| John Arnett has returned to the Kor Group as President, Hotel Division
after a three-month hiatus. The Odyssey Club, which he had joined as Chief
Operating Officer, was sold to Exclusive Resorts, a former competitor.
Arnett had been the Chief Operating Officer of the Kor Group from May 2002
until September 2003. He had previously been a Vice President of Hotel
Operations for San Francisco�s Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants.
Charly Assaly is now the Director of New Development for Central and
North America for Sol Melia. A Cornell graduate, Assaly had recently been
a hotel and restaurant consultant, since leaving his position of opening
Managing Director at Miami�s Shore Club. He had also been the Hotel Manager
at the Four Seasons New York.
David Baldwin has been appointed General Manager of the Glade Springs
Resort in West Virginia. Most recently, he had been the Hotel Manager at
the New York Palace.
Carlton Hudson is the new General Manager of the House of Blues (a Loews
hotel) in Chicago, replacing Keith Douglas. Hudson comes from the Standard
Downtown LA where he was the General Manager since September 2002.
Al Petrone has been appointed Director of Operations for Hotels AB.
Petrone previously served as Vice President Operations for Ian Schrager�s
Hudson � and before that, worked at Starwood in a variety of roles, including
Vice President � Sheraton Brand and Director of Operations for W Hotels.
The Oneida Indian Nation�s Turning Stone Resort and Casino has announced
the appointment of Robert McEleney to the position of Vice President of
Hospitality. Before joining Turning Stone, McEleney served in several Senior
Executive capacities in the corporate offices of Millennium Hotels and
Resorts. He also served as Vice President of Operations for Rockresorts.
Mike Ehmann has been appointed Area Managing Director by Starwood for
hotels in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Most recently, he
was the General Manager of the Westin Galleria in Dallas. He will be based
at the Westin Atlanta North as its General Manager.
Sean Maddock is the new General Manager at KSL�s Claremont Resort and
Spa in Oakland. Most recently he was the Hotel Manager at the Shangri-La
Bangkok. Maddock is replacing Todd Shallan who was transferred by KSL to
the position of General Manager at the newly acquired Hotel Del Coronado.
Todd Shallan, a Cornell graduate, has replaced Craig Jacobs as General
Manager of the Hotel Del Coronado. Shallan is a transfer within KSL, who
was previously the General Manager of the Claremont in Oakland. Shallan
had originally joined KSL at the Arizona Biltmore, where he had been employed
as Resort Manager by its former operator, Boca Resorts.
Craig Jacobs remains with KSL as Regional Vice President of Sales and
Marketing. Based at the Hotel Del Coronado, he will also oversee sales
and marketing for La Costa. Jacobs had originally joined the Del in May
1998 as Director of Sales & Marketing. He had subsequently been promoted
to General Manager.
Michael Hardisty, the Del Coronado�s former Vice President and Managing
Director under Destination Hotels and Resorts, has left.
Susan Gomez is the General Manager of the soon-to-open Club Intrawest
in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. A well-known Canadian hotelier, Gomez was the opening
General Manager of the Metropolitan Vancouver, which she left in 2003.
She also was, for several years, the General Manager of the the Pan Pacific
Vancouver.
Hector de Galard de Bearn has been appointed opening General Manager
of One and Only�s Saratoga in Cuba. De Galard was until recently the General
Manager of the Intercontinental Paraiso de La Bonita on Mexico�s Mayan
Riviera. He is a former Amanresort General Manager, for whom he held the
top job at both the Hotel Bora Bora and Amanjena in Marrakech.
Lionel Alvarez replaces de Galard as General Manager of Paraiso de La
Bonita. He too comes from the Hotel Bora Bora, where he was the General
Manager for the past two years. Alvarez also was the General Manager of
the Beau-Rivage Resort on Mauritius and the Plantation Club in the Seychelles.
Kai Lamle is the new General Manager of the Intercontinental New York
Central Park South, taking over from Louis Philippe. Lamle held previous
posts with Intercontinental in Toronto and Miami.
Nicholas Simmonds is the new General Manager at Cotton House on the
chic island of Mustique. No stranger to jet set destinations, Simmonds
was, from 1999 to 2002, the Hotel Manager at Parrot Cay. At Cotton House,
he takes over from Olivier Sevestre, now the General Manager of Cotton
House�s newest sister property, the Cadogan in London.
Mark Somen has been appointed General Manager of Soho House New York,
a highly successful outpost of the original London club and its country
hotel sister Babington House. Somen joins following a four-year tenure
with China Grill Management where he was most recently in charge of pre-opening
all food and beverage facilities at New York�s Hotel Gansevoort. Prior
to joining China Grill, Somen, a Kenyan, was a Food and Beverage Manager
at the St Regis New York.
