Hotel Online Special Report


Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What
October 2005
Heads Above the Rest
The Newsletter of The Boutique Search Firm

 
The Americas
Kerry Hatch will be the President of Starwood's Luxury Collection and St. Regis Hotels and Resorts. Now Starwood's highest-ranking woman, Hatch comes from Good Times Entertainment where she was the Chief Executive Officer. She previously logged twenty two years with American Express where she was the Executive Vice President and General Manager in charge of OPEN, the Small Business Network.

Daryl Ansel has been appointed Chief Financial Officer for Sam Nazarian's SBE Restaurant Group in Los Angeles. Ansel, a Cornell graduate, was previously in Philadelphia with the Starr Restaurant Organization as Chief Financial and Administrative Officer. Prior to joining SRO, Ansel was the Chief Financial Officer for Robert Spivak's Grill Concepts. Bruce Koch has been promoted at SRO from Corporate Controller to Vice President Finance to replace Ansel.

Bill Doak is leaving his position as the General Manager of Mondrian to rejoin the Oceana Hotel Group as its President. Doak had served the group as its Senior Vice President Hospitality when it acquired its two New York properties, the Roger Williams and the Franklin. 

Michael Hoffmann will be returning to America's West as the General Manager of the Boulders. Hoffman comes from London's Claridges, a property he joined in September 2004 while it was still owned (as part of the Savoy Hotel Group) by Blackstone. Blackstone since acquired Wyndham International and picked its best properties (including the Boulders) to have them join the former Boca Resorts under the newly established brand of LXR Luxury Resorts. 

Michael Pownall has been named Chief Executive Officer at Sandy Lane replacing Colm Hannan. Pownall was most recently the General Manager at Orient-Express' Keswick Hall in Virginia and also served the company as General Manager at the Hotel Mount Nelson in South Africa.

At Orient-Express, Anthony McHale has joined Keswick Hall as General Manager. For the past five years, McHale had been the General Manager at Orient-Express' sister property the Windsor Court in New Orleans. 

Long time InterContinental man Frank Van Der Post will be leaving his regional position based at the Barclay InterContinental New York to be Jumeirah's man in charge at the Essex House when they assume management (and ownership) as of January 2006. Van Der Post will also be Senior Vice President Americas for Jumeirah.

Kiawah Island has named Roger Warren President. Warren is a former President of PGA of America. He will take over from Prem Devadas, who stepped down in March and now runs Salamander Hospitality, building an inn, spa and gourmet food market in Middleburg, Virginia. Warren originally joined Kiawah as its Director of Golf in 2003. Glenn Dozier, formerly Kiawah's Chief Financial Officer, will become the resort's Executive Vice President.

Reto Torriani has been named General Manager of the Dolphin Bay Hotel & Residences in Shell Beach, slated for opening early 2006.  Torriani joins from Executive Search International. He previously served as General Manager of the Tamarind Cove Hotel and Turtle Beach in Barbados, the Athénée Palace in Djerba and the Leela Palace Kempinski in Goa.

David Lammond was promoted by the Kor Hotel Group to General Manager of the Chamberlain in West Hollywood. Lammond joined the group at the Viceroy as Assistant General Manager. He came from HotelsAB where his most recent position was that of pre-opening General Manager at the Standard Miami.

James LoBosco was named General Manager of the Loews Philadelphia. LoBosco was previously the General Manager of the Jefferson in Washington, DC a former Loews Hotel now operated by the Kor Group. 

James McPartlin has been appointed General Manager of the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York, slated for re-opening in the spring of 2006. McPartlin, who served ten years with Kimpton in San Francisco, had previously been a General Manager for W Hotels for approximately two years, first in San Francisco and then in Times Square. 

Anton Nikodemus has joined the MGM Grand Las Vegas as Senior Vice President Hotel Operations replacing Kim Cimini who has transferred to sister property Mandalay Bay. Nikodemus was most recently the Resort Manager at the Boca Raton Resort & Club. In addition, he has served in various executive positions at the Arizona Biltmore and the Phoenician.            
      
Peter Birchall has been named General Manager at the Fiesta Americana Grand Coral Beach in Cancun. Birchall was most recently the General Manager at Sol Kerzner's Palace of the Lost City and served as Managing Director at Marbella Club Resorts.

Rick Robbins is the new General Manager at TWELVE Hotels and Residences. Robbins is a former Executive Director of the Georgia Hotel & Lodging Association and served in various positions within the hotel industry, including General Manager, Regional Director of Operations and Director of Operations. He has worked for Hyatt, Interstate Hotels, Marriott International and Starwood Hotels and Resorts. 

Walter Vliegen has been appointed Vice President Resort Operations at Alys Beach in Florida. Vliegen was most recently Vice President/General Manager at Amelia Island Plantation.

Stephen John Wright has been appointed General Manager at Mountain View - The Grand Resort and Spa. Wright was previously the General Manager of the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina in Charleston, a property he will continue to oversee.

