Hotel Online Special Report


Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What
February 2006
Heads Above the Rest
The Newsletter of The Boutique Search Firm

 
The Americas
Dieter Huckenstein has been named Chief Executive Officer of lumber mogul Tim Blixseth's Yellowstone Club, where $4 million buys its members access to dream homes in all the right places. Huckenstein was most recently the Chairman and Chief Executive officer of Conrad International Hotels for long-time employer Hilton Hotels.

Don Robinson has been appointed President of Baha Mar Resorts following thirty-four years with Disney. He ran operations for the entire Walt Disney World Resort and, most recently, served as Executive Vice President and Group Managing Director of Hong Kong Disneyland.

San Francisco's Personality Hotels has hired Stephen Algood as Chief Operating Officer. He is a former Vice President of Operations for Luxe Worldwide Hotels, a Regional General Manager of SeaSpan Management Company and a former General Manager for Radisson. 

Marriott International has promoted Robert McCarthy to President, North American Lodging Operations. He was Executive Vice President, North American Lodging Operations prior to his appointment. McCarthy also served as Executive Vice President of Operations, Planning and Support, Regional Senior Vice President of the Northeast and Vice President of Operations for Courtyard and Fairfield Inns.

Bob Boughner has returned to Las Vegas to lead the development as President and Chief Executive Officer of Boyd Gaming's Echelon Place, the complex due to be built on the location of the current Stardust. Boughner had previously served in a similar capacity for the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. Filling in for Boughner in Atlantic City will be Larry Mullin who has been promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer of the Borgata.

Chuck Floyd has been promoted to Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer for Hyatt Hotels Corporation. He will be replacing longtime company executive Ed Rabin who retired in December. Floyd has served as the Executive Vice President of Operations since September 2003.

Stephen Miller has been named Senior Vice President, Acquisitions and Development for Laurence Geller's Strategic Hotels & Resorts. He was most recently the President and CEO of Arlington Hospitality. 

Ventana Hotels & Resorts has appointed Steven Chelew as Chief Operating Officer. Chelew was most recently the General Manager of the Hotel La Jolla at the Shores.

Robert La Forgia has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Hilton Hotels. He was previously the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since 2004, and prior to that as Senior Vice President and Controller since 1996. 

James Harvey has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Hilton Hotels. He previously served as Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer.

David Thompson has been promoted to Senior Vice President and Controller at Hilton Hotels. He has been with Hilton for eleven years.

Steven Standefer has been named Senior Vice President � Tax for Hilton Hotels. He was working for Promus in 1999 when it was purchased by Hilton.

Cornell graduate Charly Assaly has been named President of Buddha-Bar Hotels, Resorts and Spas, Worldwide. Assaly was most recently at Sol Melia Hotels and Resorts in Miami as the Corporate Director of New Development.

Carlos Cabrera has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Field Operations for Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Cabrera was most recently the Vice President and Managing Director of the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa.

Tom Gurtner has relocated to the Four Seasons Westlake Village as pre-opening General Manager and will continue to be an Area Vice President overseeing several other properties. Gurtner was most recently based, as its General Manager, at the now-former Four Seasons Newport Beach.

Mark Neubert has joined the Moana Hotel and Restaurant Group in Mill Valley as Vice President Operations. Neubert was most recently the General Manager at the Hotel Andalucia in Santa Barbara. Moana, a sister company to Auberge Resorts, includes seventeen Piatti restaurants as well as Redd and Sonoma Kitchen.

Brian Flaherty has returned to the hotel industry joining MTM Management as Vice President and Opening General Manager of the Hotel 1000 in Seattle, scheduled to open June 2006. Flaherty was most recently the Chief Operating Officer of ERA Care following a twenty-year career with Four Seasons.

Jerry Gibson transferred to the Grand Hyatt New York as General Manager. He was most recently the General Manager of the Hyatt Lake Las Vegas after holding the same position at the Hyatt Regency Kauai.

Lori Main was appointed General Manager at the new Pan Pacific Seattle scheduled for opening October 2006. Main was most recently the General Manager at the Roosevelt, also in Seattle.

Manfred Timmel has been named General Manager of the Hotel Andalucia in Santa Barbara, taking over for Mark Neubert. Timmel had previously been the opening General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton New York Battery Park, the Regent Wall Street, and the Peninsula New York. He also ran the Southampton Princess in Bermuda.