John Hamati has been promoted to General Manager of the Woodlands Resort
& Conference Center after over five years as the property�s Director
of Operations. Hamati takes over from Robert Nelson.
Elie Zod has joined the Marcus Corporation as General Manager of Miramonte.
He took over from Dana Holck who joined Wyndham in Tucson a few months
ago. Zod was previously with Renaissance Hotels and Resorts, as the General
Manager of the former Renaissance Beverly Hills, (now the Loews Beverly
Hills). Zod also served as the Director of Food and Beverage at the Renaissance
Stanford Court.
Jean-Pierre Alotte has been appointed General Manager of Mohamad Hakimian�s
Hotel Madison in Memphis. Alotte had been the General Manager of Pala Mesa
for a year, following a six-year tenure with the Marcus Corporation, as
General Manager of Miramonte and Assistant General Manager of the Grand
Geneva Resort and Spa in Wisconsin.
Frank Kawecki is the new General Manager of Philadelphia�s landmark
Striped Bass. He comes from China Grill Management, with whom he had recently
opened Mix in New York.
Jace Matteucci has been appointed Director of Rooms at the soon-to-open
Mandarin-Oriental Washington DC. He was previously at the Grand America
in Salt Lake City for two years and with Westin Hotels and Resorts for
five years.
Jack Schmidt has been appointed Chief Marketing Officer for Benchmark
Hospitality. He was previously the company�s Vice President Sales and Marketing
since 1999. He originally joined the company in 1992 as Director of Sales
and Marketing for its Lansdowne Resort.
The Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club, in Redondo Beach, has appointed
Steven Boswell Director of Sales and Marketing. He joins the Portofino
from the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, where he served as Director of
Sales.
Jeff Yamaguchi has been named Vice President Residences at the MGM Grand
Las Vegas. Formerly the Corporate Director of Residences for Four Seasons
Hotels he is in charge of the six condo-hotel towers (576 units each) being
built in what used to be the amusement park at the MGM Grand.
Andrew Harrison has replaced Simon Pettigrew as Hotel Manager at the
Four Seasons Resort Aviara transferring from the Four Seasons Resort Palm
Beach where he was the Resort Manager. In Palm Beach Harrison is replaced
by Colin Clark who transfers from the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok. Clark
originally joined the group as the Reception Manager at what was then the
Regent of Hong Kong (now the Intercontinental Hong Kong) in 1990.
Mark Herron has been transferred by Four Seasons to the position of
Resort Manager at the Four Seasons Santa Barbara. As such, he takes over
from Dan Normandin. Herron is a fourteen-year Four Seasons veteran who
was most recently the Hotel Manager at what is now the Fairmont Seattle.
Dan Normandin has moved from his position of Resort Manager at the Four
Seasons Santa Barbara to that of Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons San
Francisco. There, he replaces John Washko, now part of Four Seasons� corporate
office in Toronto.
Ronald Gebhardt has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing at
the Melrose Dallas. Gebhardt was until this month the Director of Sales
and Marketing at the Chase Park Plaza in St Louis. He previously logged
several years as the Executive Director of Sales & Marketing for Sedona
Resorts.
Robert Cioffi is the Hotel Manager at the Wyndham Bel-Age. Cioffi had
moved from New Orleans to Los Angeles three years ago to be the Director
of Food and Beverage at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel. He previously
held a similar position at the classic Omni Royal Orleans.
Paul Maddison has taken over from Robert Cioffi at the Loews Santa Monica
Beach Hotel as Director of Food and Beverage. He moved up to the position
from the Loews Coronado Beach Hotel in San Diego.
Axel Rudolph has joined China Grill Management as General Manager of
Tuscan. Rudolph, whose resume includes stints as Director of Food and Beverage
at New York�s Plaza-Athénée, Omni Berkshire and Swissôtel
the Drake, was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage at the Hilton
Times Square.
GLA (Grace Leo Associates) has hired Dominique Debay to be the group�s
Director of Sales Americas, based in New York. As such, Debay will be marketing
GLA�s collection of fine small hotels, including (among others) Paris�
Lancaster, Montalembert and Bel-Ami, Mustique�s Cotton House and London�s
Cadogan. Debay joins from a similar position at the Hotel Bristol Paris,
which she had been marketing in the Americas since 1997.
