Heads Above the Rest
The Newsletter of The Boutique Search Firm
November 2000
| EUROPE |
| Julien Carralero moved from Four Seasons Aviara in Carlsbad
to Four Seasons George Cinq Paris as Hotel Manager. |
| Hervé Frère, who had been Asst. F&B
Manager at the Grand Hotel Inter-Continental in Paris is now the Director
of Food and Beverage at the Hotel Conrad Brussels. Jean-Christophe Michel
is his newly hired Executive Chef. |
| Nicolas Meylan has left his GM position at the Forum
London to be GM of the Inter-Continental Europa in Brussels. |
| Katia Bauval transferred within Orient-Express Hotels
from the Hotel de La Cité in Carcassone, France, to Quinta Do Lago
in Portugal as Director of Sales and Marketing. |
| Fernando Abaurrea, former Director of Human Resources,
Melia Grand Canary Island, now DHR for Aldiana Fuerteventura in the Canary
Islands. |
| Gautier de Beaucorps, former EAM at the Hotel Bora Bora
in French Polynesia, is now GM of the Bel-Ami in Paris, the latest in Grace
Leo-Andrieu�s posh Boutique Hotel line. |
| Patrick Van Der Voorn, former Front Office Manager for
the Hotel Astoria in Brussels, is now the Front of the House Manager for
the Hotel Montalembert in Paris. |
| Jorgen Jorgensen, former GM of the Inter-Continental
Istanbul, moved as GM of the prestigious Marbella Club Hotel and is now
back in Madrid with Inter-Continental Hotels. |
| Andres Lopez, former Controller for the Hotel Conrad
Rey Juan Carlos I, is now Financial Controller for Aldiana Cadiz. |
| AFRICA & THE MIDDLE EAST |
| Christian Penassou is now the Controller for Bass Inter-Continental
Lebanon. He was previously with the Ivoire Inter-Continental Abidjan. Penassou
has been with Inter-Continental since 1993 and was the Controller at the
Grand Hotel Inter-Continental in Paris. |
| Ian Champion, former Executive Chef of the Turtle Bay
Resort in Barbados, is now the Executive Chef at the Al Ain Rotana in the
UAE. |
| ASIA & THE PACIFIC |
| Canadian Executive Pastry Chef Robert St. Jacques signed
a few weeks ago with the Landmark in Bangkok, after a stint with the Westin
Rio Mar in Puerto Rico. |
| Also in Bangkok, The Imperial Hotels Group just opened
the Plaza-Athénée. The group already owns the Plaza-Athénée
New York. In Bangkok the Director of Sales & Marketing is Naruemol
Sukhum; Executive Chef Steven Thompson comes from Bangkok�s JW Marriott;
Executive Asst. Manager in charge of F&B is Kenwood Kiefer. |
| Jean Paul Naquin, former Executive Chef at Atlantis Bahamas,
is now the Executive Chef for the Ritz-Carlton Seoul. |
| Speaking of the Ritz-Carlton Seoul, its GM John Berndt
is leaving to open the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay in Northern California. |
| Likewise in Osaka, Ritz-Carlton GM John Rolfs is leaving
to open the Ritz-Carlton Central Park South in New York. |
| Chris Newberry has moved on as well, this time with Bass
Hotels: he is now the GM of the Crowne Plaza Beijing. |
| Tom Roelens left the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel in Bali, where
he worked for three years, to join the Regent of Jakarta as Executive Asst.
Manager. |
| Michel Cottabarren, former Executive Chef of the Linden
Hotel in Taiwan, is now the Executive Chef at the Sunway Phnom Penh, part
of Allson Hotels International. |
| Alison Fraser is the opening GM for the 35-villa ultra-luxury
Puri Wulandari in Bali. The property features 35 private pools in addition
to its main infinity pool overlooking Ubud�s Monkey Forest. Each villa
features 24-hour butler service. Fraser was previously the GM of Carcosa
Seri Negara in Kuala Lumpur, a former Amanresort. |
| Armando Kraenzlin is GM Four Seasons Maldives; he spent
many years with Mandarin-Oriental and had followed former M-O Chief Bruno
Schopfer to Movenpick. |
| Adrian Zecha is back in control of his beloved Amanresorts,
after buying out Colony Capital. His return also means that of Trina Dingler-Ebert
as Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations for the company. |
| Speaking of Colony Capital, they seem to want out of
the high-end hospitality industry: after Amanresorts, they also sold off
L�Ermitage Beverly Hills to Raffles Holdings of Singapore for $68 million.
Colony�s exquisite Guanahani on the French Caribbean island of St. Barthélémy,
is also for sale. |
| Donald Berger is now Executive Chef at the Press Club
in Hanoi. He previously was in the same position at the Tokyo Capital Club.