Stephen Parker has transferred as General Manager to the InterContinental Harbor Court in Baltimore, formerly known as the Harbor Court Hotel. Parker was previously the General Manager at InterContinental Hotels in Austin, Shanghai and Sri Lanka.

Guy Lucas has been appointed General Manager at the Ramada Toronto International Airport. Lucas was most recently the General Manager at the Holiday Inn Marina in Monterey, following a stint as Director of Operations at the Sofitel Los Angeles.
Bob Sassani is the new General Manager of the Water Club in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was most recently the General Manager of the Hotel Astor in Miami Beach. 

Ralph Renz has been appointed General Manager of New York's Lowell replacing Heiko Kuenstle who left several months ago to become the General Manager of the Pierre for Taj International. 

Laurent Carrasset has been named General Manager for Orient-Express Peru. Carrasset was most recently the General Manager of Orient-Express' Bora Bora Lagoon Resort. Second time around in Peru for Carrasset who once was the General Manager of the Hotel Monasterio in Cusco.

Andres Araya has been promoted from Resort Manager to Managing Director of Las Ventanas al Paraiso. Prior to joining Las Ventanas in 2003, Araya was the Executive Assistant Manager/Director of Food & Beverage at the Ajman Kempinski Hotel & Resort. Previously, he served as Director of Food & Beverage at the Conrad Cairo Hotel & Casino, the St. Regis Aspen, the Sheraton Maria Isabel and the Palace of the Lost City. At Las Ventanas, Araya takes over for Luis Fernandes, who is now at the helm of owner Ty Warner's hotel group.

Didier Picquot has joined the Lyford Cay Club as Managing Director.  He was most recently the General Manager at the Regent of Bangkok (now the Four Seasons Bangkok). Picquot also ran the Pierre for Four Seasons, following a stint as Vice President with Peninsula in Hong Kong.

Leland Lewis has transferred as General Manager from the InterContinental Cleveland to the InterContinental The Barclay in New York. Lewis has spent the vast majority of his career with InterContinental Hotels & Resorts in New Orleans, Toronto and Montreal. He previously worked for Four Seasons in Chicago, New York and San Francisco. 

Campbell Black replaces Leland Lewis at the InterContinental Cleveland as General Manager and Regional Vice President. Black transfers from the Mark Hopkins InterContinental. 

Chuck Pomerantz has been appointed Senior Vice President and General Manager at the Atlantis on Paradise Island. Pomerantz joins from the Gaylord Palms in Dallas where he was the Vice President and Hotel Manager since 2003. 
Also at the Atlantis, Ellen Poth has transferred as Vice President - Quality Assurance from the Atlantis Palm Island Dubai where she was the (pre-opening) Executive Director - Hotel Operations for the past year. Prior to that, she was with Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

Gene Allbury has been appointed Senior Vice President - Special Project Liaison for Atlantis Paradise Island. He was previously the Senior Vice President at Harbourside Timeshare Resort. Replacing Allbury as the new Senior Vice President - Harbourside Timeshare Resort, is Russell Miller who was formerly the General Manager of the One & Only Ocean Club Resort, and has most recently been overseeing Kerzner's new "condotelÓ joint venture with Turnberry.

John Conway is appointed Senior Vice President and General Manager for Paradise Island's as yet un-named new All-Suite Tower, and for the new "condotel" joint venture with Turnberry. For the past eight years, he had been the Senior Vice President & General Manager of the Royal Towers at Atlantis.

InterContinental Hotels has appointed Tom Conophy to the newly created position of Chief Information Officer. Conophy joins from Starwood where he held the position of Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer. Previous to Starwood, he was the Senior Vice President for Strategic Architecture for Sabre.

Steve Labrie will be joining SBE Entertainment as Vice President Technology. He joins from House of Blues Entertainment where he was the Director of Network Operations.

Jan Rozenveld joins the Kor Group's Tides Hotel on Miami's South Beach. He was most recently the General Manager of the Royalton in New York.

Jort Buning has moved to Brazil and is the new General Manager of the Iberostar Grand Amazon in Manaus. He previously ran the company's Iberostar Cozumel property, as well as the Iberostar Barlovento in Cuba.

Warren Francis has been named General Manager of the Palms in Turks and Caicos. Francis, a Cornell graduate, was most recently the Manager of the Petit St. Vincent Resort and was previously the General Manager at the Manasota Beach Club.
Eric Rimmele has been named General Manager of the hip, new Hotel Tower 23 in Pacific Beach. Rimmele was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage at the Westgate in San Diego.

