| Cornell hotelman Richard Cotter has left his position of Executive
Vice President Hotel and Food and Beverage for Wynn Las Vegas after two
and a half years to launch his own advisory boutique. A luxury specialist,
he had been the Managing Director of New York's St. Regis, the New York
Palace and the Beverly Hilton.
Mark Huntley has been appointed Senior Vice President Operations at
Las Vegas' MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. The Englishman was most recently
running London's Savoy for Fairmont, following ten years at the helm of
the Fairmont San Francisco.
Tobias Mattstedt has been promoted by MGM MIRAGE to Vice President Corporate
Development and International Operations. He had most recently held dual
roles at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, as both Vice President Development and
Vice President of Operations for Skylofts. He originally joined the MGM
Grand in 2001 as Vice President of Food and Beverage.
Robert Katz has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Vail Resorts.
Ed Mace has resigned as the President of Vail Resorts' subsidiary Rockresorts.
Former Rockresorts Vice President Operations William Hall becomes Vice
President � Lodging Division for Vail Resorts.
Paul Westbrook has been promoted to Senior Vice President Product and
Brand for Ritz-Carlton based in Chevy Chase. A Lausanne graduate, he was
most recently at the Ritz-Carlton Washington DC as the Vice President and
Area General Manager.
Adriaan Radder has taken over from Westbrook at the Ritz-Carlton Washington
DC. He was most recently the General Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon
City.
Kai Speth has transferred to the Park Hyatt Los Angeles as General Manager,
taking over from Malcolm Thompson who has left the Hyatt fold. Speth was
most recently the General Manager at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort
and Spa. He previously headed up food and beverage at the Grand Hyatt Taipei
and the Grand Hyatt Bali.
Scott Mason has been appointed General Manager of the Park Hyatt Beaver
Creek Resort and Spa replacing Kai Speth. Mason has been the Executive
Assistant Manager at the Park Hyatt Chicago following stints at the Grand
Hyatt New York, the Hyatt Regency Cerromar and the Stanhope Park Hyatt.
Alex Andrade has been named General Manager of Yacht Haven in St. Thomas.
He was most recently the General Manager at the Mayan Palace in Manzanillo.
He
is also a former General Manager of the Hyatt Cancun Caribe.
Patrick Brizio will be the opening General Manager at Discovery at Marigot
Bay on St. Lucia. The soon-to-open property was originally managed by Sonesta
but is now part of Grace Leo Andrieu's GLA Hotels. Brizio is the
former Managing Director of Frégate Island in the Seychelles and
was previously at the Lyford Cay Club in the Bahamas.
At Sir Richard Branson's Necker Island, General Manager Martijn Brouwer
will be leaving after six years (and a total of nine years with the Virgin
Group). He will be replaced by Shawn and Beverly Matthews, who had been
the resort's original Managers, back in 1982. They had since spent some
time with Adrian Zecha's Amanresorts, prior to opening and running the
enormously successful Twin Farms for Thurston Twigg-Smith. The Matthews
had returned to Amanresorts in 2005 to work on their Norman's Cay project
in the Bahamas.
As for Martijn Brouwer he will be the Co-Manager, with Laura McCraith,
of the exclusive, seven-room Palmasola on Mexico's chic Punta Mita.
Pippa Ona Williamson will be named General Manager at Cotton House taking
over from Nicholas Simmonds who will be leaving the company. Williamson
is the Hotel Manager at the Royal Riviera in St. Jean Cap Ferrat. Like
Cotton House, the Royal Riviera is part of Paris-based GLA Hotels.
John Hutar is the Vice President of Hotel Operations for the MGM Grand
Detroit due to open in early 2008. For the past nine years, Hutar had been
the General Manager of the Hotel Nikko San Francisco. Hutar's successor
at the Nikko is Anna Marie Presutti, a former Kimpton executive now in
her second year as Nikko's Director of Sales and Marketing.
Samuel Huegli has been named General Manager at the Sheraton Hotel and
Casino in Puerto Rico. He was most recently the Director of Hotels at the
Porto Carras Grand Resort in Greece and has previously been handling operations
at the Palmas del Mar Country Club and the Caribe Hilton both in Puerto
Rico.
Geoff Stewart has been named General Manager of the Sheraton Bradley
Hotel in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. He had previously worked for Interstate,
InterContinental and Marriott.
