Hotel Online Special Report


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

 
The Americas
Butch Kerzner, Chief Executive Officer of Kerzner International, was killed last month in a helicopter accident in the Dominican Republic. Paul O'Neil, former Chief Executive Officer of the Company's Paradise Island operations, has been appointed acting Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Kerzner, who was 42, had been appointed Chief Executive Officer in January 2004. He is survived by his wife and two young children.  

Eric Calderon has joined Ty Warner Hotels and Resorts in Santa Barbara as Chief Operating Officer, following seventeen years as the Vice President and General Manager at the Little Nell in Aspen. A Lausanne graduate, he had also been the Vice President and General Manager of the Lodge at Pebble Beach, following assignments with Four Seasons and Westin.  The Ty Warner portfolio includes San Ysidro Ranch and Las Ventanas al Paraiso, both operated by Rosewood, as well as the Four Seasons Biltmore Santa Barbara and the Four Seasons New York, and Kona Village, the Miramar Santa Barbara along with some non-hotel real assets. 

HEI Hospitality has appointed Ted Darnall Partner and Chief Operating Officer as well as President and Chief Operating Officer of Merritt Hospitality, its management subsidiary. Since 2002, Darnall was President of the Real Estate Group at Starwood, a company he had joined in 1996 following a career with Marriott and Interstate.

Interstate has promoted Joseph Klam to Executive Vice President, Hotel Finance. He was most recently the Senior Vice President of Hotel Finance for the company. Klam joined Interstate in 2003 from Millennium Hotels & Resorts, where he served as Vice President of Finance-North America.

Douglas Ludwig has been named Chief Financial Officer of Baha Mar Development. He spent the last twenty years working for Four Seasons, where he was the Chief Financial Officer for the past ten years. 

Pinnacle Entertainment has promoted Larry Buck to the newly created position of Regional Vice President. He will also hold the title of President of Pinnacle-Atlantic City. He was most recently the Vice President and General Manager of Pinnacle's Belterra Casino Resort. Kim Townsend who was most recently Pinnacle's Senior Vice President of Marketing will relocate to Atlantic City to serve as Executive Vice President of Pinnacle-Atlantic City.

The InterContinental Hotel Group has appointed Christian Hempell  Vice President Strategy, Americas Region. He was most recently based in London as the group's Vice President of Global Strategy. Hempell, a Cornell graduate, spent six years with Andersen Consulting prior to getting an MBA from Harvard.

The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay has appointed Pete Ells General Manager, replacing Paul Ratchford who is now the President of the Greenbrier. Ells served most recently at the Ritz-Carlton Phoenix as General Manager and was previously the General Manager of the St. Anthony and the Renaissance Parc 55 in San Francisco. 

Roberto van Geenen has transferred as General Manager to the Ritz-Carlton Dallas. He was most recently in the same position at the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach after serving as Hotel Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Naples.

Cornell man Brad Jencks is the General Manager of the soon-to-be-named-again Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage. The property, launched by Ritz-Carlton in the eighties, had become the Lodge at Rancho Mirage, a RockResort. New ownership is investing heavily in upgrading and enlarging the property, adding a substantial residential component for future re-opening as a Ritz-Carlton. Jencks originally joined the company in 2004 as General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas. Prior to that, he ran a number of luxury properties including the Turtle Bay Resort in Hawaii, the Pointe Hilton South Mountain in Arizona, the InterContinental Wailea, and Halekulani. 

Taking over from Brad Jencks as General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas is Marc Langevin, formerly the Hotel Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman. Langevin rejoined Ritz-Carlton in 2004, following a stint as Regional Director of Operations for Boykin Hospitality. He had been the Director of Food and Beverage at the Ritz-Carlton Cleveland.

John Remmers has been appointed General Manager of the soon-to-open Hotel Zaza Houston. The former Warwick is being reincarnated into a hip 335-room hotel. Remmers recently opened, as its General Manager, the Dolce Zermatt Resort in Utah. He originally joined Dolce as the General Manager of the Lakeway Resort in Austin. Remmers was previously on the East Coast as General Manager of the Omni Jacksonville.

Christoph Roshardt has been promoted to General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Phoenix. He was most recently at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel where he held the title of Hotel Manager since 2004. In Phoenix, he takes over from Pete Ells, now the General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay.

Rick Evanich returns to New York as General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Battery Park, from the same position at the Ritz-Carlton Boston Common. He was previously the General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park. 

Darrell Sheaffer has joined the Fairmont Turnberry Isle as General Manager. He briefly consulted for the Kor Group in Los Angeles as Area General Manager following a stint as opening General Manager at the Mandarin Oriental Washington DC. Sheaffer is also a former Ritz-Carlton man, for whom he served as General Manager in Palm Beach, Doha, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

Thomas Becker has been named General Manager of the yet-to-be-named �lifestyle hotel� to be operated by the Light Group in Las Vegas. The property will be part of MGM Mirage's City Center. Becker was most recently the General Manager at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn. Prior to that, he spent three years with Sun International (now Kerzner International) in Mauritius, following nine years with Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, Singapore and San Francisco.