Don Dennis has been appointed General Manager of the University Tower Hotel in Seattle, replacing Karl Kruger who has been named Managing Director-Seattle for Noble House Hotels & Resorts. Since joining Noble House in 2002, Dennis has served as the Director of Rooms at Hotel Viking in Newport and as the interim General Manager of the Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club in Redondo Beach.  

Carter Donovan has joined Campton Place in San Francisco as General Manager. Donovan had previously been the General Manager/Consultant at the Francisco Grande Hotel and Golf Resort in Arizona following a twenty-year career with Ritz-Carlton. At Campton Place, she replaces Paul Zuest, who successfully ran the property for nine years.

The Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel has appointed Donald Dougherty as General Manager. Dougherty was most recently the General Manager at the Crowne Plaza Harrisburg. He had also served as Director of Operations at the former Wyndham Old San Juan Hotel and Casino.

Mark Murphy has been appointed General Manager of the Hotel Telluride Condominium in Colorado replacing Tammy Burden. Murphy was most recently the Rooms Director at the Peaks Resort and Golden Door Spa.

At the Greenbrier, General Manager Jack Damioli has left after twenty two years; so has long-time Vice President of Food and Beverage Rod Stoner, who is being replaced by Gunnard Cunningham.

Ellis O'Connor has been appointed Resident Manager at the Peninsula New York replacing Zack Zahran who has left the company. O'Connor transfers from the same position at the Peninsula Beverly Hills where he spent over nine years.

Christophe Thomas has been named Hotel Manager of the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York scheduled to reopen this spring. Thomas, who served thirteen years with Hilton International in Europe, South America and the Caribbean, was most recently the Director of Rooms at the Drake in Chicago and the Windsor Court in New Orleans.

Christoph Ganster has been promoted to Executive Assistant Manager Food and Beverage at Raffles Resort Canouan Island. He was promoted from Director of Food & Beverage. He previously worked as the Food & Beverage Manager at Lemuria Resort of Praslin, Seychelles; One&Only Kanuhura, Maldives and Labourdonnais Waterfront Hotel, Mauritius. 

Win Person has been appointed Vice President Restaurant Development at Las Vegas' Pure Management Group. He was until recently the Vice President Food and Beverage at Bellagio, following seven years with Four Seasons in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Mexico City. He is a Lausanne graduate.

Rene Van Camp has been named Beverage Director for InterContinental Hotels, the Americas, reporting to Vice President Food and Beverage Jean-Pierre Etcheberrigaray. Van Camp moves up from the position of Assistant Food and Beverage Director at the InterContinental Buckhead.

Marie Maher has joined Wynn Las Vegas as Executive Director of Food and Beverage. She had recently left Bellagio where she held the same title. 

Patrick De Staercke has been named Director of Food and Beverage at Meeru Island Resort in the Maldives. He was most recently the Director of Restaurants at the Brown Palace following a stint in the same role at Elk Mountain Resort near Telluride.

Joseph Prezioso has been hired by State of the Art Enterprises as Vice President of Business Development. A former Director of Banquet Operations of the Pierre, Prezioso previously spent many years in the same capacity at the St. Regis.

Toby Reivant has moved to Miami to join Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines as Director of Alternative Dining. Reivant was most recently the Director of Operations at Bistro Moderne in the Hotel Derek in Houston. He is also a former Restaurant Director at Napa Valley's Auberge du Soleil.

Ramon Arrau has been named Director of Food and Beverage at the Lodge Kura Hulanda & Beach Club in Curacao. He was previously the Resident Manager at the Hotel Hacienda Los Lingues in Chile.

Eric Vievard has transferred as Director of Food and Beverage to the Four Seasons Resort Santa Barbara, from the same position at the Four Seasons Terre Blanche in Provence, a property he opened.

Pradeep Raman has transferred back to the Peninsula Chicago as the Assistant Director of Food and Beverage. Raman was most recently in the same position at the Peninsula Hong Kong after serving as Restaurant Manager at the Peninsula Chicago. 

Christopher Garcia has been named Director of Rooms at the Windsor Court in New Orleans. Garcia was most recently in Hawaii as Manager of Front Office Operations at Halekulani.