Warren Francis, a Cornell graduate, has been appointed General Manager at the Petit St. Vincent Resort in the Grenadines. Francis was previously the General Manager of the Manasota Beach Club in Florida. He also ran Cotton House for three years.

Paul Joseph is the new General Manager of the Headquarters Plaza Hotel in New Jersey, soon to be reflagged the Hyatt Morristown. This will be Joseph's eighth management position within the Hyatt organization, including positions at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City; the Grand Hyatt New York; the Hyatt Regency Irvine; the Hyatt Regency Baltimore; the Hyatt Regency New Orleans, and the Hyatt Regency Cambridge.

Roger Paull has been promoted to General Manager of the W San Diego. Paull was most recently the Acting General Manager at the W Times Square in New York where he began as Director of Operations in May 2003.  
  
Cornellian Sam Schorr has left the River Terrace Inn in Napa Valley to join Singh Hotels & Resorts as Managing Director, based in Florida.

Gunter Muller has been named General Manager for ResortQuest in Aspen. Muller was previously with Marriott Renaissance Hotels since 1999 in England. Muller also served eighteen years as the General Manager of Wintergreen in Virginia.

Albert Mertz will be joining the Barish Group � Martini Park as Chief Operating Officer. Mertz has been with Mandarin-Oriental Hotels for the past five years, originally at the Mandarin-Oriental Miami as its opening Resident Manager/Food and Beverage Director. He currently fills the role of opening General Manager of the Mandarin-Oriental Riviera Maya. At the Barish Group, he reunites with CEO Bryan O'Shields, formerly the Vice President Food and Beverage for Mandarin-Oriental.

Rudy Mack is retiring from Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts where he was most recently the Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons Whistler. Mack has served with Four Seasons in Sharm El Sheik, Aviara and Santa Barbara. In addition, he was the opening the Director of Food and Beverage at the Peninsula Beverly Hills. 

The Westin Seattle has appointed Andrea Norton Hotel Manager. Norton has previously been Director of Six Sigma for the Westin Century Plaza Hotel & Spa and St. Regis Los Angeles. She has also served as Director of Rooms/Director of Operations at the W Westwood and Director of Rooms for the Wyndham Bel-Age Hotel.  

Richard Sorensen has transferred to the Four Seasons Costa Rica as Director of Residential Services. Sorensen has been at the Four Seasons Carmelo, Four Seasons Vancouver and most recently the Four Seasons Newport Beach as Director of Rooms.

Cindy Racco was recently promoted to Resort Manager at the Four Seasons Palm Beach. Prior to her promotion, she was the Director of Rooms at the Four Seasons Palm Beach and the Four Seasons Philadelphia.

Alastair McAlpine has been named Resort Manager for Four Seasons' Manele Bay Hotel. McAlpine has been with Four Seasons at the Regent Hong Kong, Four Seasons Resort Maldives, Four Seasons Tokyo at Chinzan-So, Four Seasons Washington DC and the Pierre in New York.

University of Nevada grad James Wroblewski was recently named Director of Hotel Operations at the Palms Casino Resort. Most recently he was the Director of Operations at the Westin Pasadena. Prior to that he was at the Westin Century Plaza Hotel and Spa where he held numerous leadership positions. At the Palms, he takes over from Greg Sheets.

Jace Matteucci has been named Assistant General Manager at the Madison in Washington DC. Matteucci was previously the Director of Rooms Operations at the El Conquistador Resort in Puerto Rico. This marks a return for him to the DC area where he served as Director of Rooms at the Mandarin-Oriental. 

Ciryl Fernandez is the new Financial Controller at Orient-Express' La Samanna in St. Martin. He previously worked in a similar capacity at Le Méridien La Cocoteraie in Guadeloupe and Le Méridien Le Domaine de Lonvilliers.

Destination Hotels and Resorts have appointed Anne-Edith Cameron Director of Rooms at the Royal Palms in Scottsdale. Cameron, a Lausanne graduate, had spent nine years at San Ysidro Ranch in several positions ending with that of General Manager. Most recently, she had been the Director of Operations at San Francisco's Parc 55. 

Chris Perry has been named Vice President Sales and Marketing at the Mohegan Sun Hotel and Casino. He comes from the New York Hilton and Towers where he served as Director of Sales and Marketing, following a stint as Vice President Sales and Marketing for the Boutique Hotel Group.

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants has appointed Dina Koss to Director of Acquisition and Development. Koss was most recently a Financial Analyst at Bear Stearns in New York.

Armine Vartoughian has joined André Balazs Properties (formerly known as HotelsAB) in New York as Director of Accounting. Vartoughian was previously the Corporate Director of Finance for Affinia and Financial Controller for Le Parker Méridien.

Benchmark Hospitality International has promoted Esther Rodriguez to the position of Vice President, Controller. Rodriguez began her affiliation with Benchmark as Controller for the Forrestal Hotel in Princeton and was most recently the company's Corporate Controller.