Guenter Richter has been appointed General Manager of the Regent Bal Harbour due to open April 2007. He had been the Managing Director of the St. Regis New York and the General Manager of the Swissôtel New York The Drake following thirteen years with Grand Bay Hotel and Resorts.

Ellis O'Connor has joined the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York as General Manager, replacing Jim McPartlin. Since 1996, O'Connor had been with the Peninsula Hotel Group in Beverly Hills transferring to the Peninsula New York as Resident Manager at the beginning of this year.

Richard Behr has joined Miramonte in Indian Wells as General Manager.  He was most recently the General Manager of the Hilton Scottsdale and previously served as Resort Manager at the Royal Palms Resort and Spa in Phoenix.

Les Utley has been named General Manager of the South Coast Winery Resort and Spa in Temecula. He was most recently the General Manager of the Hotel Zoso in Palm Springs, and has previously worked at the Fairmount Hotel San Antonio, and the Vail Athletic Club.

Jonathan Crellin has transferred as General Manager of the Fairmont Hamilton Princess in Bermuda. He was most recently the General Manager of the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston.

Michael Kaile has been named General Manager of the Fairmont Chateau Whistler. He joined the company in 1991 as General Manager of the Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver, and was later appointed Vice President and General Manager in 1995. He has also managed the Fairmont Hamilton Princess and, most recently, the Fairmont Dubai. 

Karen Kelly is the new General Manager for Resortquest at Snowmass and Aspen taking over for Gunter Muller. She previously served as Vice President of Hospitality at Snowshoe Mountain, an Intrawest resort. 

Jeffrey Brower follows Horst Schulze's West Paces Hotel Group from L'Auberge de Sedona, to Augusta's venerable Partridge Inn, as General Manager in both cases. He previously served eight years with Ritz-Carlton including a stint as Executive Assistant Manager, Rooms Division at the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota.

Paul Tormey has transferred to the Fairmont Copley Plaza as General Manager. He was most recently the General Manager at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

Kevin Kaufman is being promoted to General Manager of Pinnacle Entertainment's Belterra Casino Resort. He was most recently the Senior Director of Casino Operations at the property he joined in 2001 as Director of Casino Operations. 

Todd George will relocate to St. Louis to become Vice President and General Manager for Pinnacle Entertainment's casino now under construction. He was most recently the General Manager of Pinnacle's Boomtown Bossier City and joined Pinnacle in the accounting department of the Belterra Casino Resort in 2000. George is replaced at Boomtown Bossier City by Barry Regula whose previous title at the resort was Senior Director of Casino Operations.

Jean-Luc Maumus has been named General Manager at the Knob Hill Inn in Idaho. He was most recently the Estate Manager for the Saperstein family in Beverly Hills. Previously, Maumus was the opening General Manager at Elk Mountain Resort, the Managing Director at Monmouth Plantation and the Managing Director at Maison de Ville in New Orleans.

Oscar Cruces has been appointed General Manager of the Grand Velas Resort in Puerto Vallarta. He was most recently the General Manager of the Marquis Reforma in Mexico City and previously headed up operations at the Gran Caribe Real and the Porto Real Hotel in the Yucatan Peninsula. 

Alain Negueloua has joined Meadowood in St. Helena as General Manager. He had been with Mandarin Oriental since 1997, most recently as the General Manager of the Mark in New York, due to close at the end of December.

Stuart Meyerson has been named General Manager of the Liberty Hotel in Boston slated to open Spring 2007. He has thirty years experience with Hyatt most recently as the General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Cambridge and the Hyatt Regency Newport.

Randy Kwasniewski has been appointed President of Morgans Hotel Group Las Vegas, and President and Chief Operating Officer of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, following the completion of the acquisition of the property by Morgans. He was most recently a Senior Vice President at Starwood Capital and had previously been the Chief Operating Officer of the Hard Rock Las Vegas, when the property was still owned by Peter Morton.

Omar Said has been promoted to Regional Director of Residences by Ritz-Carlton. He has been with the company thirteen years and was most recently the Area Director of Residences for the Sarasota properties. Said also served as Executive Assistant Manager Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas and the Ritz-Carlton Dearborn.

Senih Geray has been named General Manager at the St. Regis Aspen. He was most the General Manager of the Sheraton Voyager Antalya in Turkey for the past four years. He was with the St. Regis New York from 1994 to 2002 in various capacities ending as Financial Controller.

Tom Waithe has joined Vancouver's Pacific Palisades Hotel as General Manager/Director of Operations. He has held various positions with Four Seasons in Vancouver, Chicago, Hawaii and Tokyo. He was most recently at the Willows Lodge in Seattle. 