Raffles Resort Canouan Island has promoted Benjamin Simpao to Rooms Division Manager. Simpao was previously the Assistant Rooms Division Manager and was part of the pre-opening team. He transferred in 2004 from Raffles L'Ermitage Beverly Hills.

Linda Hodgson has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for the InterContinental The Barclay New York. She most recently held the same title at the Langham Boston, a property she had recently joined from Hilton International.

John Visconti is the new Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hyatt Regency Miami. He was most recently serving as a consultant for Thompson Hotels in Los Angeles and was previously the Regional Director Sales and Marketing for JC Resorts. In addition, he spent thirteen years with InterContinental Hotels and Resorts.

Francis Purvey has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for both the Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino and the soon-to-open Radisson St. Martin Resort & Spa. He was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Bahia Mar Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale. 

Bruce James has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for Casa del Mar Resort in Cabo San Lucas. He was most recently the Director of Sales at the Pantages Hotel in Toronto following stints with Fiesta Americana and Hyatt.

Melinda Anderson-De Regil has been appointed Director of Sales in charge of the Western Region with Taj Hotels in Los Angeles. She was previously with Le Méridien Hotels and Resorts for five years as Director of Global Sales.
 
Amanda Shipp has been promoted to Executive Vice President Public Relations at the Experiential Agency after joining the company in 2004. Shipp, a Cornell graduate, was previously with Spago in Chicago as a Managing Partner.

The Marcus Corporation has promoted Karen Spindler to Corporate Director of Human Resources taking over the responsibilities of Fred Delmenhorst who has retired. Prior to her promotion, Spindler served as Vice President of Human Resources for Marcus Hotels and Resorts. She joined Marcus in 2001 following fifteen years with Hyatt.

Miranda DeSantis has joined Noble House Hotels & Resorts as Vice President of "Great People" leading Noble House's human resources organization. Prior to joining Noble House, DeSantis held human resources positions at Starwood and Verizon.

Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants has named Greg Smith Senior Vice President Human Resources. Smith comes from Interstate Hotels.

Matt Martin has been promoted to Corporate Director of Human Resources with Marcus Hotels and Resorts. Martin was previously the Director of Human Resources at the Hotel Phillips in Kansas City.

Daniel Leonard has transferred to the Park Hyatt Washington DC as Assistant Director of Human Resources. Leonard was most recently at the Park Hyatt Carmel Highlands Inn and was previously at the Park Hyatt Toronto Hotel.

Paul Wade, for many years the talented Executive Chef at Montagna at the Little Nell, has left the Four Seasons Houston after a short stint (He had replaced Tim Keating). Wade will be the Executive Chef at Santa Fe's landmark Hotel Eldorado and its restaurant The Old House.

Martin Davis has been named Executive Chef at the Palms in Turks and Caicos taking over for Jasper Schneider who opened the hotel. Davis was most recently the Head Chef at Penthouse in London and was previously Executive Chef at the Royalton, Tuscan Steak in New York and Asia de Cuba in London.

Quinn and Karen Hatfield plated their last dish at San Francisco's Cortez on New Year's Eve. The chef and pastry chef are headed to West Hollywood, where they plan to open their own restaurant in the spring. The 50-seat place will be called Hatfield. Los Angeles is where home was when the Hatfields worked as a team at the helm of Oceanfront at Casa Del mar.

Bruno Egea has joined the Fairmont Newport Beach as Executive Chef.  Egea comes from Las Vegas where he had been at the Paris Hotel and Casino since 1999, most recently as the Executive Sous Chef. He also toiled at the Four Seasons Nevis, the Four Seasons at Beverly Hills, L'Orangerie and the Ritz-Carlton Huntington.

The Café at the Ritz-Carlton Boston has a new chef, Rex Gonsalves. Gonsalves came to Boston from the fine dining restaurant, Georgia's, at the Ritz-Carlton Lodge at Reynolds Plantation. Prior to that, he was at the Ritz-Carlton Dubai for three years and worked at the Taj Group of hotels in Bombay. 

Swissôtel The Drake, New York has appointed Donald Drnek as Executive Chef. Drnek was most recently in the same position at the Omni Berkshire Place.

Ron Boyd has been appointed Executive Chef at Un Grand Café in San Francisco. Boyd was most recently the Chef at Domaine Chandon and had run Julia's Kitchen at COPIA.