Berger, who is Canadian, first came to Asia as opening Executive Chef for
the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong. |
| CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICAS |
| Former Hotel Manager of Ritz-Carlton Puerto Rico Tony
Franzetti is the new GM of Ritz-Carlton Cancun. Franzetti is a Lausanne
graduate who spent twenty years with Inter-Continental prior to having
his own restaurant in Pebble Beach for almost ten years. In Cancun, he
replaces Luis Marco, who moves back to Ritz-Carlton¹s Hotel Arts in
Barcelona, which he originally opened. |
| Yves Giacometti left the Four Seasons Mexico, where he
was the Hotel Manager and previously the Director of Rooms Operations,
to be GM of the upcoming Four Seasons Caracas, Venezuela. |
| NORTH AMERICA |
| Colm O�Callaghan moved as Director of Food & Beverage
Operations from Merv Griffin�s Beverly Hilton to the New York Palace. |
| Robert Cioffi, former Food & Beverage of Omni Royal
Orleans moved to Loews Santa Monica. |
| Jennifer Fox moved from Special Consultant at Amanresorts
and Colony Capital to GM of the Bacara Resort, Santa Barbara. |
| F&B Director David Reardon from The Orchid at Mauna
Lani moved to Bacara, following former boss Jennifer Fox. Bacara hopes
to grow with new Director of Sales Susana Parks, former Director of Corporate
Sales of the St. Regis in New York. Finally Rémi Lauvand, formerly
of Montrachet in New York, was selected to head Miro, the gourmet venue
at Bacara. |
| Paul Pusateri left Park Place Entertainment and his former
position as President of Paris Las Vegas and Bally�s in the aftermath of
the death of Chairman Arthur Goldberg, October 18. Pusateri, 46,
already landed yet a better job, developing Vegas� newest and yet unannounced
privately held luxury hotel & casino. |
Mark Hodgdon left his position of GM at The Phoenician
in Phoenix.
Anette Grecchi moved to Executive Chef to open Hard Rock
Hotel Orlando for Loews Hotels; she came from Disney�s Wilderness Lodge
where she was Chef de Cuisine. |
| Nathan Logan moved as Executive Chef from Drago in Los
Angeles to Pazzo at the Vintage Court, for Kimpton in Portland. |
| Bryan Delonais has left the Meridien Boston after over
three years to pursue interests outside the hospitality industry. He, in
fact, joined United Liquors for whom he will be handling all luxury hotels
and restaurants in the greater Boston area. |
| Hugues Jaquier is the GM at the soon to open Méridien
Chicago. A 20-year veteran of the company, he joins from Le Méridien
Cancun, a Leading Hotel of the World. He was replaced there by Jean-Pierre
Sorin, who previously was the GM of the Méridien Bahia in Brazil. |
| Daniel Mann is no longer the GM at Keswick Hall and Orient
Express�s sister property the Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels,
Maryland. His boss, Dean Andrews, is marrying a Charlottesville gal
and as a result, takes Mann�s place. |
| John Washko, former Resident Manager of Four Seasons
Beverly Hills moves to Hotel Manager, opening Four Seasons San Francisco
under the legendary Stan Bromley. |
| Frederick Berger has been promoted to Sous Chef at Los
Angeles� L�Orangerie. |
| Randy Morton moved up from GM of Four Seasons Las Vegas
to President of Bellaggio Las Vegas. George Cordero has taken over
for Morton, transferring from the Four Seasons Ritz in Lisbon. |
| Henri Birmele replaces Asad Farag as Number Two Man at
St. Regis Los Angeles after less than one year in the same position at
the St. Regis Washington DC, where he worked under his former Turnberry
Isle boss Peter Walterspiel. |
| Wayne Neyens, Director of Personnel for the St. Regis
Los Angeles, also transferred from the St. Regis Washington DC. He
replaces Carole Suda, who left the company. Ralph Schwartz moved from the
Plaza New York, where he had managed the Palm Court to become Director
of Food of Beverage at the Bryant Park Hotel in New York, opening in December,
and sister property of the Shore Club in Miami Beach. |
| Kyle Lott joins the Shore Club in Miami as Executive
Housekeeper. He was previously Opening Executive Housekeeper at the Regent
of Las Vegas, following a seven-year career with Four Seasons. At the Shore
Club, he joins a large number of other Four Seasons Alumni, headed by GM
Charly Assaly and Director of Sales Cecile Gilmer. |
| Tony Cousens leaves Sales & Marketing after over
twenty years for Operations, as GM of the Royal Méridien King Edward
in Toronto. |
| Curt Ewald is Senior Vice President - Operations Resources
for Wyndham International, brought over from Singapore by Wyndham President
Ted Teng. Ewald, 42, who started his career as a Front Office agent at
the Madison in Washington DC, graduated Magna Cum Laude from Johnson &
Wales in 1978. After eight years with Hyatt and a stint at Hilton�s Palmer
House in Chicago, he moved to Singapore as Director of Sales and Marketing
at the Regent. From 1992 until this year, he was with Westin in Singapore. |
Hotel of the Month:
Four Seasons Scottsdale
|
| Every month the hotel buff in us will take you to a property with which
we felt particularly comfortable. Neither journalism here,
nor flattering fluff pieces on anyone in particular. Just frank comments
and observations on how things get done better by some than by others.