Hector Rubio has been promoted to Resident Manager at Esperanza in Los Cabos. He was most recently the Rooms Division Manager at the hotel. He is replaced by Silvana Diego who moves up from her position as Executive Assistant to the General Manager/Vice President, Severino Gomez.

Clifford Atkinson has been named Hotel Manager at Ian Schrager's Gramercy Park Hotel. He was most recently the Director of Sales at Ideas Revenue Optimization and was previously with Mandarin Oriental for seven years most recently as the Executive Assistant Manager-Rooms Division at the Mandarin Oriental New York.

Michael Abbott has joined Affinia Chicago as Director of Operations. He was most recently at the InterContinental Chicago as the Director Food and Beverage.

Steve Ohern has joined the White Face Lodge in Lake Placid as Resort Manager. He was most recently at Twin Farms in Vermont as the Assistant Manager.

Rafael Verde has been promoted to Assistant General Manager at Boomtown New Orleans. He joined Pinnacle Entertainment at Boomtown in the accounting department in 1999 and has held positions with the company as the Senior Director of Finance and Administration at Belterra Casino Resort. He most recently was the Senior Director of Finance at L'Auberge du Lac. 

Nelson Alvarez has been appointed Controller at the Inn at Little Washington. Over the last three years, he was with Interstate Hotels as the Director of Finance for the Latham and the Georgetown Inn in Washington, DC. He was previously a Controller for Hyatt in Virginia, Boston and Washington, D.C.

David McIntyre has joined the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as Executive Director of Food and Beverage. He was previously the Executive Assistant Manager Food and Beverage at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington and the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne.

Eric Christensen has been named Food and Beverage Director at the Dallas Magnolia. He was previously the Director of Food and Beverage for the Inn at Lost Creek in Telluride. He also served as the Outlets Manager at the Peaks in Telluride and as Banquet Manager for the Wyndham Colorado Springs. 

Robert Muehlich has been appointed Director of Food and Beverage at the Setai in Miami. He was most recently in the same position at Rosewood's Caneel Bay on St. John and previously served as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort and Spa.

Magnus Olovson has been appointed Director of Food and Beverage at Peter Island in the British Virgin Islands. He was most recently involved in the opening of the Sheraton Oran Hotel & Towers in Algeria as Director of Food and Beverage.

Mike VanDuzer has been appointed Director of Facilities at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado. He was most recently the Director of Facilities at the Lansdowne Resort in Virginia and was previously an Engineer at the Resort at Squaw Creek in Lake Tahoe.

Noble House Hotels & Resorts has named John Davies Vice President of Marketing and Ted Davis Vice President of Sales. Davies originally joined the company in 1998 as Vice President of Sales and Marketing and assumes his new position after eight months of consulting work for Noble House. Davis was previously an Area Director of Sales and Marketing for LXR Luxury Resorts. 

Mario Maesano is relocating to St. Louis as Senior Director of Marketing for Pinnacle Entertainment. He was most recently the head of marketing at Boomtown Bossier City and joined Pinnacle in 2000 in the marketing department at Belterra.

Keith Henson has relocated to Las Vegas as Vice President of Relationship Marketing for Pinnacle Entertainment. He was most recently the Senior Director of Human Resources at L'Auberge du Lac in Lake Charles, having joined Pinnacle in 1997 as a table games dealer at the Boomtown Reno. 

The Dallas Magnolia has appointed Raluca Leibowitz Human Resources Manager. She was previously the Corporate Director of Human Resources for Encore Hospitality. She also has served as a human resources consultant with Gemstone, as the General Manager of the Grove Isle Resort and Club in Miami, and as the Hotel Manager of the Hotel ZaZa in Dallas.  

Allen Anderson will be re-joining Destination Hotels and Resorts as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Skamania Lodge in Washington. He took his current position of Director of Sales and Marketing at the Ocean Hammock Resort prior to its sale by Destination/Lowe to Centex. 

The Chateau on the Lake Resort & Spa in Branson, Missouri has appointed Peter Regan Director of Sales and Marketing. He comes from the L'Enfant Plaza (formerly Loews) in Washington D.C. Regan also held various sales positions with the Peabody Hotel Group and Crestline.  

Fairmont has appointed Jon Mamela to the newly created position of Director, Product and Service Strategy. Previously, he served as Fairmont's Director of Relationship Management.

Windsor Casino Limited has appointed Patricia Nicholl as Director, Hotel and Convention Sales. Her previous hotel experience includes the Windsor Hilton and the Deerhurst Resort where she was the Marketing Director. In addition, Nicholl previously held positions as the Director, Sales and Marketing for Canadian Pacific in Calgary and at the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa. 

Alana Miranda has been named Director of Villa Sales for the Cabo Azul Resort & Spa scheduled to open in Spring 2007 in Los Cabos. She was most recently with Starwood French Polynesia as Director of Sales � North America. Taking over her responsibilities is Victoria Page who comes from the Luxury Collection sales office in Los Angeles.  