JER-NE at the Ritz-Carlton Boston Common has a new chef, Scott Gambone, who comes from the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead where he was Executive Sous Chef. He also worked for Boca Resorts as Executive Sous Chef at the Registry in Naples, and at the Club Room at the Boca Raton Resort and Club as Chef de Cuisine.

Michel Darmon has joined Tom Keller's Bouchon in Yountville as General Manager of Private Dining. Darmon was most recently an Assistant General Manager at Keller's Per Se in New York.

Nick Fielding has joined Table 8 at the Regent South Beach as General Manager. Fielding was most recently the Director of Service at Spago Beverly Hills following seven years at Turnberry Isle Resort and Club. 

Don Hart has been promoted to General Manager at Michael Mina's Seablue at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. He was most recently the Assistant General Manager at Fiamma at the MGM Grand and was previously at Bouchon at the Venetian.

Joshua Summers has been appointed Director of Beverage at Mandalay Bay and THE hotel. Summers makes the move from Diego at the MGM Grand where he was the General Manager. He had also served as Restaurant Manager at Breeze at the Westin (now Hyatt Regency) Century Plaza.

Oded Talmor has been promoted to General Manager of Wolfgang Puck's Spago restaurant in Las Vegas. Talmor was previously the Assistant General Manager at another Puck eatery, the Venetian's Postrio. 

Ron Didner is the Owner/Managing Partner at the new Pair of Eights restaurant in New York City. Didner, a Cornell graduate, was most recently the General Manager at Café des Artistes.

Christophe Lilienfeld has joined Albert Uster Imports in California as Sales Representative. Lilienfeld was most recently the Pastry Chef at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa where he spent four years. Lilienfeld had also been the Executive Pastry Chef at Chinois on Main and L'Orangerie.

Robert Watson is the new Chef Concierge at the Willard Intercontinental in Washington DC. Watson has been a Concierge for the last thirty years and worked with Intercontinental Hotels for fifteen years in London, South Africa and Luxembourg. He was most recently at the Landmark London.

Richard Gonzales has joined the Four Seasons Washington DC as Assistant Director of Revenue Management. Gonzales was previously the Reservations Director at the former Four Seasons Newport Beach.

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Europe
Yann Caillère has been named Chief Operating Officer of Accor, overseeing hotels in Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa and is in charge of operations for Sofitel. Caillère was most recently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Louvre Hotels Group, the group recently sold by the Taittinger family to Barry Sternlicht's Starwood Capital. Caillère also spent many years at Disneyland Resort Paris.

Even Frydenberg has been appointed Senior Vice President, Operations, Europe, Africa and Middle East for Starwood. He was previously Vice President, Six Sigma, for the same region, a position he has held since February 2001. 

Also at Starwood, Bill Showalter has been appointed Senior Vice President, Finance, Europe Africa and Middle East; Martin Franck has been appointed Senior Vice President, Human Resources, for the same region, where Robert Scott has been appointed Senior Vice President, General Counsel. Additionally, Wilke See-Tho has been appointed Senior Vice President, Acquisitions & Development and Erhard Noreisch, Senior Vice President, Regional Director, East & Central Europe. 

Still at Starwood Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Philippe Cassis has been named Senior Vice President, Regional Director, Spain and Portugal. He was previously Senior Vice President, Regional Director of Operations, Africa and Middle East, a position he has held since October 2001. 

At Starwood's Le Méridien, Robert Koren has been named Vice President, Regional Director, Italy and Malta. 

The Domina Hotel Group has promoted Jean Patrick Thiry to Managing Director. Thiry joined Domina in March 2005 as Vice President Area Manager Africa and Indian Ocean Division. Prior to that he was Area Managing Director of Starwood French Polynesia. 

Domina has also appointed Guy Simmons Regional Manager Baltic Area. Before joining Domina, he spent twenty years Holiday Inn, Radisson and Intercontinental.

Markus Engel is the new Vice President Sales and Marketing � Europe, Africa and Middle East, for Oberoi Hotels & Resorts based in London. Engel was most recently the General Manager at the Oberoi in Mauritius. He also served as Resident Manager at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London, and as opening Director of Food and Beverage at the Peninsula Chicago.

Nicolas Desanti is a Regional Director for France Patrimoine. Prior experience includes Senior Executive of International Business Development with the luxury catering company Dalloyau and Executive Director of European Operations with Dolce International.