Thatcher Brown, has been appointed Executive Director, Brand Marketing
for Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. A Cornell graduate, Brown originally joined
Fairmont as the company�s Director of Marketing for the US and Mexico in
2000.
Also at Fairmont, Sean Taggart has been named Executive Director, Marketing
Services. He originally joined the company in 2001. Prior to joining Fairmont,
Taggart worked for IBM.
Brian Jago is the new Director of Sales at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa.
Until recently, Jago was the Director of Sales and Marketing at Shutters
on the Beach and Casa Del Mar, two Leading Hotels of the World located
on Santa Monica�s oceanfront. Jago had joined Shutters and Casa in September
2001 following a stint in the same capacity at the St Regis Los Angeles.
Andrew Anthony has joined New York�s Trump International Hotel as Front
Office Manager. Anthony joins from the Bryant Park where he had held the
same position since mid 2002. Prior to that he took part in the opening
of Miami�s Shore Club (then a sister property to the Bryant Park) as Revenue
Manager.
Christian Amestoy, an IHMI/Cornell graduate, will be the opening General
Manager of Prime by Jean-Georges in New York. Amestoy joined Vongerichten�s
group two years ago as Manager of Restaurant Jean-Georges.
Greg Ische is the new Executive Chef at the Hotel Del Coronado, replacing
James Footit. Ische comes from the Marriott Laguna Cliffs in Dana Point.
As for Footit, he is now the Executive Chef at Estancia La Jolla, formerly
a sister property to the Hotel Del Coronado, under Destination Hotels and
Resorts. Footit had joined the Del Coronado from KSL�s La Quinta in November
2001.
Ken Ohlinger is the new Executive Chef at the Lake Placid Lodge. He
comes from Blackberry Farm, another Relais & Chateau, where he spent
the past three years. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America,
Ohlinger also worked at Germany�s Residenz Heinz Winkler, a Three-Michelin-starred
Relais Gourmand.
The Gideon Putnam in Saratoga Springs, has appointed Gerard Moser as
Executive Chef. He takes over from Otto Korner, retiring after 33 years
on the job! Moser graduated from the Culinary Institute of America.
Elliott Boggs has filled the Position of Executive Chef of the SMG-owned
Long Beach Convention Center. Boggs was formerly the Executive Chef of
the Crowne Plaza in Foster City and Restaurant Chef at the Silverado Country
Club.
At Montage Resort & Spa in Laguna Beach, Elizabeth Bernard has joined
as Reservations and Communications Manager. She comes from the Bellagio
in Las Vegas where she was the Director of PABX Operations. Bernard also
used to be the Telecommunications Manager at the Phoenician.
Molly Morton is a new National Sales Manager at the Montage Resort and
Spa. She most recently served as group Sales Manager at the Four Seasons
Aviara.
Julie Raistrick is Montage�s new Spa Operations Manager. She most recently
was the opening Spa Director at Natural Body International in Atlanta.
Also at Montage, Stephen Gruner is the new Pool Operations Manager, coming
from the Bellagio where he also served as Pool Operations Manager.
Marlon Hirsh has been appointed Director of Housekeeping at the Four
Seasons Austin. He was previously in Jakarta at the Hotel Mulia Senayan
as Director of Rooms. Prior to that he worked in various housekeeping and
guest services management positions for Ritz-Carlton in Marina Del Rey,
Atlanta and St. Thomas.
Gilles Arzur, formerly the Executive Chef of the Sofitel Los Angeles,
has transferred in the same capacity to the Sofitel Montreal. Arzur�s other
past assignments with Sofitel included one as Executive Sous Chef in Bucharest
and Kitchen Manager at the Sofitel San Francisco.
Heidy Cach has joined HotelsAB as Director of Reservations at the Downtown
Standard Los Angeles, following a four-year tenure with the Kor Hotel Group,
where she was the e-commerce Manager.
Darren McCabe is the new Executive Chef at Miramonte, replacing Christopher
Pope. McCabe was previously the Executive Chef at the Agua Caliente Casino,
and used to be the Executive Sous Chef at La Quinta.
Ian Warren has been appointed Food and Beverage Manager at the Lake
Placid Lodge. A Brit, Warren comes from the Oakwood Country Club, and was
previously the food and Beverage Manager at Newport�s tony Vanderbilt Hall.
Gilles Flores has been transferred by Orient-Express from Food and Beverage
Manager at the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort to the same position at La Samanna
in St Martin. He follows Bernard Sarme, the General Manager who had recruited
him for the Bora Bora Lagoon in December 2002. Flores used to be the Director
of Food and Beverage at the Hotel Alfonso XIII in Seville. |