Michael Hoe-Knudsen is the new General Manager of the Holiday Inn SunSpree®Resort
in Montego Bay. A Cornell graduate he previously held various positions
with InterContinental hotels in Frankfurt, New York, San Francisco, Miami,
Rio and most recently as Hotel Manager of the Tamanaco InterContinental
Caracas.
Lucy Ruiz has taken over from Lionel Alvarez as the General Manager
of Paraiso de la Bonita in Mexico. Alvarez has moved back to Europe to
be the General Manager of the Castillo Son Vida in Mallorca.
Ellen Ruane-Johnson has been appointed General Manager at the Founders
Inn in Virginia Beach. She was most recently the Director of Operations
at the North Maple Inn in New Jersey.
Seth Horowitz is running both the Luxe Hotel Sunset Boulevard Bel Air
and the Luxe Hotel Rodeo Drive Beverly Hills. Horowitz began his career
in his native South Africa at the Carlton Hotel in Johannesburg and was
until recently the Vice President of Hotel Operations for the Oceana Hotel
Group.
The Ocean Edge Resort & Club on Cape Cod has named John Murtha General
Manager. Prior to joining Ocean Edge, Murtha spent a decade as General
Manager of the Royal Sonesta Hotel Boston, Sonesta Beach Resort Bermuda
and Sonesta Beach Resort & Casino Curaçao.
The Blackstone Group has promoted Matthew La Vine to General Manager
of the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Florida from the position of Hotel Manager
at the Bel Age in West Hollywood. La Vine also toiled as Front Office Manager
at the defunct St. Regis Los Angeles. In addition, he was with Four Seasons
for ten years in Dallas, Toronto, Carlsbad and Beverly Hills.
Armel Santens is the new General Manager at the Bel Age with the tall
order to transform the hotel into The London-Los Angeles, a lifestyle hotel
featuring a restaurant by Gordon Ramsay. Santens was until recently the
Managing Director at the Brown Palace in Denver.
Cornellman John Sharpe, who had retired from the position of Chief Operating
Officer with Four Seasons (a company with which he spent twenty two years),
will be the Chief Operating Officer of the upcoming 400-room Charlie Palmer
Hotel in Las Vegas. Interior designer Adam Tihany will be a partner in
the project.
Bryan Forsythe has been named General Manager at Berry Hill Plantation
in Virginia. He was previously the Director of Operations at Stonewall
in West Virginia.
Tom Petot has been appointed General Manager of the Inn By The Sea on
Crescent Beach in Maine. Petot, a Cornell graduate, was previously managing
the Inn at Little Washington in Virginia.
Sarah Cruse has accepted the position of General Manager of the Peninsula
Group's Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley. She was previously the General Manager
of the Olympic View Golf Club and the Furry Creek Golf and Country Club
both on Vancouver Island.
Tracy Pikhart Ritter has been promoted from Director of Food and Beverage
to General Manager at Sunrise Springs in Santa Fe. Ritter had also been
the Executive Chef at the Golden Door Spa in California.
Ron Vuy has been appointed General Manager and Regional Area Director
of Dolce International's Lakeway Resort and Spa in Austin. He was most
recently the General Manager of the Oak Brook Hills Resort in Chicago and
previously the Managing Director at the PGA National Resort & Spa in
Palm Beach Gardens.
Kevin Osterhaus has been named General Manager at Casa Casuarina in
Miami. For the past nine years, Osterhaus was with Pinehurst Resorts at
the Barton Creek Resort and Spa in Austin and the Daufuskie Island Club
and Resort on Hilton Head Island.
Alejandro Rueda has accepted the position of General Manager at the
Hotel Basico in Mexico. He spent several years in Sales and Marketing with
Presidente InterContinental Hoteles.
Mark Steenge is the new General Manager at Nine Beaches in Bermuda.
He was briefly the Director of Fine Dining at the MGM Grand Las Vegas and
previously ran Restaurant Lumière in Vancouver.
Chauncey Copeland has been appointed Hotel Director of the Fisher Island
Hotel and Resort. He replaces Courtney Tai. Copeland was most recently
the General Manager of the Beach House also in Miami Beach.
Hans Schaepman has joined the Ritz-Carlton Huntington in Pasadena as
Executive Assistant Manager Rooms. He was most recently the Director of
Operations at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove and has been with the company
since 1992 in such properties as the Ritz-Carlton Golf Resort Naples, the
Ritz-Carlton Sharm El Sheikh, the Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City, the Ritz-Carlton
Sydney, the Ritz-Carlton New York and the Ritz-Carlton Boston.