Alejandro Helbling transfers within Ritz-Carlton from General Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Montreal to General Manager of the Hotel Villa Padierna in Marbella. Helbling originally joined Ritz-Carlton (from Hyatt International) in 2002 as Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage at the Ritz-Carlton Dubai.

Jean-Claude Boutin has been appointed General Manager at the Château de Gilly. He previously held similar positions at the Hotel Océania, the Hôtel Mercure Continental in Brest and the Hôtel du Golf in Lyon.

Alain Brunier has been appointed General Manager of the Ecole Hôtelière de Genève. An alumni of Lausanne, Brunier has held various positions in the hospitality industry including General Manager at the Domaine de Divonne and Les Airelles in Courchevel. He was most recently at the University of Cap Gemini in Chantilly. In Geneva, he takes over from Oskar Sykora who has retired.

Bart Van de Winkel transfers as General Manager of the Athens Hilton replacing Gianni Riatsch. Van de Winkel recently ran the Brussels Hilton.

Philippe Rubod is the new General Manager at the Burgenstock Park Hotel near Lucerne. Recently a consultant, he is a former General Manager of the Hotel d'Angleterre and the Hotel Richemond both in Geneva.

Thierry Zilliox is the new General Manager at the Sofitel Thalassa Les Célestins and Spa in Vichy. He was previously at the Sofitel Thalassa Porticcio in Corsica where he toiled for thirteen years.

The Hard Rock Hotel Reina Victoria in Madrid (operated by Sol-Meliá) has appointed Alexander Hugot as General Manager. Hugot has spent a large part of his career with Sol Meliá, first at the Meliá Playa Conchal in Costa Rica, then at the Meliá Cariari and Tryp Corobici also in Costa Rica. Most recently, he was the Director of Operations and interim General Manager of the Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago, a property no longer operated by Sol-Meliá.

Andrew Pike is the new General Manager of London's Milestone Hotel taking over from Christine Hodder who has left the company. Pike was most recently Manager at the Montague on The Gardens also in London.

Piergiorgio Mosconi is the new General Manager at the Grand Hotel Angiolieri due to open this spring. Mosconi has previously been with the Hotel Cristallo and the Hotel Bernini Bristol.

Peter Laigaard Jensen has joined the Scheelsminde Hotel in Aalborg as General Manager. Most recently Jensen was the General Manager of the Britannia Hotel in Esbjerg following a tour with Marco Polo Hotels in Beijing. 

Georg Plesser is the General Manager at Sir Rocco Forte's Villa Kennedy in Frankfurt slated for opening in March. Plesser was most recently in the same position at the Hotel Ermitage am See in Zurich. He also held various management positions at Geisel Hotels in Munich and Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Rey, Florida and Barcelona.

Heiko Siebert has been promoted at Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts to Vice President Distribution. Siebert joined the company in 2001 as Director of  Reservations and Revenue Management.

Jean-Pierre Trévisan has been appointed Director of Food and Beverage at the Hotel Ritz in Paris. Trévisan was most recently the Director of Operations at the Cercle de l'Union Interalliée in Paris. He also served as Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons George Cinq and the Hotel InterContinental Paris.

Francis Bertrand has been promoted at Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts to Vice President Sales Europe. Bertrand joined the company in 1999 as Regional Sales Director.

Roman Straub has joined Vienna International Hotels in Prague as Corporate Director of Sales and Marketing. Straub was most recently the General Manager at the Hotel Diplomat, also in Prague. He previously served as Executive Assistant Manager at Le Méridien Beverly Hills.

Sandrine Camia has joined the Hotel Metropole Monte Carlo as Director of Sales and Marketing. Camia was previously the Director of Sales at the Royal Riviera and a Sales Manager at the Hotel Martinez.

Marcel Horande has been appointed Assistant Director of Sales for Barcelona's Majestic Hotel Group. He was previously in charge of international markets at the Hotel InterContinental Paris and InterContinental Le Grand Hotel Paris. Most recently, he was the Sales and Marketing Director for Diagonal Hotels.

Pierre-Marie Vasseur has been appointed Director of Sales Leisure for the Domina Hotel Group and Director of Business Development for the Domina Coral Bay Hotel, Resort & Casino in Egypt. Vasseur previously spent many years in French Polynesia with Outrigger Hotels and Sheraton French Polynesia. 

At the Hotel Plaza-Athenée Paris, Stephane Tricyonka has joined as Sales Manager, taking over from Dagmar Koehler-Lombard who has left the company.

