LONDON, April 12, 2011 -- Thistle has announced the appointment of Paul Watson as general manager of its Thistle London Heathrow hotel. Having worked for the company for almost three years, Watson has proved to be a respected and highly capable manager, and has ambitious plans for the Heathrow airport-based hotel.

After finishing university, Watson began his hotel career as Food & Beverage manager at Stapleford Park and quickly developed a passion for the hotel industry. Over the proceeding five years, he has worked his way up to take on a number of senior roles, including operations manager and hotel manager for Thistle, before taking on his current role as general manager.

In his new role, Watson will oversee the day-to-day management of the hotel and its staff, along with the overall direction of the hotel in Heathrow. Located next door to Heathrow Airport, an immediate focus for him will be to build on the hotel's unrivalled location and help drive occupancy rates amongst the leisure and business markets - as well as enhancing the meeting and events offering within the hotel's Conference Centre.

Paul Watson commented: "It's incredibly exciting to be given the opportunity to oversee Thistle London Heathrow and really make my mark on the hotel. Customer service and great hospitality is at the heart of our business and my immediate focus will be to ensure all our guests experience seamless levels of customer care throughout every department of our hotel."

Simon Farr, operations director, Thistle Hotels, commented: "Our London Heathrow hotel benefits from a high volume of business and leisure travellers coming into and out of the airport. With Paul's proven track record and dedication, we're extremely confident that with him on board, both the profile, and the overall guest satisfaction of Thistle London Heathrow will continue to rise."

Watson graduated from Sheffield Hallam University with a degree in Hotel & Catering Management.

About Thistle
Thistle Hotels is part of Guoman Hotel Management (UK) Limited which operates hotels throughout the UK. Thistle has 33 hotels across the country, many in city centre locations, including eleven in central London. With a selection of restaurants and a choice of health and leisure facilities, Thistle has something to offer everyone.

Thistle Hotels is the first hotel group to achieve Hospitality Assured accreditation, across its entire UK portfolio. Created by the Institute of Hospitality, the Hospitality Assured standard measures the quality within customer facing businesses across the hospitality, tourism and leisure industry.

SOURCE Thistle Hotels