Jon Makhmaltchi has been promoted to Director of Global Sales at Small Luxury Hotels, based in Los Angeles. Since 2004 he has been the Director of Sales, Western United States, for the company. He was previously the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Carneros Inn in Napa and the Huntington in San Francisco.

Arthur Backal is the Owner/Partner of Backal's in Scarsdale, New York.  He partners with Tony Fortuna of the Lenox Room, with whom he had worked with at the St. Regis New York where Backal was the Director of Catering and Fortuna was the Manager of Lespinasse. For the past three years, Backal has also been the Director of Catering at the Mandarin Oriental New York.

Cynthia Boyett has transferred to the Four Seasons Westlake Village as Director of Catering and Conference Services. She previously held the same position at the Four Seasons Miami. Prior to that, she was the Associate Director of Catering and Conference Services at the Mandarin Oriental Miami.

The Dallas Magnolia has appointed Mai Nguyen Catering Manager. She was previously the Suite Catering Sales Manager for ARAMARK at Minute Maid Park.

Patrick Fortemps has joined the Boca Raton Resort and Club as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage. He had spent many years at the Parker Méridien New York as Director of Catering and also served as Assistant General Manager at Jalousie Plantation in St. Lucia. Fortemps had also been the Assistant General Manager at the Hotel Hermitage in Monte Carlo, and served as Director of Food and Beverage at the George Cinq in Paris, prior to its reincarnation as a Four Seasons.

Damon Gordon has joined the soon-to-open Ivy Hotel in San Diego as Executive Chef. Since 1999, he had been with China Grill Management as Executive Chef at Ono at the Hotel Gansevoort, Mix New York, Delano and Royalton, among others.
Stefan Kauth has been appointed Executive Chef at the Renaissance Las Vegas. He was most recently the Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove and was previously the Banquet Chef at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, Executive Chef at the Stirling Club at Turnberry Place and Chef de Cuisine at the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach.

Andreas Nieto has joined the newly re-opened US Grant Hotel in San Diego as Executive Chef. He was most recently at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza (formerly the Westin Century Plaza) where he had been the Executive Chef since 1999, save for a brief break in 2004 when he went to the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Brooke Vosicka has transferred to the Four Seasons Boston as Executive Chef. He has been with Four Seasons since 1982 in Atlanta, Chicago, Washington DC and most recently as Executive Chef at the Four Seasons New York.

Paul Barnard has been appointed Executive Chef at the Discovery Resort in St. Lucia. He was most recently the Executive Sous Chef at the Elbow Beach Hotel by Mandarin Oriental in Bermuda.

Yoshinori Kojima has joined Wolfgang Puck Catering as Executive Chef of the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles. He was most recently the opening Executive Chef at Okura in Palm Springs. He previously served as Executive Sous Chef at Latitude in Sonoma, Executive Chef at MC2 Restaurant in San Francisco and Executive Chef at the Pan Pacific Hotel, also in San Francisco.

Stephen Adelle-Jondeau has joined the Blue Waters Hotel in Antigua as Executive Chef. He was previously the Executive Chef at Sandals Montego Bay and Executive Sous Chef at Little Dix Bay.

Patrick O'Connor joins the InterContinental Dallas as Executive Chef. He was most recently the Executive Sous Chef at Disney's Swan and Dolphin Resort.

Todd Wolfson has been appointed Executive Chef at the Glen Cove Mansion on Long Island. He was most recently the Executive Chef at another Benchmark property, Berry Hill Plantation. 

Australian Sean Dent has joined Circa 55, the new restaurant at the Beverly Hilton as Chef de Cuisine. Prior to having his own catering operation, Dent was the Executive Chef at the now-shuttered Citrus in Los Angeles. He also served as Executive Sous Chef at Le Merigot Santa Monica Beach Hotel and Sous Chef at L'Orangerie.

David Murphy has joined Nero's Grill at Caesar's Palace in Atlantic City as Chef de Cuisine. He was most recently at Galipette Restaurant in Florida as the Executive Chef/Partner and was previously the Executive Chef at Wave Restaurant at the W Hotel Lakeshore. In addition, he has held the position of Executive Sous Chef at Michael Jordan's Steakhouse and 23 Sportcafé at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.

Patrick Ponsaty has been appointed Executive Chef at Bernard Mougel's Bernard'O in Rancho Bernardo. He was most recently the Executive Chef at La Bastide Bistro in San Diego and previously the Chef de Cuisine at El Bizcocho at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. Ponsaty is a former Executive Chef at the Park Bistro in New York. Early in his career, he served as Pastry Chef at La Samanna.

Nicolas Legret has joined the Willard InterContinental as Chef de Cuisine where he will be in charge of the Willard Room. He was most recently the Chef at Bistro 123 in Virginia and previously the Executive Sous Chef at the Sofitel Washington DC and Le Mas Perrier in Pennsylvania. 