 This
month we feature the Four Seasons Scottsdale at Troon North, in Arizona�s
Valley of the Sun. The occasion was a regional meeting for the Cornell
Hotel Society, organized in honor of Keith Underwood, General Manager of
the Phoenix Country Club and current President of the Cornell Hotel Society.
John Sharpe, Cornell Hotelier class of 1965, who just retired after many
years as President of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, was our gracious
host. What can you say about a hotel property where it is impossible
to find a line employee (or department head) not sporting a smile (genuine)
on his or her face?
God is in the details, and we found a few for you:
A wine by the glass program featuring such rare finds as a Witness Tree
Pinot Noir at $12 per glass, with an addictive explosion of wood, and the
finish of a great Burgundy.
The good idea of serving Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay as banquet bar pour
by the glass.
Acacia, the hotel�s more formal dining option, Chef Daniel Mules named
one of 15 to �Keep Your Eye On� by Esquire Magazine�s Definitive
List of the Best New Restaurants in America, December 2000 issue.
Banquet staff uniformed and trained like the best captains in a New
York Times four-star winning restaurant.
A restaurant manager, Judith Van Nort, in the Crescent Moon (three-meal
restaurant) who will lend you a Four Seasons mini flashlight to read your
menu and will let you �steal� it and keep it as a souvenir. Cost: maybe
under one dollar, for a very, very, very happy guest who will come back
to those $435 room nights.
A Director of Food and Beverage Christina Clifton and an Executive Chef
Michael Goodman who shifted their home life and days off in order to work
weekends when the clientele is most demanding. We saw them both work until
after eleven on Saturday night, and be back before nine on Sunday morning.
A Director of Finance Mark Koehler actually involved in the operation
and physically helping where needed.
A policy to make a point to ask guests upon departure if �their expectations
have been exceeded�, and if there was any area where the hotel �failed
to exceed your expectations.�
Having a bellman greet you with a dry towel and a chilled bottle of
Evian as you come back from a mountain biking trip.
Signing a very hefty bill upon checkout and smiling because you felt
you received your money�s worth.
Finding �alternative cuisine� on all menus to taste as good, if not
better, than �regular� menu items.
Stealing a sachet of rose-and-acorn potpourri from the walk in closet
in the room, and a line of L�Occitane bath products from the bathroom.
And the size of those: 100 ml. (3.4 oz).
Splurging in a sea of fluffy terry towels three times a day and still
having some fresh ones left in the evening.
To contact the Four Seasons Scottsdale at Troon North, please call
480-515-5700, or toll free from Canada or the US 888-207-9696. |
|
| The new Millennium saw the arrival of two newcomers at The Boutique
Search Firm, namely Helen Berger and Ritee Parikh.
In our Lyon office, Karen Jolley celebrated her fourth year anniversary
with The Boutique Search Firm and was promoted to Vice-President, Europe,
Middle East & Africa.
The reach of The Boutique Search Firm continues to be truly global since
our placements year-to-date in 2000 have spanned no less than sixteen countries
and five US States. Our largest number of placements took place in California,
while the second highest was in Spain (closely followed by France).
We did more placements in Cambodia (two) than we did in Ohio (one) and
as many (four) in Florida as we did in New York. In terms of the
nationalities of those placed, we placed more US citizens than any other
nationality, although the French came in second position with only three
fewer placements. For the second year in a row The Boutique Search Firm
had several private placements for estate managers, private chefs and the
like. Eighteen percent of placed candidates were women. Of the eleven nationalities
we placed, the most �exotic� were Vietnamese, Danish, Egyptian and British.
We placed twice as many Executive Chefs as we did General Managers and
Financial Controllers, and as many Management Information Directors/Chief
Technology Officers as we did Directors of Sales and/or Marketing. Bonus
potential as a percentage of base salary among those placed averaged 30%,
with several in the 40% range.
Benoit Gateau-Cumin
President, The Boutique Search Firm
[email protected] |
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