriott Hotel & Crystal Palace Casino, Radisson Cable Beach, Sheraton Grand, Sandals Royal Bahamian and Superclubs Breezes. He was previously the Vice President Marketing for Our Lucaya, following a few years in the same capacity for the Wyndham El Consquistador in Puerto Rico.

Thomas Stegmaier has left his position of Executive Chef at the Mark Hopkins Inter-Continental to become the Corporate Chef for the German Oven Company Rational, based out of Schaumburg, Illinois. At the Mark his successor is his former Executive Sous Chef Shawn Olmstead.

Bernard Erpicum, who had built his name in the eighties as Spago's suave Maitre d'Hotel to the stars, before opening and running the short-lived Eclipse, has resurfaced as Maitre d'Hotel at Encore, the restaurant at the St. Regis Los Angeles.

Linda Adams who used to be the Corporate Director of Marketing and Communications for Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts prior to launching her own firm, is now providing Orange County Public Relations support for the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa, which is still slated to open in late July.  She is also doing Public Relations consulting work with Henry Schielein (who used to be the genial and jovial General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel in its AAA Five-Diamond days) on the new Balboa Bay Club & Resort, due to open in January 2003. It will have 159 rooms and be the only full-service resort on the water in Newport Beach. 

Also at the St. Regis Monarch Beach, the management team is almost complete with the arrival of Director of Engineering Nick Paine, who transfers from the company¹s Los Angeles property; Charles Lennox III starts May 21 as Director of Food and Beverage, after a one-year tenure at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Prior to that, Lennox had spent sixteen years with Halekulani in Honolulu and Maui. As for the coveted Executive Chef position, it goes to former Four Seasons/Regent man Azmin Ghahreman who joins after an ultrashort stint at Earl Holding's brand new Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City He previously sported the top toque at the Regent of Sydney, the Regent of Kuala Lumpur and the Four Seasons Hualalai. At the St. Regis the "leased out" restaurant will be Aqua, whose manager is Ronan Hénaff, formerly of New York¹s top-rated Le Bernardin

Eric Danziger has left the hospitality helm of the Carlson Group of Companies -Radisson, Regent International & miscellaneous secondary brands- to go into a dot-com situation. He obviously knows something we mere mortals do not know....

Ernest J. Catanzaro has joined Regal Hospitality Management as Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing. He was previously the Vice President of Sales & Marketing for the Melrose Hotel Company.

Greg Claytor is Hotel Manager at the very, very private Mill Reef Club in Antigua. He previously managed Spanish Bay Reef Resort in Grand Cayman.

Frederic Foster is Chef de Cuisine at Acajou, the fine-dining venue at Sandy Lane in Barbados. He is an alumnus of Heddington Hall and London¹s Le Gavroche and Aubergine.

James Overbaugh is the new Executive Chef at Orient-Express' Windsor Court in New Orleans coming from the luxe Chateau du Sureau, a Relais & Chateau. He takes over from René Bajeux, who leaves the Windsor Court after several years to launch his own René's at the Père Marquette, soon to re-open as the Renaissance New Orleans.  Also at the Windsor Court the new Pastry Chef is Joy Jessup who was previously a Pastry Instructor at the Culinary Institute of America. A new Director of Sales and Marketing too, in Patrick Blangy, who transfers from Orient-Express' two Mid-Atlantic boutique properties, Keswick Hall and Inn at Perry Cabin. He takes over from Chuck McGill who will now handle Sales and Marketing for Wyndham¹s three properties in New Orleans.

Jerauld Regester has left his position as Executive Chef at Richard Rainwater¹s Ventana Big Sur to join the Phoenician as Chef de Cuisine for its Terrace restaurant. Why the odd move? Cost of housing along the Northern California coast has gone out of whack. The only hoteliers doing something about it are the Pebble Beach Companies whose expansion plans include substantial subsidized employee housing. 