Mark Dressel has joined TWELVE Hotels and Residences in Atlanta as Director of Finance. Dressel was previously the Financial Controller at the Mandarin-Oriental Washington DC. He previously spent thirteen years with Ritz-Carlton years in various positions in Washington DC, Dearborn, Boston and St. Louis.

Kevin Stuessi has left Wynn Las Vegas to join forces with the majority owners building the 3,000-room W Resort Las Vegas as Senior Vice President of Strategic Development and Food & Beverage for The Edge Group.

Sammy Afif has joined Estancia La Jolla as Director of Food and Beverage. Afif has been in similar positions at Raffles L'Ermitage, the Hollywood Roosevelt, Le Méridien at Beverly Hills and the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel and Spa.

Demi Ortega has transferred to the Four Seasons Palm Beach as Director of Food and Beverage. Ortega has been with the company since 1987 in various positions in Scottsdale, Atlanta and most recently as Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Newport Beach.

Sébastien Arnaud has been appointed Director of Food and Beverage at the One and Only Palmilla. Arnaud previously served in a similar role at Keswick Hall and the Watergate Hotel.

InterContinental Hotels Group has named Janis Cannon Vice President, Brand Management, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, the Americas. Cannon most recently served as the Deputy Commissioner of Tourism for the Georgia Department of Economic Development and has an extensive background in sales and marketing, as well as hotel operations.

Beth Allen has joined TWELVE Hotels and Residences as Director of Sales and Marketing. Allen began her career in Chicago and held various positions at Hotel Nikko and Four Seasons Chicago. In 1995 she began her tenure with Ritz-Carlton in sales and worked at various properties including Atlanta, Buckhead, the Caribbean and Mexico and most recently Miami. 

Carol Vail has transferred as Director of Sales and Marketing to the Fairmont Newport Beach, formerly the Sutton Place Hotel. Vail has been a Director of Marketing at the Claremont, Doral Resort and Country Club, La Costa Resort and Spa, Westin Kauai Resort and most recently the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess.

Pamela Ryan has joined Dolphin Bay Hotel and Residences in Shell Beach as its Director of Sales and Marketing. Ryan has previously worked for Fairmont and Orient-Express' Bora Bora Lagoon Resort and most recently did sales and marketing activities with her own company for A-France Hotels and Pacific Destination Center. 

Terri Reid will be the Director of Sales and Marketing for the soon to be renamed Four Seasons Newport Beach, a property that will turn into the Island Hotel as of November. Reid joins from the St. Regis Monarch Beach where she has run Sales and Marketing since March 2004, following a stint in the same capacity at the Sofitel Wentworth in Sydney.

Frank Fuentes has been appointed Director of Sales & Marketing at the Regent South Beach. Fuentes was previously working for the Sol Group in Miami as Corporate Director of Sales.

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has appointed Mary McCarthy as Director of Sales for the Eastern United States and Canada. For the past twelve years, McCarthy was at the Leading Hotels of the World in New York, most recently as Director of New Business Development. She previously worked at Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's New York office as National Director of Travel Industry Sales and Regional Director of Sales.

Barbara Hairston has been named Associate Director of Sales at Rosewood Hotels and Resorts replacing Raffaella Manetti who has joined Accor based in Los Angeles. Hairston was most recently Director, West Coast Sales for New York's Plaza and has previously spent time selling the Fairmont Copley Plaza, ANA Hotels International and the Westin Bonaventure. 
Bill Love has joined the Mandarin-Oriental Hotel Group in Los Angeles as Regional Sales Manager. Love was most recently Global Sales Manager for the Morgan Hotel Group.

The Bentley Hotels have named Adam Leon Area Director of Sales and Marketing. Leon was most recently the Director of Sales at the Hilton Palm Beach Oceanfront Resort.

Elfa Cleofe has returned to the Four Seasons Philadelphia as Director of Sales. Cleofe was previously a Consulting Director of Marketing at Four Seasons Chinzan-So and began her Four Seasons career in Philadelphia and before stints in Seattle and New York.

Tony Rodriguez has transferred to the Four Seasons Miami as Director of Sales. Rodriguez was most recently in the same position at the Four Seasons Philadelphia and was previously the Corporate Sales Manager at the Four Seasons Houston.
Alisa Kimble has joined the Parker Méridien Palm Springs as Senior Sales Manager. Kimble was most recently Corporate Sales Manager at the Four Seasons Newport Beach.

Cynthia Berlo has been named Leisure Sales Manager for Meadowood in Napa Valley.  Berlo was previously with One&Only Palmilla Resort as Director of Corporate Group Sales.

Edward Goff has joined the Hyatt Regency Long Beach as Revenue Director. Goff has held similar positions while at the Millennium Biltmore and six years at the Four Seasons Newport Beach. 