Edward Boylan has been promoted at the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne to
Executive Assistant Manager Rooms Division. He comes from the Ritz-Carlton
Orlando Grande Lakes where he was the opening Assistant Director of Rooms.
Robert Rechtermann has been appointed Resident Manager at the award-winning
Peninsula Chicago, filling the spot left vacant when Colm O'Callaghan left
to become the General Manager of the Conrad Chicago. Most recently the
Director of Operations at the Ritz-Carlton Boston Common, Rechtermann had,
like Peninsula Chicago General Manager Maria Razumich-Zec, previously toiled
at the Waldorf=Astoria and the Hilton at Short Hills.
David Bodette is leaving the Langham Boston, where he had been the Director
of Food and Beverage for the past two years, to become the Executive Assistant
Manager in charge of Food and Beverage at the Ritz-Carlton Boston. Prior
to his move to Boston, he had served as Director of Food and Beverage at
Auberge du Soleil.
Omar Said has been appointed Director of Residences at the Ritz-Carlton
Sarasota. He was most recently at the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas were he was
the Executive Assistant Manager, Rooms Division.
Reto Torriani will be joining the no-longer-a Rockresort Cheeca Lodge
as Resort Manager. He was most recently the General Manager of the newly
opened Dolphin Bay Hotel and Residences in Shell Beach, where he was replaced
by Shaw William McPherson, formerly the Director of Food and Beverage at
the Sunset Towers in West Hollywood. At Cheeca, Torriani joins General
Manager Jerry Broz, formerly of Auberge Resorts' Inn at Palmetto Bluff.
Kim Phoebus has moved to Thompson Hotels as Vice President Finance.
She was most recently the Controller at the St. Regis New York.
Rabih Feghali has been named Director of Operations at the Westin Governor
Morris. He was most recently at the Melrose in New York as Director of
Rooms and following various operational positions at the New York Palace.
Didier Belmonte has been named Executive Assistant Manager in charge
of Food and Beverage at the Bodyholiday at LeSport in the Caribbean. He
was most recently the Assistant Food and Beverage Manager at the Madinat
Jumeirah Dubai and previously worked at the Chedi Muscat and the Royal
Mirage in Dubai.
Antoine Maalouf has been appointed Director of Food and Beverage at
the Sunset Towers in West Hollywood, taking over from Shaw McPherson.
Maalouf was most recently at the Beverly Hilton as Associate Director of
Food and Beverage. He previously assumed a similar role at the Beverly
Hills Hotel and the Westin Bonaventure.
Eric Dupaix has accepted the position of Director of Food and Beverage
at the Westin Times Square. He comes from the same position at the Essex
House. Dupaix also served as Food and Beverage Director at Rosewood's Carlyle
for three years.
Avinash Haksar has replaced Brooke Gardner as the Director of Food
and Beverage at the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. Haksar was
most recently the Director of Beverage for the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
He previously ran food and beverage at the Westin St. Francis and the Westin
Century Plaza. Second time around with Four Seasons for Haksar who used
to be the Director of Banquets at the former Four Seasons Olympic in Seattle.
At the MGM Grand Las Vegas, Alex Jureeratana has been named Director
of Food and Beverage at the Mansion, which includes the Mansion Dining
Room, L'Atelier and Joel Robuchon at the Mansion. Jureeratana was most
recently the General Manager at the MGM Grand's Shibuya and was previously
at the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas.
Guillaume Flament has been promoted at the Westgate in San Diego to
Director of Food and Beverage. He had joined the hotel in 2001 as the Banquet
Manager from his position at the Ritz in Paris where he was the Catering
Sales Manager.
Farzin Khorsandjamal has been named Director of Food and Beverage at
Estancia La Jolla. He was most recently a Food and Beverage Manager at
Raffles L'Ermitage Beverly Hills and previously served as Restaurant Manager
at the defunct Aqua at the St. Regis Monarch Beach.
Inga Heubach has joined the Boulders as Food and Beverage Operations
Manager. She was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage at Campton
Place in San Francisco.
Ramón Arrau has been appointed Food and Beverage Director at
the Grenada Grand Beach. He was most recently the Director of Food and
Beverage of the Lodge Kura Hulanda and Beach Club in Curacao.
Olivier Glattfelder has been appointed Rooms Division Manager at the
Barton Creek Resort and Spa in Austin. For the past six years, he was the
General Manager of the Porches Inn in Massachusetts.