John V. Washko, formerly Executive Assistant Manager at the Four Seasons at Beverly Hills has been promoted to Hotel Manager of the new Four Seasons San Francisco, due to open its 277 rooms plus 140 residences in September of this year.

Susan Weaver, long Four Seasons' poster child of equal opportunity in the kitchen, has left her position of Executive Chef at the Four Seasons New York. Weaver originally rose from the ranks at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago (a Four Seasons Hotel) then the company's flagship hotel She also was the Executive Chef at the Four Seasons Houston Center.

Sherrie Laveroni has been promoted to Executive Vice President for Loews Hotels taking over from Steven Marx, who was ousted a few weeks ago. 

Armel Santens is the new General Manager at the over-a-century-old Brown Palace in Denver, replacing long time General Manager Peter Aeby who retired. Santens comes from the Biltmore Los Angeles, newly renamed Millennium Biltmore, where the new man in charge is Gunther Zweimuller.

As Area Director of Operations, Gary Gutierrez oversees Wyndham Hotels in the Washington, D.C. and Virginia areas. Prior to relocating to Washington, he was General Manager for the 408-room Wyndham Miami Airport.  Dave Rossman, the former General Manager of the Wyndham City Center is now overseeing the $32 million renovation of the Wyndham Newark Airport, opening fourth quarter 2001.  Ian Harvey joins the Wyndham Roanoke Airport as General Manager from his position as Rooms Division Director at the 300-room Wyndham Sugar Bay Beach Club & Resort in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands.  Harvey joined Wyndham in 1999 from the Loews L¹Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C. 

Thomas W. LaTour, 57, Chief Executive Officer of the Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, has been elected to the additional position of Chairman of the Board of the company following the recent death of company founder William D. Kimpton.  LaTour has been with the Kimpton Group for 18 years and has been its Chief Executive Officer for half that time. 

Gregory J. Cross has been named Senior Vice President Revenue Management of Hilton Hotels Corporation. He most recently served as Vice President Revenue Management for the company.  From August 1995 to April 1997, Cross served as Corporate Director of Revenue Management for the company, and was responsible for developing Hilton Hotels¹ current revenue management strategies. 

Mandalay Resort Group of Las Vegas announced that Tony Korfman is the new General Manager at the company's Edgewater property in Laughlin, Nevada.  Korfman served as General Manager of the Gold Strike Inn and Casino in Boulder City from 1979 to 1998. Curtis Jacks, who was the General Manager at the Nevada Landing in Jean, Nevada, is transferring to the Colorado Belle in Laughlin, Nevada as General Manager. Linda Heptner replaces Curtis Jacks as General Manager at the Nevada Landing. 

Brad Rahinsky is the new Director of Sales and Marketing at the Sheraton Atlanta. Most recently he served as the Director of Sales and Marketing for Georgia¹s Chateau Élan Resort and Spa.

At the Ian Schrager Hotel Group, Rebecca Heutter moves from Los Angeles' Mondrian to San Francisco's Clift in the same capacity of Director of Sales and Marketing.

Mark S. Wilson has joined Adam's Mark Hotels & Resorts as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He comes to Adam's Mark from the Fairmont New Orleans, where he served as Director of Sales and Marketing Yola Nosworthy has been named Director of Sales for Adam's Mark Hotels & Resorts' new national sales office in Chicago.  Prior to joining Adam's Mark, Nosworthy spent 26 years working for Hyatt Hotels.

Benchmark Hospitality has announced the promotion of Laura Neumann to the position of Vice President. She will operate out of Benchmark¹s Midwest regional office located in Minneapolis, Minnesota and will directly oversee five Benchmark properties located in the Midwest.  Neumann began her career with Benchmark Hospitality in 1987 as Director of Conference services at Chaminade, an executive conference center located in Santa Cruz, California. 

Twin Farms is having a little sister: owners Thurston and Leila Twigg-Smith have bought the old Timberhill Ranch, a former Relais & Chateau in Sonoma and torn the whole thing down to rebuild from scratch a wonderful (and yet to be named) ultra-luxury getaway, due open this summer. Expect a service level on par with Twin Farms since co-managers Beverly and Shawn Matthews will also be in charge. The new property will house part of the Twigg-Smiths¹ amazing art collection.