Céline Plano has joined the Four Seasons Westlake Village as pre-opening Executive Pastry Chef. She was most recently at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead as Head Pastry Chef and previously at the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco.

Anthony Olheiser has been named General Manager of Studio 54 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Previously, he served as the Assistant General Manager of TAO at the Venetian. He also served as Operations Manager at MIX, in THE Hotel at Mandalay Bay.

Shelly Davis has joined Reds Restaurant at the Sedona Rouge Hotel and Spa as Restaurant Manager. She spent the past three years at the Amara Resort also in Sedona.

David Ebanks has joined the Resort at Singer Island in Florida as Director of Housekeeping. He was most recently in the same position at the Diplomat Country Club and Spa and was previously the Director of Housekeeping at the Ocean Point Resort and Club.

Lucio López returns to the Ritz-Carlton Cancun as Associate Director of Engineering. He was most recently in the same position at the Ritz-Carlton San Juan and was previously at the Cancun property since 1993.

Toni Maggiore has been named Spa Director at the Four Seasons Atlanta. She was most recently at the Four Seasons Aviara where she served as Spa Operations Manager.

Katie Pederson has been named Spa Director at the Spa at the Inverness in Denver. She was most recently the Director of Technical Services at the Essentiels Spa in Boulder. 

Sara Thatcher has been named Spa Director at the Palms on Turks and Caicos, now a Regent property. Most recently, she worked as Sports and Leisure Manager at London's prestigious Royal Automobile Club.       

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Europe
Agnes Bourguignon has joined Alain Ducasse's fast growing empire as Managing Director of Alain Ducasse Formation. ADF includes a professional culinary school, a cooking school for non-professionals and Identité Culinaire, a consulting firm. Bourguignon is well known in Europe, where she recently was a senior executive for Accor in charge of the Sofitel brand in Europe. She had also been the President of the hotel division of the Compagnie Immobilière du Phénix. As such, she launched the Demeure and Libertel hotel brands, now parts of Accor. 

André Martinez has been named President of Hospitality by Morgan Stanley. He logged several years with Accor in some of the company's top posts, following tenure as President of Méridien hotels.

Long time Hilton man Peter Van Der Vliet, Vice President for Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg, is retiring. His successor is Ridu Jagersbacher.

Jean Faivre has been promoted to Vice President France and Geneva for Hilton. He was most recently the Regional General Manager - Paris for the company and had previously been the General Manager at the Hilton Rabat and the Bucharest Hilton. Previously, he was with InterContinental as Hotel Manager at the Dubai InterContinental and Resident Manager of the Mayfair InterContinental in London.

Fairmont has appointed John Williams Executive Vice President for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He began his career with Fairmont in 1995 as the Regional Vice President, British Columbia Region and the General Manager of the Fairmont Empress. He most recently served as Executive Vice President Operations for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. 

Hilton has announced the appointment of Simon Vincent as Area President of the company's United Kingdom and Ireland region, replacing Howard Friedman who is returning to the United States following over seventeen years service with Hilton. Simon was most recently at Opodo where he was the Chief Executive Officer. 

Sylvain Ercoli is coming back into the fold of Barry Sternlicht's Concorde Hotel Group, as General Manager of the Hotel de Crillon. He had left the group in the spring to become the General Manager of London's Claridges. From 2001 to 2006, Ercoli had served Concorde as General Manager of the Hotel Martinez in Cannes, with additional regional responsibilities over its sister property the Palais de La Méditerranée in Nice. Part of his mandate in Paris will be to help define and develop the Crillon brand for Sternlicht. The top job at the Crillon was left vacant when Franka Holtmann became the General Manager of the Meurice, also in Paris.

Kiaran MacDonald has been named General Manager of the Savoy in London, taking over the position left vacant since April when Mark Huntley joined the MGM Grand Las Vegas. MacDonald joins from the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, where he had been the General Manager since 2003. 

Dagmar Woodward has joined the Hotel Royal Monceau in Paris as General Manager. She was previously the General Manager of the Intercontinental Paris, the Mayfair InterContinental London and the InterContinental The Portmann also in London. At the Royal Monceau, Woodward steps in where Kristof Mares had left when the tentative joined venture between Mandarin Oriental and the Royal Monceau was aborted.

Jean-Marie Marcadier has been appointed General Manager for the Hotel Mirabeau in Monte Carlo. He was most recently at the Hotel Le Pigonnet in Nice as General Manager and previously spent nine years at the Ritz in Paris as Director of Food and Beverage and Director of Operations.

Gian Luigi Epis has joined the Hotel Castillo Son Vida in Mallorca as General Manager taking over from Lionel Alvarez who has left the company. Epis was most recently the General Manager at the Hotel and Casino Torrequebrada in Malaga, and previously the General Manager at sister property Puente Romano.