Rosalyn Smith has been appointed Area Director of Human Resources at
the Omni Atlanta. She originally joined Omni in April 1999 and has been
in Human Resources at the Omni Austin Downtown, the Omni Austin Southpark
and the Omni Mandalay in Dallas.
Julia Gajcak is now the Vice President Marketing and Communications
for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company based in Chevy Chase. She was most recently
the Vice President, Communications for the company and previously has served
as Director of Public Relations at the Four Seasons Resort Maldives at
Kuda Huraa.
Michael Doneff has been named Vice President Marketing for SBEHG, SBE
Hotel Group, the hotel company owned by Sam Nazarian. SBE will be launching
its own brand of hotels all to be designed by Philippe Starck. Doneff comes
from the respected Susan Magrino Agency in New York, where, as the agency's
Executive Vice President, he handled such hospitality accounts as One&Only
Resorts and Blackstone's LXR Luxury Resorts.
The Hotel Twin Dolphin in Cabo San Lucas has employed Rowena Jurado
as Director of Sales. Jurado was most recently at the Ritz-Carlton Half
Moon Bay as National Travel Industry Sales Manager.
Peter Cronin has been name Director of Sales at the Omni Atlanta. Previously,
he was Vice President of Sales for Associated Luxury Hotels International
and has served as the Assistant Director of Sales for the Hilton Atlanta
& Towers.
Aileen Carreon has joined the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills
as Director of Sales. She was at the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey for the
past four years and previously at Raffles L'Ermitage.
Tony Rodriguez has been promoted from Director of Sales to Director
of Marketing at the Four Seasons Miami. He was previously the Director
of Sales at the Four Seasons Philadelphia and the Group Sales Manager at
the Four Seasons Houston.
Marie Denebeim has joined Leading Hotels of the World as Sales Manager
based in Mill Valley. She was most recently with Wyndham as Director of
National Sales.
Steven Eidelberg has been named Director of Travel Industry Sales for
Noble House Hotels & Resorts to be based in New York City. He was with
Sonesta Hotels, Resorts & Nile Cruises most recently headquartered
in Miami as the Regional Director of Travel Industry Sales. During his
ten years with Sonesta he was the Director of Sales and Marketing for the
Chateau Sonesta New Orleans, as well as the Director of Leisure Sales and
Tour and the Travel Sales Manager at the Sonesta Beach Resort Key Biscayne.
Susan Benshoff has been appointed Corporate Director of Revenue Management
at Noble Investment Group. Prior to joining Noble, Benshoff was Central
Director of Revenue Management for Wyndham International.
Janelle Cornett has been named Corporate Director of Revenue Management
for the Coastal Hotel Group. Most recently, Cornett was Director of Catering
and Group Revenue Management at the Waldorf=Astoria, the first position
of its kind in the Hilton organization.
Nelson Garrido has been appointed Vice President of Information Technology
at Noble Investment Group. He joins from Dolce International where he held
a variety of positions culminating in Senior Director of Global Technology.
Paula Winkler has been promoted to Chief Information Officer for Carlson
Hotels Worldwide. She was previously the Vice President of Technology and
Program Executive for Carlson Global Solutions.
David Federico has joined the Boulders as Director of Rooms. He had
been the Director of Housekeeping at the Paradise Point Resort in San Diego,
after serving as Director of Front Office Operations at both La Mansion
Del Rio and the Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa.
The Langham in Boston has promoted Mark Sapienza to Executive Chef replacing
Daniel Kenney, who is moving to Washington, D.C. Sapienza originally joined
the hotel in 1998 and after a brief intermission, rejoined the culinary
team in March 2004 as Chef de Cuisine for the Julien restaurant. In addition,
he has worked at the Boston Harbor Hotel and Claridge's in London.
Daniel Kenny takes over for Guenael Le Berre as Executive Chef at the
Willard InterContinental. Kenny was most recently at the Langham Boston
where his successor is Mark Sapienza.
Michel Piéton is the new Director of Culinary Operations at the
Boulders in Arizona. He had been with Four Seasons since 1975 in Texas,
Chicago and since 1986, at the Four Seasons Newport Beach as Executive
Chef.
Frédéric Castan will be joining the St. Regis Monarch
Beach Resort and Spa as Executive Chef. Castan was most recently in the
same position at the Sofitel Water Tower in Chicago. He had also been the
Executive Chef at Big Horn Country Club in Palm Springs, the Westin South
Coast Plaza, Coto de Caza Golf and Racquet Club and the Ritz-Carlton Huntington.