Astrid Murner-Thomas has been promoted from Front of House Manager to Director of Rooms at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London. She has also worked for the Peninsula Chicago as well as for Four Seasons in various locations.

Simoes Alexandre has been appointed Restaurant Manager at the Boscolo Hotel Plaza in Nice. He was most recently Banqueting Supervisor at Le Palais de La Méditerranée also in Nice following stints at the Radisson SAS Nice and the Conrad Brussels.

Asia and the Pacific
Michael Sagild has been appointed Chief Operating Officer at William Heineke's Minor Group based in Bangkok. Sagild was previously with Le Méridien Hotels and Resorts for the past six years, most recently as Managing Director Asia Pacific.

Christoph Zbinden is the new Group Director of Food and Beverage at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group taking over the position left vacant when Bryan O'Shields left. He comes from Ritz-Carlton's corporate headquarters in Atlanta. In addition to two stints at Ritz-Carlton, Zbinden was in charge of Food and Beverage Operations at Sol Kerzner's Atlantis in the Bahamas and at the Peninsula Hong Kong.

Filip Boyen has been promoted to the position of Vice President for Orient-Express Hotels, Trains and Cruises for Australia, Africa and Latin America. Boyen, who had started with Orient-Express as the General Manager of the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort, had until recently been in charge of the company's hotels and trains in Peru. His successor there is Laurent Carrasset.

Dusit Hotels & Resorts has appointed Duncan Jamieson as Vice President-Development. Jamieson has been working in Thailand since 1982, at the Peninsula Bangkok as Marketing Director, at Le Meridien Hotels Thailand as Marketing Director, at Le Meridien Baan Boran as General Manager. He was most recently the Managing Director at Mom Tri's Co., Ltd.

Patrick Sibourg has been named Director Sales & Marketing for Accor Asia Pacific � Indonesia. He was most recently the Chief Operating Officer for Hilton International Indonesia and has ten years previous experience with Accor in Europe (France) and Asia Pacific (Indonesia).

Douglas Louden has been appointed General Manager Hospitality for Hong Kong Resorts. Louden was most recently Corporate Director of Operations at Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts and previously the General Manager at the Pan Pacific Bangkok.

The Sheraton Noosa Resort & Spa has appointed Mark Sexton as its new General Manager replacing Boyd Williams who is retiring. Sexton had previously spent several years in various senior operational roles within the property. He had left in 2002 to take on the position of General Manager, Four Points by Sheraton, Geelong, Victoria.

Eric Pere has returned to Orient-Expresss as the General Manager of the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort, taking over from Laurent Carrasset. Pere was, until a few months ago, the General Manager of the Port Palace in Monaco. He had also been the Hotel Manager at the Berkeley for then Savoy Hotel Group. Pere's first experience with Orient-Express took place at La Samanna where he first toiled as Financial Controller, later as Resident Manager.

Philippe Charraudeau has joined The JingAn in Shanghai as General Manager. Charraudeau was most recently the General Manager at the Islamabad Serena Hotel in Pakistan.

Mark Neukomm has been promoted to General Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Osaka. Neukomm originally joined the hotel as Executive Assistant Manager Food and Beverage and was most recently the Hotel Manager before his promotion. He also served as Director of Food and Beverage at the Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, following fourteen years with Hilton International.

Yannick Poupon has transferred to the Taj Mahal in New Delhi as General Manager. Poupon was most recently the General Manager of the Taj in Dubai. He has also been the General Manager at the Heritage Hotel in Manila and the Hotel Clio Court in Fukuoka. Poupon also logged sixteen years with InterContinental.

The Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket has appointed Jan Stefan Kirstein as General Manager. Kirstein was transferred by Starwood from Amman where he was the General Manager of the Sheraton Amman Al Nabil Hotel & Towers.

Biswajit Chakraborty has been appointed General Manager of the Leela Kovalam in India. Chakraborty was most recently the General Manager of the Yak and Yeti in Kathmandu and Regional Director of Sales for Oberoi Hotels in Mumbai and Delhi. He also served as Executive Assistant Manager at the Oberoi Bangalore.

Sean Halliday has been appointed General Manager of the Furama Resort, Danang replacing Paul Stoll who originally opened the resort in 1997.  