Gastone Di Domenico has joined Acqua Marcia Turismo in Italy as Cluster General Manager where he will be converting the company's three luxury hotels into Hilton properties. He was most recently the General Manager at Il Ciocco Hotel and Resort and previously served as General Manager at the Sheraton Royal Gardens in Cairo.

Jean-Francois Pelouard returns to Budapest as General Manager of the Baglioni slated to open in September 2007. He was previously the General Manager at the Hotel du Parc in Mulhouse, the Riverside Hotel in Prague, the Andrássy Hotel in Budapest and the Sands Resort Mauritius.

Robert Patrick Herr was appointed General Manager of the InterContinental Prague replacing Leon Larkin who is moving to a soon-to-be announced position. Herr started his career with InterContinental in 1993 and was the Resident Manager at the InterContinental Vienna and the InterContinental Prague, the General Manager at the Crowne Plaza Hamburg and most recently the opening General Manager at the InterContinental Düsseldorf.  

Stephan Kaminski has joined the Kempinski Vierjahreszeiten in Munich as General Manager. He held a similar position with Kempinski at their Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, and also was the General Manager at the Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg for Kempinski.

Jean-Pierre Marcadier has transferred to the Hyatt Regency Belgrade as General Manager, taking over for Ed Andrews. Marcadier was previously the General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Paris Roissy. He had originally joined the company in 1999 as General Manager of the Grand Hyatt Muscat. He also served as General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Casablanca.

Estelita Sebeto has transferred to the Ritz-Carlton Carratraca in Spain, as pre-opening General Manager. She had once been the Front Office Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Washington DC.

Heinz Hunkeler has been appointed General Manager at the Grand Hotel Kronenhof Pontresina in St. Moritz. He was most recently the Executive Assistant Manager at the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski in Munich and was previously the Director of Food and Beverage at the Hotel du Rhône in Geneva. His wife, Jenny, joins him at the hotel as Directrice. 

Olivier Bigot has transferred to the Sofitel Toison d'Or in Brussels as General Manager. He was most recently the General Manager of the Sofitel Nice and was previously the General Manager at the Hotel Astor in Paris.

Warren Lavender has joined the Berkeley in London as Chief Engineer. He was most recently at the Four Seasons Canary Wharf as the Director of Engineering. Lavender also toiled at the Sun City Resort in South Africa and was the Chief Engineer at the Eton Town House Group and the Harrington Club.

Michaël Thevenet has been named Food and Beverage Director at the Moscow Marriott Royal Aurora. He was most recently the Food and Beverage Manager at the Le Méridien Président in Sénégal and previously at Le Méridien Etoile in Paris as the Assistant Food and Beverage Manager.

Jean-Marie Dubos has joined Arabella Hoteles e Inversiones de Espana in Spain as the Regional Director of Food and Beverage. He was previously the Director of Food and Beverage at the Ritz Paris, following three years with Rosewood in Dallas and New York.

Rocco Forte Hotels has appointed Murray Thomson to the newly-created position of Brand Conference and Incentive Director. He was most recently their United Kingdom Sales and Marketing Director. Thomson joined Rocco Forte Hotels in 1997 and has previously occupied the role of Director of Sales and Marketing at both the Balmoral and the Lowry. 

Gregory Bradelle has been promoted Director of Sales and Marketing at Le Richemond in Geneva. He was most recently the International Sales Director at the hotel and previously the Assistant Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hotel de Russie in Rome. In addition, Bradelle was the Corporate and Leisure Sales Manager at the Mark in New York.

Marie Cécile Dumont is the new Director of Sales and Marketing at the Westin Paris (formerly the Paris InterContinental). She transfers from the same position at sister hotel the Trianon Palace, in Versailles. 

Rocco Forte Hotels has appointed Mark Allvey Global Sales Director based at the company's head office in London. He was most recently with One&Only Resorts as Vice President of Sales and was previously the London Regional Sales Director for Morgans Hotel Group, where he was responsible for the Sanderson and St. Martin's Lane.

Nathalie Cockayne has been appointed Rooms Division Manager at the Savoy in London. Prior to that, she was the Front Office Manager at the Setai South Beach.

Devrim Kahramanoglu has been promoted to Front Office Manager at the Cumberland in London. He was most recently the Assistant Front of House Manager at the hotel and was previously at Browns as Reception Manager and Front Office Manager at Kingsway Hall.

Luc Califano has been named Front Office Manager at the Royal Plaza in Montreux. He was previously the Front Office Manager at the Le Plaza in Brussels and the Reservation Manager at the Royal Riviera in St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat.         

Asia and the Pacific
Andrew Hirst has been named Director of Operations for Mandarin Oriental, based in Hong Kong. He will be in charge of all hotels in Asia, plus global responsibility for customer service, food and beverage and spas. Ingo Schweder, who was in charge of spas, has left the company. Hirst has previously been the General Manager at the Oriental in Singapore, the Mandarin Oriental Macau and, most recently, the Excelsior in Hong Kong.