Tracy Larrua has been appointed Director of Public Relations at the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica. Most recently, Larrua worked as a free-lance Public Relations and Marketing consultant to a variety of small businesses in both Los Angeles and Hawaii. Prior to that, she served as the Marketing Communications Director at the Century Plaza Hotel & Spa. She did same as Area Director of Public Relations for the Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey and the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua.

Janet Feinstein has opened up her own venture, Vivant Hospitality. Feinstein was previously involved in corporate group sales for Abigail Kirsch Culinary Productions, Broadway Inner Circle, Dodger Theatricals and Theatre Direct International.
Steve Haigh has been named Director of Engineering for the newly renamed Island Hotel, formerly the Four Seasons Newport Beach. Haigh was most recently the Chief Engineer at Shutters on the Beach after serving in a similar capacity Chief Engineer at the St. Regis Monarch Beach.

Mario Barroso has been appointed Director of Engineering at the Royal Palm Melia in Miami rejoining his old boss Robert Todak with whom he worked with at the Delano where he was the Chief Engineer from 1996 to 2002. Barroso was previously the Director of Engineering at the Setai and the Roney Palace.

Pat Ware has been named Director of Engineering at the Manele Bay Hotel. Ware has been with the Four Seasons at the Four Seasons Vancouver, Regent Jakarta, Four Seasons Atlanta and opened the Four Seasons San Francisco.
Alec Engineer has been named Director of Human Resources at Oheka Castle. Engineer was most recently the Director of Human Resources at the Melrose in New York. He worked previously for Marriott and Sheraton Hotels on Long Island, the Regent Wall Street and Abigail Kirsch.

Teri Borowski has joined the San Mateo Marriott as Director of Human Resources. Borowski was most recently at the Boca Raton Resort and Club as Director of Human Resources and previously served as Director of Personnel at the Adam's Mark Jacksonville.

Eric Scuiller has been named Executive Chef at the soon-to-open Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman.  Scuiller was previously the Executive Chef of the Beverly Hills Hotel where his successor is Robert Sulatycky.

Jean-Pierre Bagnato has been appointed Executive Chef of the Mark New York. Bagnato was most recently Chef Patron at Margaux at the Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel. 

Patrick Becquet has been promoted to Executive Chef at Citronelle in Santa Barbara where he had been working for the past five years under Executive Chef Isabelle Alexandre, who has returned to Europe.

Bruno Chemel has been appointed Executive Chef at the Los Altos Country Club. Chemel was most recently at La Suite in San Francisco as opening Executive Chef and was previously the Chef de Cuisine at the now-shuttered Aqua at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort and Spa. 

Toni Robertson has transferred to the Mandarin-Oriental New York as Executive Chef, from the same post at the Mandarin-Oriental San Francisco.

Charlie Hansji has been appointed Executive Chef at the Jefferson in Washington DC. He had spent thirteen years at the Four Seasons Washington prior to performing the re-opening of the Madison, as its Executive Chef in 2003.

Philippe Chin is moving to Aiken, South Carolina to open ÒcuiZineÓ in the Hotel Aiken. Chin was previously at the Partridge Inn in Augusta, Georgia for four years.

Bertrand Bouquin is the new Chef de Cuisine at the Broadmoor's Penrose Room taking over from Paul Jensen who is relocating to Aspen after five years. For the past four years, Bouquin was the Executive Chef at the Maisonette Restaurant Group. Maisonette, a forty-year recipient of Mobil Five Stars, closed this summer.

Josh Thomsen is the new Chef de Cuisine at Tao Las Vegas. Thomsen was most recently the Corporate Executive Chef at Boa also in Las Vegas and previously worked in the kitchens of the Lodge at Pebble Beach, Kerry at the Hard Rock, Nob Hill Restaurant at the MGM Grand, the Bernards Inn, Hotel Bel Air and the French Laundry. He is a CIA graduate.

Robert Muehlich has left his position of Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the St. Regis Monarch Beach to become the Food and Beverage Director at Rosewood's Caneel Bay. Prior to joining the St. Regis, Muehlich was at the Sonoma Mission Inn.

Andreas Kappenhagen is the Director of Service at Sassi, in Peoria, Arizona. He recently served as the food and Beverage Director at the Viceroy Palm Springs and Miramonte, following four years at La Quinta as its Assistant Director of Food and Beverage.

Thomas Hoffman has joined the Four Seasons Lanai as Food and Beverage Director. Hoffman was previously the Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Hualalai. Stéphane Gras replaces Hoffman at the Four Seasons Hualalai, a former Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Newport Beach. Gras was previously the Food and Beverage Manager at the Château de Bagnols.

Sven Norrenberg has joined the Miami InterContinental as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage. Norrenberg was most recently the Restaurant Manager at the Mark Hopkins InterContinental. He also was the opening Restaurant Manager at the Viceroy Santa Monica.