Stephan Schupbach is the new Resident Manager of the One and Only Reethi Rah in the Maldives. Schupbach was most recently at the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch as Executive Assistant Manager Food and Beverage, having originally joined the property as its Executive Chef. His wife, Gillian McLornan Schupbach, will be the Director of Sales at Reethi Rah, having previously been the Director of Transient and Travel Industry Sales in Bachelor Gulch.

Vincent Pimont has been promoted to Executive Assistant Manager � Rooms at the InterContinental Thalassa and Spa Bora Bora scheduled to open in May 2006. He was most recently the Guest Service and Reservations Manager at the Grand Hotel InterContinental Paris. Prior to that, he was at the InterContinental The Barclay New York as Director of Reservations.

Daniel Chen has been named Director of Food & Beverage at the Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel in Bangkok due to open June 2006. Chen was most recently the Executive Assistant Manager at the Swiss Garden Resort & Spa Damai Laut in Malaysia.

Matthias Terrettaz has been promoted to Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong. A Lausanne graduate, he was promoted from Restaurant Manager at the hotel. He also worked at the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco and the Ritz-Carlton New York Central Park South.
  
The InterContinental Grand Stanford has appointed Glendon Oon as Assistant Food and Beverage Manager. Oon was most recently the Restaurants Manager at the W Seoul Walkerhill in South Korea.
    
The InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong has appointed Cherry Wong as Senior Sales Manager. Wong was most recently at the Royal Pacific Hotel as a Senior Sales Manager.

Simon Hague is the new Executive Chef at Le Meridien Nirwana Golf & Spa Resort in Bali. He comes from the Sheraton Imperial in Kuala Lumpur, where he held the same position.
  
Alexander Haebe joined the Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur as Executive Pastry Chef. He was most recently the Pastry Chef at the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at the first Residence and previously at the Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh.
  
Sarah Noble has joined the Peninsula Hotel Group as Director Spas.  Noble was most recently at Raison d'Etre as Project Director Asia and previously a Spa Director at Chiva Som and Six Senses Spa both in Thailand.

Geoffroy Boehme is the new Front Office Manager at the Vomo Island Resort managed by Sofitel. He was most recently part of the opening team at Huvafen Fushi in the Maldives. He also worked at the Swissotel Chicago and Le Grand Hotel Intercontinental Paris.

Middle East and Africa
Hassan Ahdab has been appointed Vice President, Regional Director, Africa and Indian Ocean with Starwood. Most recently, he held the position of Regional Managing Director, Africa and Indian Ocean.

At Starwood's Le Méridien, Guido De Wilde is the new Vice President, Regional Director, Middle East. Most recently, he was Area Manager, Portugal and General Manager, Sheraton Algarve, a position he has held since March 2002.

Jean Baptiste Pigeon has transferred to the Regency InterContinental in Bahrain as General Manager. Pigeon has been with InterContinental since 1983 at many locations among them at the Hammamet InterContinental Resort, Europa InterContinental Brussels, Athenaeum InterContinental Athens. He was most recently the General Manager at the Crowne Plaza Beirut.

Andreas Bourdon is the new General Manager at the Jolie Ville Moevenpick in Luxor. He was previously the General Manager at the Queen's Gate Concorde in Central London.

Marc de Beer has been appointed Manager for Qasr al Sharq due to open in March and managed by Hilton International. He was most recently the Director of Operations at sister property the Jeddah Hilton. 

Xavier Jolivet has been appointed Resident Manager of the Royal Palm in Mauritius. Jolivet had been the Executive Assistant Manager at the Hotel Métropole Monte Carlo, following a tour as Director of Food and Beverage at the Hotel Martinez in Cannes.  

Michael Braun has been promoted at the Hyatt Regency Dubai to Director of Food and Beverage. Braun was previously the Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the hotel.

Sandeep Walia has joined the Ritz-Carlton Sharm el Sheikh as the Director of Food and Beverage. Walia had been with Oberoi Hotels and Resorts for the last nine years most recently at the Oberoi Sahl Hasheesh.

Bavaria Hotels International has appointed Caroline Tapken as Corporate Communications Director for the group based in the regional offices in Dubai. Tapken spent several years in Thailand as Director of Public Relations and Communications for Amari Hotels & Resorts.

Shaad Heerah has joined the Kempinski Mall of the Emirates in Dubai as Technical Director for the opening. He was most recently the Assistant Director of Engineering at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel & Spa. Heerah was previously with One & Only Resorts in Mauritius.

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/ December 2005/January 2006
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ November 2005
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / October 2005
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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