Karyn O¹Donnell is Director of Human Resources for the soon-to-open Méridien Chicago, after opening the Omni Indianapolis. O¹Donnell also previously was in charge of Human Resources for the Omni Chicago.

At the Mandarin-Oriental San Francisco, Jose Sepu Garcia has been
promoted to Director of Food and Beverage while keeping his prior role
of Executive Chef as well. He is replacing Marc Boullion, who has left
the company. At the same hotel Pierre Barthes has been promoted from
Rooms Division Manager to Resident Manager.

David Bodette is the new Director of Food and Beverage at L'Auberge du Soleil, taking over from James Soulé who is going into consulting.  Bodette was previously at the very short-lived Elliott in Seattle, which became a Grand Hyatt before it even opened. Still at the former Elliott in Seattle, new Hyatt General Manager is Doug Sears while the old team is getting relocated everywhere. Marcie Lieberman is Director of Rooms Operations for Rosewood at Carénage Bay on Canouan Island.  Brett Matteson, former General Manager, is now a Regional Vice President with Seattle-based Columbia Hospitality. 

Geraldine Korss was recently named Director of Sales & Marketing for the Pan Pacific San Francisco. She was most recently the Director of Sales & Marketing at San Francisco's Clift Hotel. 

Paul Upchurch has joined Marcus Hotels and Resorts as Vice-President of Operations. He previously served as Vice President of Operations of the Oakbrook Hotel Corporation, a Chicago-based hotel ownership and management group. 

Joseph Champ has been named Executive Vice President, Business Development and Chief Investment Officer for Wyndham International Hotels, to oversee Hotel and Resort Development, Management Contracts and Franchise Sales. Champ was previously with Starwood Hotels & Resorts where he was Senior Vice President, Acquisitions and Development. 

Cornell Hotelier Edward Mace has resigned his position of Vice Chairman of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. Mace was President and CEO of Fairmont at the time of the merger with Canadian Pacific Hotels in 1999. 

Thierry Cahez is Executive Chef at Noble House Hotels & Resorts' Paradise Point in San Diego. He was previously the Executive Chef at the Palo Alto Golf and Country Club. He also served as Executive Sous Chef at the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco.

Josh Thomsen is now the Chef de Cuisine at the Tony-Chi-designed Nob Hill Restaurant soon to open at Las Vegas¹ MGM Grand, under the tutelage of Aqua chef-owner Michael Mina. Thomsen was previously the Chef de Cuisine at the Bernards Inn in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Shan Kanagasingham opens as Manager Maison Orleans, Ritz-Carlton¹s first "non-branded" boutique hotel, adjacent to the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans, and meant to be perceived as the "Annex".  A creative new twist on a very, very old concept. She slid into the job from that of Director of Sales and Marketing for the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans.

Victor Clavell will be opening, as General Manager, the much-anticipated Ritz-Carlton St. Moritz, located on Manhattan¹s Central Park South. He was previously at the head of the Hotel Arts Barcelona, a Ritz-Carlton property. His successor there is Luis Marco, who had originally opened the property, and subsequently left to manage Cancun¹s award-winning Ritz-Carlton.

Ramon Ramos has been promoted to Pastry Chef at the Ritz-Carlton St.  Louis, from Assistant Pastry Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua. He had also served in the same capacity at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel.

Alexander Feher has been named Executive Chef at the Hotel Inter-Continental Miami after having spent nearly two decades at the Hotel Inter-Continental New York, and more than 30 years total at Inter-Continentals worldwide. 

Peripatetic Ann Emich takes the helm of the spa at Sonoma Mission Inn as of early June, following an extended consulting stint at Sol Kerzner¹s Atlantis in the Bahamas. At Sonoma she replaces Jeffrey Kohl, who left after less than one year.