Jean-Marc Vermorel has been promoted from General Manager at the Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort to Director of Operations for South Pacific Management, the operator of Pearl Resorts. Vermorel had joined the group in April 2004, after serving as Financial Controller for Orient-Express' Bora Bora Lagoon Resort. At SPM, he takes over from François Hemery, who has left the company.

Taking over from Jean-Marc Vermorel as General Manager of the Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort is Cornell graduate Xavier Bessou, who moves up from the position of Executive Assistant Manager at the property.

Philip Dailey has transferred to the Shangri-La Chiang Mai as General Manager. He has been with the company since 2001 at the Putrajaya Shangri-La and the Makati Shangri-La. Previously he worked with Ian Schrager Hotels for six years at the unfinished Miramar in Santa Barbara and Morgans in New York.

François Hemery has joined the Sunway Phnom Penh as General Manager. He was most recently the Director of Operations and Human Resources at Pearl Resorts in Tahiti. Previously, Hemery was the General Manager at the Kuala Lumpur Parkroyal and the Penang Parkroyal.

Rainy Chan has transferred to the Peninsula Hong Kong as General Manager taking over from Ian Coughlan who left the company to join Wynn resorts. Chan comes from the Peninsula Bangkok where she had taken over the General Manager position again from Coughlan when he left for the Hong Kong property.

The Ramada Sapporo has appointed Shigeki Murao General Manager. He most recently directed the re-branding and re-launch of the Ramada Osaka as Director of Sales and Marketing. 

C.V. Healy has transferred to the Shangri-La Putrajaya in Malaysia as General Manager. He was most recently at the Shangri-La Penang as General Manager and has previously worked in Taipei, Shanghai and Qingdao. 

Mark Heather has been appointed General Manager of the Anantara Resort Golden Triangle in Northern Thailand. He was most recently at the Harbour View Hotel in Haiphong and previously held operational and Sales and Marketing roles with Dusit Hotels. 

Ivan Casadevall will oversee the Anantara Resort Hua Hin. He joined Anantara Resorts & Spas in early 2006 and has previously been with Sol Melia in Indonesia and Vietnam.

Ludwig Szeiler has been appointed General Manager of the Sheraton Nanjing. He was previously the General Manager at the Sheraton Dammam.

Robin Edwards has been appointed General Manager of the Crowne Plaza Sanya on Hainan Island. Edwards was previously the General Manager of the Golden Palms Hotel and Spa in Bangalore and has held positions with Starwood and Jebel Ali International Hotels in the Middle East.

Rick Lopez has been appointed Resident Manager for the recently opened Boracay Mandarin Island Hotel in the Philippines. He was formerly the Operations and Marketing Director at Villa de Oro Boracay for three years.

Cornell graduate Noel Merainer has joined Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts as Regional Director of Revenue Management - North America. He will be based out of Hong Kong until 2008 and will then relocate to Vancouver. He was previously at the Four Seasons Washington DC in various capacities, most recently as Director of Revenue Management.

Bernard Viola has transferred as Hotel Manager to the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo slated for opening in March 2007. He was most recently in the same position at the Ritz-Carlton Moscow. Viola originally joined Ritz-Carlton in 2004 as the Executive Assistant Manager, Food and Beverage, at the Ritz-Carlton Rose Hall, in Jamaica.

Charles-Henri Chevet has been named Hotel Manager at the Sofitel Wanda Beijing slated for opening June 2007. He was most recently at the Sofitel Métropole Hanoi.

Stefano Ruzza has transferred to the Hilton Cebu Resort and Spa in the Philippines as Director of Operations. He was most recently at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort and Spa as Director of Food and Beverage.

The InterContinental Hong Kong has appointed Jeffrey Ong Executive Assistant Manager. He was most recently the Executive Assistant Manager, Sales and Marketing at Raffles The Plaza, Singapore, and previously spent two years in Japan as Director of Marketing for the Swissôtel Nankai in Osaka.  

Richard Langonne has been named Rooms Division Manager at the Sofitel Métropole Hanoi. He was previously at the Sofitel Silom Bangkok.

Gary Martin has been appointed Food Director for Starbucks Greater China. Based in Shanghai, he will oversee the food program for the Greater China region including Hong Kong and Taiwan. He was most recently a consultant with Maxim's Hong Kong.

Konstantino Blokbergen has joined the Oriental in Bangkok as Director of Food and Beverage. He has previously been with Raffles Singapore as Food and Beverage Manager and the Kahala Mandarin Oriental in Hawaii.

Raj Mohan returns to Marriott International, joining as Food and Beverage Manager at the Renaissance Kowloon, Hong Kong. He had earlier served with Marriott for four years in India at two different properties.

John Rees has been named Area Sales Director for Summergate Macau. He was most recently the Culinary Director of the Macau Shun Tak Tower Convention and Entertainment Center. Rees also served as Executive Chef for the Swissôtel Nankai, Shangri-La's China World Hotel, the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas and the Peninsula New York.