Harvey Friend has joined the newly opened Wilshire restaurant as General Manager. Friend joins from the Water Grill in and was previously at Michael's in Santa Monica.

Scott Dirks has been named Director of Rooms Operations at the Grand Wailea Resort. Dirks was previously the Manager at the Bungalows at Mauna Lani and Director of Rooms Operations at Shutters on the Beach.
 
Jerry Maon has joined the Fairmont Newport Beach as Director of Rooms. Maon was previously with InterContinental Hotels for ten years in Cleveland, Houston and most recently in Atlanta as Director of Rooms.

Sherry Lurie has been appointed Director of Housekeeping at the Greenbrier. Lurie served in the same capacity at the Boca Raton Resort & Club.

The Palms in Turks and Caicos has named Matthew Bartle its new Front Office Manager. Bartle was most recently the Front Office Manager and Front Desk Director of Spa Services at the Peninsula Beverly Hills and has held various front office positions at the InterContinental Central Park and Hotel InterContinental Barclay. 

Ginn Clubs & Resorts has appointed Darrin Pinkham as Vice President, Application Systems. Pinkham was previously Chief Technology Officer for Loews Hotels at Universal Orlando. He has also worked for Boca Resorts, Hershey Resorts, and InterContinental Hotels & Resorts in technology and finance management related positions.

Jim Root has joined Sea Island in Georgia as Director of Spa Operations. Root was previously the Director of Spa Operations at Miraval and served in a similar position at Meadowood.

Karen Watson, formerly Assistant Spa Director at Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires, has been named Manager of the spa and salon at the Oneida Indian Nation's Turning Stone Resort and Casino.

Tripp Maulden, a former associate of Michael Mina is the new Executive Chef at the Rouas family's Angèle in Napa where he fills the spot left vacant when Christophe Gérard left in July to open Fifty Five Degrees with Luc Dendievel in Sacramento.

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Europe
Giovanni Caronia will be the General Manager of the Westin Paris, the former Hotel InterContinental Paris, replacing long-time InterContinental General Manager Dagmar Woodward. Caronia will also continue to serve as Regional Director, France for Starwood. He has recently been relocated from the Westin Trianon Palace in Versailles to the Sheraton Roissy Charles de Gaulle, a property he had opened several years ago.

Myriam Kournaf has been named General Manager of the Hotel Montalembert in Paris replacing Alexandre Forgeries.  Kournaf was most recently the General Manager at Le Beau Rivage in Nice and was previously at Le Méridien Garden Beach as Director of Operations and Director of Sales and Marketing. Kournaf also worked for the Boutique Search Firm in 1998.
Ludovic Deschamps formerly the General Manager of Grace Leo's Hotel Bel-Ami in Paris, is now the General Manager of the Château de Courcelles, a Relais & Chateau in the Champagne region.

Isabelle Gainche has left her post of Director of Sales and Marketing at the Palais de la Méditerranée in Nice to take as similar position at St. Tropez' famed Hotel Byblos. Prior to joining the Palais in 2003, Gainche was a Sales Manager at the Majestic in Cannes. 

Gilles Humeau has joined the Four Seasons Resort Provence as Director of Marketing. He comes from the Grand Hotel InterContinental in Paris. At Four Seasons, Humeau takes the post left vacant by Pierre Fernandez who has left the industry.
Jacques Brune transfers as General Manager to the Sofia Hilton. He was most recently the Director of Operations at the Noga Hilton International in Cannes and has held food and beverage positions at the Hilton Paris Charles de Gaulle, Hotel Concorde Saint Lazare and the Paris Hilton International.

Orient-Express Hotels has appointed Paul White as Vice President - Finance and Chief Financial Officer replacing James Struthers who will be joining a private equity group based in California. White was Financial Controller for Orient-Express Hotels for seven years and was most recently Vice President - Hotels, Africa, Australia and South America for the company. 
Ralph Mehrabani is the new Director of Sales and Marketing at the SAS Royal Radisson in Brussels. Mehrabani was most recently the Director of Sales at the Ritz-Carlton Penha Longa Hotel Spa and Golf Resort in Portugal.

Diagonal Hotels has appointed Marcel Horande as Director of Sales and Marketing. Horande spent the past five years at InterContinental Hotels in Paris.

Astrid Bray has been appointed Director of Business Development at the Carlton Tower and the Lowndes Hotel, in London. Bray joins the hotels from the Conrad London where she held the position of Director of Sales & Marketing since 2002.
The Lausanne Palace & Spa has appointed Carlos Mirza in the newly created position of Regional Director of Sales Middle East & Africa. Mirza's past experience includes almost fifteen years in senior management positions with Marriott Vacation Ownerships and Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts.

David Taylor has been appointed Director of Sales & Marketing for the Great Eastern Hotel in London. Taylor joins from the Carlton Tower where he was the Director of Sales & Marketing. This is a return to the hotel for Taylor who was involved with the re-opening of the Great Eastern Hotel in 2000.