David Garwarcki is the new Bistro chef at Bacara in Santa Barbara, an alumnus of the Orchid at Mauna Lani and the Sheraton Dallas. 
 

Serge Rigodin is the Executive Chef at the Sofitel Ambassador Seoul, after three years at the Sofitel Plaza Saigon in Vietnam.

Pamela and Jacques Brouchier are the new General Manager-team at the 80-bungalow Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort, part of Laurent Bessou¹s SPM Hotels in French Polynesia. They previously ran Biras Creek on Virgin Gorda, and Pink Sands in the Bahamas.

Hans Peter Leitzke is the new Executive Assistant Manager at the Sheraton Nusa Indah in Bali. He joins from the Méridien Cairo. He had gained his original exposure to Asia as the Director of food and Beverage at the Mandarin-Oriental Manila. 

Gilles Delaloy is the new Pastry Chef at the Datai in Langkawi (Malaysia) coming from Rosewood¹s Las Ventanas al Paraiso. He replaces Gerald Maridet, who took the position of Executive Pastry Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Millennia Singapore. 

Anne Arrowsmith is now the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Regent of Jakarta. She was previously the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Méridien Beverly Hills, after being at Mondrian. It is a homecoming of sorts since Arrowsmith had been a Regional Sales Manager for Four Seasons Regent International in Los Angeles from 1992 to 1997.

Michael Luible will be leaving Sun International's Le Touessrok on Mauritius to become the new General Manager at Singapore¹s Raffles.  His successor at Le Touessrok? Heinrich Morio who slides up from Resident Manager at sister hotel Le Saint Géran.

Sabine Glissmann is the new Director of Food and Beverage at Halekulani. The position had been left vacant since Charles Lennox had left one year ago to join the Beverly Hills Hotel. A German citizen, Glissmann was previously the Director of Food and Beverage at the Park Hyatt Hamburg and at the Four Seasons Palm Beach. Also at Halekulani Gerald Glennon has been named Executive Assistant Manager, a former Director and Food and Beverage and General for the Sofitel Miami, an airport hotel.

Roger Wright has been named General Manager for the Oriental Plaza Beijing, the Harbour Plaza Group¹s new flagship hotel that will open in the summer. Wright¹s most recent assignment was as General Manager of the Swissôtel Beijing. He is joined at the Oriental Plaza by Foued El Mabrouk, Director of Sales and Marketing, who also comes from the Swissôtel Beijing.

Jim Austin has been named Director of Public Relations for Outrigger Hotels & Resorts. Most recently he was the Public Relations Director for the Pointe Hilton Resorts, in Arizona.

Bass Hotels & Resorts have announced the appointment of David Hughes as Vice President Strategy for Europe, Middle East and Africa. 

Florence Carcassonne, previously the Rooms Division Manager at Concorde¹s Hotel Martinez in Cannes, is now the General Manager at the Hotel Vernet in Paris. 

Philippe Parodi, until now the Director of Sales at Paris¹ Hotel de Crillon has been promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing at sister property the Hotel Martinez in Cannes. He replaces Sandrina Camia who joins in the same capacity Grace Leo-Andrieu's Royal Riviera in Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. Also at the Royal Riviera, the new Front Office Manager is Pierre Ollivier, who hails from the venerable Hotel Negresco in Nice, where he spent over seven years.

Roc Scavone joined the London-based P&O Ports as Regional Director, Americas. He previously was the Chief Executive Officer of  the Elegant Hotels Group, a collection of smallish resort properties in Barbados.

Noel de Munck is now Director of Food & Beverage Europe, Middle East & Africa for Hilton International, based in Brussels. He previously was the Manager of the Hilton Residence in Brussels, after a stint as Food and Beverage Manager at the Manchester Airport Hilton.

Christophe Cialdella has been named Director of Sales and Marketing at
the Hotel Millennium Paris-Opéra, a hotel we all previously knew as
the Commodore. He was previously with Travel Click, also in Paris.