Anantara Resorts has appointed Narelle McDougall as Brand Director of Sales. She was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing for Le Méridien Golf & Spa Resort Bali and has previously held a range of senior level positions with InterContinental and Parkroyal Hotels.

Marion Walsh has been named Brand Director of Public Relations for Anantara Resorts based in Bangkok. She was most recently the Director of Communications at the InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong. Walsh also served as Public Relations Manager for Alain Ducasse in New York.

The InterContinental Hong Kong has named Teresa Goh Director of Events. She comes from the Four Seasons Hong Kong where she was the Assistant Director of Catering and Conference Services. Goh also logged three years as Assistant Director of Events Management for the Island Shangri-La Hong Kong.

Eric Balland has been named Director of Food and Beverage at the InterContinental Papeete. He comes from a similar position at Les Villas Du Lagon, on Reunion Island.

Richard Cross has been appointed Executive Chef at the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers. He has previously worked at the Lodge at Vail, the Isle of Eriska Hotel in Scotland, the Huka Lodge in New Zealand and Lizard Island in Australia.   

Yusuf Yaran has been appointed Executive Pastry Chef at the Shangri-La Makati in Manila. He was most recently the Executive Pastry Chef at the Ciragan Palace Kempinski. He also held similar positions at the Ritz-Carlton Istanbul, Four Seasons Istanbul, and the Holiday Inn Istanbul.

Holger Deh has been named Executive Pastry Chef at the Peninsula Beijing. He was most recently the Pastry Chef at the Datai in Langkawi and has previously worked for Hyatt in Amman and Berlin in addition to being on the opening team at the Peninsula Chicago.

Jimmy Tang has joined the Mandarin Oriental Macau as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage. He previously held various management positions at Jumeirah's Emirates Towers in Dubai, Raffles Singapore and the Peninsula Chicago.   

Middle East and Africa
Adrian Rudin has joined the Qaryat Al Beri Shangri-La in Abu Dhabi as General Manager. He has previously been the Director of Food and Beverage at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok and the Executive Assistant Manager Food and Beverage at the Island Shangri-La.

Klaus Lapp has been appointed General Manager of the Swissôtel Göcek, in Turkey, taking over for Stephan Franco. He previously spent two years as General Manager of the Swissôtel Lima from 2001 until 2003. He then worked as General Manager of the Villarica Park Hotel in Chile and was more recently the Managing Director of Paradisus Puerto Rico.

Jan Tibaldi has transferred to the One&Only Le Saint Géran in Mauritius as General Manager. He takes over for Mauro Governato who is now the General Manager at the One&Only Ocean Club in the Bahamas. Tibaldi was most recently the Resident Manager at the One&Only Le Touessrok also on Mauritius and previously the Resident Manager at Sandy Lane in Barbados.

Julio de Sousa has joined the Sonesta Cairo as Executive Assistant Manager Food and Beverage. He was most recently at the Alfa Corinthia in Lisbon as Director of Food and Beverage. He also was the Food and Beverage Director at the Intercontinental Costa Rica, and what used to be the Cesar Park Penha Longa in Portugal (now operated by Ritz-Carlton).

Ashraf Elmanawaty has been appointed Director of Marketing at the soon-to-open Four Seasons Alexandria in Egypt. He was most recently the Director of Marketing at the Four Seasons Sharm el Sheikh.

Lee-Anna Nussbaumer joins Mövenpick at the pre-opening office for its four new Dubai hotels as Director of Human Resources and Training. Her previous experience includes the opening of the Empire Hotel & Country Club in Brunei and the Hilton Niagara Falls, in Canada. More recently she was a part of the opening team for the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.

Louisa Saville has joined the Burj al Arab as Human Resources Manager.  She was most recently at the Savoy in London as the Assistant Director of Human Resources. Taking over her position in London is Victoria Osenton who has been promoted from Human Resources Assistant.

Dominique Michel Zunda has been named Executive Chef of the Jolie Ville Island Resort in Egypt. He was most recently at the Hilton Waterfalls in Sharm El Sheikh as Executive Chef.

Pierre Fares has joined Corniche, A Rosewood Hotel in Jeddah due to open in December, as Assistant Food and Beverage Manager. He was most recently the Restaurant Manager at the Sukhothai in Bangkok. He also served as Restaurant Manager at Raffles Singapore.

Edited by Benoit Gateau-Cumin, Lisa Leroy & Susana Parks
The Boutique Search Firm
[email protected]
[email protected]
http://www.boutiquesearchfirm.com
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THE BOUTIQUE SEARCH FIRM
A California Corporation
1173 Rodeo Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90035
TEL. 310-552-2221
FAX. 310-552-2224
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http://www.boutiquesearchfirm.com

Also See:
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ October 2006
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ September 2006
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ August 2006
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ July 2006
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ June 2006
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ May 2006
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ April 2006
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ March 2006
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What/ February 2006
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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