Angela Canny is joining Carlton Hotels as Group Sales Director based in Ireland. Canny was previously a Sales Development Manager for Rezidor SAS Hospitality.

Stéphanie Bocchino is the new Group Sales Manager for the hotels Méridien Etoile and Méridien Montparnasse in Paris. 
Céline Turpin is the new Manager of the Tourism Office at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. With over ten years experience in the industry, she previously held various positions in sales and events organization at the Ritz in Paris. She started her career at the Domaine du Tramblay-sur-Mauldre where she was a Banquet Manager. 
  
Also at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, Laure Toma-Auneau has been appointed Leisure Tourism Manager. She previously held various sales positions with the hotel All Suites and the hotel Amarane in Cannes. 
  
Alain Bachmann is now the Food and Beverage Manager at Rocco Forte's Lowry in Manchester. He recently was the Assistant director of Food and Beverage and Acting Food and Beverage Director at the Mandarin-Oriental Washington, following two years as the Manager of Avenues, the award-winning restaurant at the Peninsula Chicago. 

Jean-Francois Rouquette has joined the Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme as Executive Chef replacing Christophe David who has transferred to the Park Hyatt Chicago (to take over from Sandro Gamba). Rouquette was previously the Chef de Cuisine at the Hotel Scribe in Paris, following five years as Chef de Cuisine at La Cantine des Gourmets, Sous Chef at the Hotel de Crillon, and five years as Chef de Partie at Taillevent.

Bernard Decaix is the new Executive Pastry Chef at Mohamed Al Fayed's Harrods after a brief time in Cyprus. Decaix was previously the Executive Pastry Chef at Pudong Shangri-La Shanghai. Decaix also served as the Corporate Pastry Chef for Sun International in Mauritius. He was the Executive Pastry Chef at Raffles when it reopened in 1991.

Thomas Bourdois is the new Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the Grand Hotel InterContinental in Paris. He was previously in the same position at the Méridien Montparnasse.

Asia and the Pacific
Norman Rafelson, a Cornell graduate, has been appointed General Manager of the Regent Shanghai replacing Martyn Standen who joined Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur as General Manager. Rafelson was most recently the General Manager of the David Citadel Hotel-Hilton Jerusalem, following twenty eight years with Hyatt and Hyatt International.

Gerard Sintes has rejoined Shangri-La as General Manager and Regional Vice President (for Thailand and Myanmar) at the Shangri-La Bangkok.  Sintes was most recently the General Manager at the One&Only Saint Géran in Mauritius and was previously with Shangri-La for eight years at the Shangri-La Jakarta, Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort, Shangri-La Manila and the Shangri-La Edsa Plaza Hotel also in Manila.

Vincent Mercurio will be the opening General Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Beijing. He transfers from the Portman Ritz-Carlton in Shanghai where he held the position of Hotel Manager. Mercurio used to be the Vice President of Human Resources for the international division of Ritz-Carlton.

Jeffrey Seward is the new General Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Seoul, replacing Charles de Foucault, who will be re-opening the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain. Seward, who originally joined the company for the opening of the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco, has been in Asia since 1997, where he served at the Ritz-Carlton Bali and the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong prior to being made the General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Country Club in Seoul. From there, he went on to open the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta prior to coming back to Seoul as the General Manager of his current hotel.

Pierre Perusset has returned to Jakarta as General Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta. Perusset transferred from the Ritz-Carlton Doha where he was the General Manager after transferring from the Ritz-Carlton Osaka where he had been the Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage. He held various management positions with Regent International Hotels for eight years in Singapore and Jakarta among others.

Fred Matti has joined the Sheraton Imperial in Kuala Lumpur as General Manager and Vice President Starwood Southeast Asia. Matti has been a General Manager with Starwood in Melbourne, Bangkok and most recently at the Westin Sydney.
Patrick Martinez has been appointed General Manager of the Marriott Hua Hin Resort & Spa in Thailand. Martinez has been working for Marriott International for nine years and was previously the Resident Manager of the JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok.

Ross Cowie has been appointed General Manager-Finance for Scenic Circle Hotels in Christchurch, New Zealand. Cowie was previously the Director of Finance at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai and has held a number of senior financial management roles in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea with Sheraton, Mirvac, Stamford and Rydges.

Dominique Berhouet has been promoted to open the new Crowne Plaza Sanya as its General Manager. Berhouet was previously the General Manager at the Crowne Plaza Suzhou.

Paul-Pierre Hutton has joined the Hilton Kuala Lumpur as General Manager. Hutton was most recently in the same position at the Hilton Bucharest and has been with Hilton International for nineteen years in Egypt, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Switzerland and Australia.

Herbert Laubichler-Pichler has been appointed General Manager at the Saujana Resort Kuala Lumpur. Laubichler-Pichler was previously the General Manager at the Annabelle Hotel in Cyprus.