At Wynn Las Vegas, talented Alsatian Eric Klein is out as the Chef of
SW Steakhouse where he has been replaced by David Walzog. The latter had
been the Chef at Wynn's Country Club restaurant, where he had replaced
Jimmy Sneed (who had left prior to opening).
Chris Shackelford, who had been the Sommelier at Erna�s Elderberry House
Restaurant at the Chateau du Sureau for the past ten years, has opened
his own restaurant, in nearby Clovis, California.
Scott Simpson has been appointed Executive Chef at the JW Marriott Desert
Ridge Resort & Spa. He was most recently the Executive Chef at the
Renaissance Hotel & Marriott Lake Chalet Apartments in Mumbai, India.
Guillaume Brard is the new Executive Chef at Nine Beaches in Bermuda,
following five years with InterContinental in Cleveland and Beirut. As
the Chef de Cuisine at Classics at the InterContinental Cleveland, Brard
was credited for earning the restaurant an AAA Five-Diamond rating.
Philip Mahl has recently joined the culinary team at the Maidstone Club
in Southampton. He rejoins mentor Executive Chef Ian Scollay under whom
he had worked in the kitchens at La Grenouille. His resume also includes
stints at Per Se under Thomas Keller and at Maestro at the Ritz-Carlton
Tyson's Corner under Fabio Trabocchi.
Darren McCabe has joined the new Hilton Financial District in San Francisco
as Executive Chef. He comes from the McKinley Chalet Resort in Alaska.
Brian McBride has been named Executive Chef at the Blue Duck Tavern
at the Park Hyatt Washington, DC.
Alvaro Arbeloa will be joining the team for the re-opening of Ceiba
del Mar Spa Resort in Riviera Maya. He was previously the Executive Chef
at the Mantra Resort in Punta del Este.
Joshua Nudd has been named Chef de Cuisine at the Island Hotel in Newport
Beach. Most recently the Chef de Cuisine at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental
responsible for Hoku's Restaurant, he had logged eight years at the Peninsula
Beverly Hills under the Island's Executive Chef Bill Bracken.
Wendy Little has accepted the position of Chef de Cuisine at the Boulders
Resort & Golden Door Spa. Little began her career at San Ysidro Ranch
and has since served in the kitchens of Mustard's Grill in Napa Valley,
the Four Seasons Biltmore, Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur and the Jacksonville
Inn in Oregon. A champion of organic cuisine, Little then successfully
opened and ran ZigZag in Carmel.
Maxim Ridorossi has been appointed Chef at the King Pacific Lodge in
British Columbia. He previously worked in the kitchens of West Restaurant,
Sooke Harbour House and Cafe Brio, all in British Columbia.
Truman Jones has been named Chef de Cuisine at the Ritz-Carlton Lake
Las Vegas overseeing Restaurant Medici. He was most recently the Executive
Chef at Friday Harbor House in the San Juan Islands. Jones has also been
the Executive Sous Chef at Campton Place in San Francisco.
David Werly has moved to New York as Executive Sous Chef at the new
Le Cirque. He comes from Le Cirque in Mexico City.
Regis Monges has transferred as Pastry Chef to the soon-to-open Le Cirque
in New York City. He had been the opening Executive Pastry Chef at Le Cirque
Mexico City.
Chris Wessling has returned to Las Vegas to accept the General Manager
position at Simon Kitchen & Bar. He had local experience at several
MGM Grand outlets before he departed to run food and beverage operations
at the Aspen Meadows Resort.
Isabelle Husser has transferred as Wine Director from Le Cirque in Mexico
City to Le Cirque in New York City. She used to be the Assistant Chef Sommelier
at Le Cirque 2000.
Bob Kelly has been hired as the new Sommelier for Piero Selvaggio's
Valentino at the Venetian, filling the position left vacant when Steven
Hua left to become the Sommelier at Michael Mina's Nob Hill at the MGM
Grand.
Samantha Telesford has transferred as Spa Director to the Ritz-Carlton
Huntington in Pasadena. Telesford was most recently in the same position
at the Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort Jamaica. She was previously the
Spa Director at Our Lucaya Beach & Golf Resort in the Bahamas.
Holly Cohen has joined Estancia La Jolla as Spa Manager. She came from
the Steiner Day Spa Group. |