Daniele Vastolo will be transferring to the Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur after two years at the Shangri-La Mactan where he was most recently the Resident Manager.

Frédéric Lucron has returned to Bangkok as the General Manager of the Millennium Hilton. He had served as the Director of food and Beverage of the old Bangkok Himont from 1992 to 1997, prior to a transfer to the Nanjing Hilton.

Jan Tibaldi has transferred to the One&Only Kanuhura as General Manager. Tibaldi was previously the Resident Manager at the One&Only Le Touessrok and at Sandy Lane.

Ilkin Ilyaszade has been appointed Group Human Resources and pre-opening Director of Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts and will be based out the Corporate Head Office for Hotel Operations in Bangkok. Ilyaszade was previously the Hotel Manager at the Deer Park Hotel in Sri Lanka and formerly worked as a Director of Rooms at the Banyan Tree Phuket.

Marco Franck is the newly appointed Executive Assistant Manager - Food and Beverage at the Shangri-La Singapore, taking over from Jurgen Doerr who has moved to the Shangri-La Far Eastern Plaza - Taipei as Resident Manager. Franck comes most recently from the Westin Kuala Lumpur and served five years with Starwood Hotels & Resorts, including their three-resort complex in Fiji. 

Food and Beverage specialist Fabrice Blondeau has transferred from the Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme to the Grand Hyatt Tokyo. He was previously the Hotel Manager at the Bora Bora Nui Resort and Spa and was a Food and Beverage Operations Manager at the Four Seasons George V.

Brice Pean has joined the Hilton Adelaide as Director of Business Development. Pean was previously at the Hilton Ramses Cairo as Director of Operations and at the Hilton Vienna in various positions since 1999.

Richard Neo has been named Hotel Manager at the Banyan Tree Ringha in China.  Neo was previously Area Manager-Spa Operations at the Banyan Bintan.

Kristy Lee is the new Director of Sales & Marketing at the Langham Hong Kong. Lee was most recently the Director of Sales at the Kowloon Shangri-La and has previously worked at the Ritz Taipei, Conrad International, Kowloon Shangri-La, Pudong Shangri-La.

CW Chang has been named Director of Marketing at the Renaissance Seoul. Chang started his career as a Management Trainee at the Seoul Hilton in 1991 and he has worked through various roles in Operations and Sales & Marketing with Hilton and Accor, most recently as Director of Marketing at the Novotel Seoul.

After two years in Tahiti, Frederick Maclean is moving from the Radisson Plaza Resort Tahiti to take on a new position as Executive Assistant Manager of the Radisson New World in Shanghai.

Monique Dekker has been named Executive Assistant Manager Rooms at the Grand Hyatt Singapore. Dekker has been with Hyatt since 1996 and was previously the Executive Assistant Manager Rooms at Park Hyatt Chicago. Before Hyatt she worked at the St. Regis in New York.

Ben Distel is the new Director of Food and Beverage at the Novotel Clarke Quay Singapore. Distel previously worked as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the Park Hyatt Chicago and the Park Hyatt Hamburg. 

Christophe Megel has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of at-sunrice, the Singapore Culinary Academy and Spice Garden. Megel joins from the Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore where he was the Executive Chef for six years. Megel had been the Executive Sous Chef on the pre-opening team of the Ritz-Carlton Osaka in addition to spending time in the kitchens at Le Cirque in New York, Le Louis XV restaurant and at Hotel Shilla in Seoul. 

Sylvain Dubreau has joined the Lotte Seoul as French Chef. For the past year, Dubreau had been Chef de Cuisine at the Hilton Mauritius Resort and Spa. He was previously in the kitchens at the Hotel de Crillon and La Tour d'Argent.

Andrew Skinner returns to Bali as the new Executive Chef at the W Resort in Bali. For the past four years, Skinner was the Executive  Chef at the Oberoi Mauritius. In addition, he has been the Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Washington DC, the Ritz-Carlton Sydney and at Amandari in Bali.

Gerald Reichstein is moving from the Dharmwangsa Jakarta where he worked for eighteen months as the Executive Sous Chef to join the Oberoi Lombok as Executive Chef. Reichstein spent three years with Rosewood as Chef de Cuisine in Riyadh for the Al Faisaliah Hotel and two years as Sous Chef at the Kempinski Moscow.

Christophe Grilo has been named Executive Pastry Chef for Alain Ducasse's SPOON at the InterContinental Hong Kong. Grilo moves to Hong Kong from Los Angeles where he spent the last eighteen months as the Pastry Chef at L'Orangerie. Prior to that, he was the Executive Pastry Chef of Le Jardin des Sens, the Three-Michelin-Starred (then) restaurant of the Pourcel brothers in Montpellier.

Filip Tibos has been promoted to Food and Beverage Manager at the Sofitel Melbourne where he was previously the Executive Pastry Chef. He replaces Marcus Hanna who is now the Executive Assistant Manager at the hotel.  Also at the Sofitel Melbourne, Scott O'Brien has been promoted to Pastry Chef and Yong Kheng Kit has been appointed Assistant Pastry Chef.

Mina Vardar Blet has been appointed Director of Guest Relations at the InterContinental Hong Kong. Blet has moved to Hong Kong from Paris where she worked for the past four years as Front Office Manager at Courtyard by Marriott Paris Neuilly. Prior to that, she served as Assistant Front Office Manager and worked in Sales at the Paris Marriott.

Middle East and Africa
Franck Reichenbach was moved with Movenpick from General Manager of the Movenpick Bahrain to General Manager of the Movenpick Istanbul. Reichenbach, a former Shangri-La General Manager, originally joined Movenpick as the General Manager of the Movenpick Beirut.

Mauro Governato returns to the One&Only Le Saint Géran replacing Gerard Sintes as General Manager. Governato was previously General Manager at the One&Only Kanuhura and spent three years at Le Saint Géran as Food and Beverage Manager then promoted to Resident Manager.

Charles de Foucault will be the re-opening General Manager of the 264-room Ritz-Carlton Bahrain. This is de Foucault's third General Manager assignment with Ritz-Carlton, following Marina del Rey and Seoul.

Joanne and Mark Netherwood, long-time pillars of Richard Branson's Virgin Hotels have taken over management of Frégate Private Island in the Seychelles for its German owners.

Nick Downing has been appointed General Manager of the Per Aquum Seychelles. Downing was previously at the Huvafen Fushi in the Maldives as General Manager.

Philippe Pellaud has been named General Manager at the Istanbul Radisson SAS. Pellaud has been with Radisson in Istanbul previously as well as Cannes and was most recently General Manager at the Radisson SAS Grand Hotel Sofia in Bulgaria.

Kevin Bratt has transferred from the Hilton Bahrain where he was General Manager to the same position at the Abu Dhabi Hilton.  Previous to Bahrain, Bratt was the General Manager at the Hilton London Islington.

Olivier Heuchenne is the new Hotel Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Dubai. Heuchenne was previously the Director of Food and Beverage at the Hotel Arts Barcelona for the past eighteen months.

John Halpin is the new General Manager at Uma Paro Bhutan. Halpin was previously the General Manager at the Oberoi Lombok and the Oberoi Bali.

Xavier Arnoux is the Executive Assistant Manager at the newly-opened Sheraton Oran Hotels and Towers in Algeria. Arnoux was previously with Méridien Hotels for twelve years in Nigeria, Cairo, Tahiti, Bora Bora and New Caledonia.

Markus Strieby is joining La Résidence Des Cascades, Golf Resort and Thalasso Center in Egypt as Director of Food and Beverage. Strieby was previously at the Jolie Ville Movenpick Golf and Resort Sharm El Sheikh, as Director of Food and Beverage for eighteen months and has worked in Switzerland, Australia, Fiji, Thailand, Malaysia & Vietnam with Hilton, Regent and Four Seasons as Executive Chef and Director of Food and Beverage.

Laurent Petit has been appointed Executive Chef at Le Méridien President in Dakar. Petit previously held a similar position at the Intercontinental Lusaka.

Gérald Bergue has been named Executive Sous Chef at the BayanTree Seychelles. Bergue was previously the Executive Chef of the Anjajavy Hotel in Madagascar and spent time as Executive Sous Chef for Les Pavillons Naiade and Frégate Island Seychelles as Executive Sous Chef.

Laurent Le Deu has been appointed Food and Beverage Manager at the Movenpick Ulysse Palace and Thalasso in Djerba. Le Deu for the past two years was at the Al Bustan Palace in Muscat as Assistant Food and Beverage Manager.

Magnus Olovson has joined the Sheraton Oran Hotel and Towers as Food and Beverage Manager. Olovson was previously in similar positions at the Hotel Beau Rivage and the Hotel Négresco in Nice.

Edited by Benoit Gateau-Cumin & Lisa Leroy
The Boutique Search Firm
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Also See:
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / August/September 2005
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / July 2005
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ June 2005
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ May 2005
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ April 2005
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / March 2005
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / February 2005
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / December 2004
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / November 2004
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / October 2004
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / September 2004
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / August 2004
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / July 2004
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / June 2004
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / March/April 2004
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ Februrary 2004
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ January 2004
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ December 2003
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ November 2003
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ October 2003
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ September 2003
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / August 2003
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / July 2003
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / June 2003
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / May 2003
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / April 2003
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / March 2003
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / Feb 2003
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / Jan 2003
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / Dec 2002
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / Nov 2002
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / Oct 2002
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What - the Americas / June 2002
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / May 2002
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / April 2002
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / Feb 2002
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / December 2001
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / November 2001
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / June 2001
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / May 2001
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / April 2001
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What  / February 2001
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What  / Nov 2000
 
 

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