After nearly fifteen years as General Manager of New York's The Mark,
Raymond Bickson is taking up the position of Chief Operating Officer for
Taj Luxury Hotels, the luxury division of 100-year-old Mumbai-based Indian
Hotels Company. Hawaii-born, Lausanne educated Bickson literally put the
Mark on the map, turning the dusty former Hyde Park Hotel into a temple
of refinement known the world over. Bickson, a gentleman if there ever
was one, learned his trade under such household names as Bob Burns, Adrian
Zecha and Georg Rafael when the trio operated Regent International Hotels.
The Mark, along with the rest of the Rafael Group, was purchased by Mandarin-Oriental
a few years ago. The acquisition strongly impacted the unique personality
of the hotel.
Alain Negueloua, who was the General Manager of the Mandarin-Oriental
San Francisco for the past three years, has been appointed General Manager
of the Mark to succeed Bickson. He originally joined the Mandarin-Oriental
San Francisco in 1997 as Rooms Division Manager, was promoted to Resident
Manager, and then to General Manager in 1999. Until a replacement has been
appointed for Negueloua, Pierre Barthes will be Acting General Manager
for the Mandarin-Oriental San Francisco. He joined the company in 1998
as Director of Food and Beverage at the Kahala Mandarin-Oriental.
Michael Hoffmann will be the opening Managing Director at Carneros Inn,
slated for a summer 2003 launch. Hoffmann was most recently the Managing
Director and Owner¹s Representative at Miami¹s Shore Club prior
to its takeover by Ian Schrager Hotels. A Lausanne Hotel School graduate,
Hoffmann also logged many years with Peninsula in New York, Hong Kong and
Carmel. He was Peninsula¹s General Manager at Carmel Valley¹s
Quail Lodge and Golf Club now operated by Bernardus.
Dick Holtzman, a second generation Cornell hotelman, will be moving
to Kauai as President of Kukui'Ula a high-end mixed use development of
land owned by Alexander & Baldwin. High-priced residences will be anchored
by an 18-hole Tom Weiskoff golf course and a 65-unit ultra-luxury resort,
slated for a 2005 opening. Each of the 65 units will have its own swimming
pool. At 1,200 acres the development is the size of the Boulders in Carefree,
which Holtzman headed from its earliest inception stages and through its
sales to Wyndham a few years ago.
Tom Kelly has been appointed General Manager of the Four Seasons Resort
Scottsdale, succeeding Chris Hart who will be relocating to the Four Seasons
Toronto. Kelly had been the General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Chicago
since 1997. He originally joined Four Seasons in 1978 as Director of Marketing
at the Four Seasons San Antonio.
Christoph Schmidinger has been appointed to succeed Tom Kelly as General
Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Chicago. He has been with Four Seasons
for ten years, initially as Manager of the Regent of Singapore, then as
General Manager of the Regent Kuala Lumpur. He then moved on to the
Regent Jakarta and most recently held the position of General Manager of
the Four Seasons Atlanta. Denise Flanders is his successor as General Manager
of the Four Seasons Atlanta. She originally joined Four Seasons in 1989
at the Pierre as Director of Rooms. She then was the Hotel Manager
in Houston, Seattle and finally Atlanta.
At The World at ResidenSea, the much touted (justifiably) floating ultra-luxe
high-rise condo/cruise ship, former Mandarin-Oriental Chief Executive Officer
Robert Riley has been hired as CEO. Riley was the CEO at Mandarin-Oriental
for ten years. In recent years he was an independent consultant. Christine
Hodder has been hired as ship General Manager alternating the job with
René Peter, who has been with the company since July 2001, when
he started at as Director of Food and Beverage. Hodder was most recently
with Hong-Kong based Shun Tak Holdings, and also served as Director of
Marketing for the Four Seasons Singapore and the former Westin Singapore.
Jacques Wulffaert has left ResidenSea, where he was Senior Vice President
in charge of product and hotel operations.
Still at the World at ResidenSea, Frank Cavella has been named Senior
Vice President Sales & Marketing. For the past five months he had been
the Area Director of Sales and Marketing for Boca Resorts at the Registry
Resort and Edgewater Beach Hotel in Naples, Florida. Cavella previously
logged eleven years with Ritz-Carlton.
Andrea Melotti has been appointed General Manager of the Raleigh in
Miami Beach. The Raleigh was recently acquired by André Balasz'
Hotels AB. An Italian, Melotti was previously the General Manager of the
Sagamore, also on South Beach and also worked with prestigious hotels in
Europe such as the Carlton Inter-Continental in Cannes and the Royal Monceau
in Paris.
Patricia Clairmont has been appointed General Manager at Le Méridien
Beverly Hills. She was previously with the Loews Santa Monica as Managing
Director and spent fourteen years with Méridien Hotels in Newport
Beach and Vancouver.
Carlton Hudson has been appointed General Manager of the Standard Downtown
Los Angeles. He is replacing Steven Wright. Carlton was previously with
Starwood Hotels for three years, for whom he opened both the W New Orleans
and the W Chicago Lakeshore.
Paul Pusateri has been named Senior Vice President for Gaming and Hotel
Operations at the Venetian in Las Vegas. Pusateri was until recently the
Chief Operating Officer for Turnberry Associates. He is also the man who
put the Paris Hotel and Casino on the map following a twelve-year career
with Four Seasons.
David Baldwin has been named Hotel Manager at the New York Palace.
Baldwin joins from the Hotel Twin Dolphin in Cabo San Lucas where he was
the General Manager. Baldwin previously spent one year as Hotel Manager
at the Mandarin-Oriental Manila. Prior to that, he spent two years as Hotel
Manager at New York¹s Rihga Royal.
Also at the New York Palace, Susan Buckley is in charge of the Villard
Lounge and restaurant Istana. She came from the Bryant Park Hotel where
she was the Beverage Manager. She also held the same position at the original
W New York.
Steven Peterson has been appointed Executive Chef at the MGM Grand in
Las Vegas. Prior to that, Steven was with Starwood Hotels and Resorts as
their Corporate Executive Chef. At the MGM Grand, he replaces Kim Canteenwalla.
Lynn Crawford is the new Executive Chef at the Four Seasons Toronto.
Born and raised in Toronto, he comes from the Four Seasons New York, where
he was the Executive Sous Chef. Crawford's culinary career with Four Seasons
began in 1990 at the former Four Seasons Montreal followed by stints in
Nevis, Vancouver and Toronto.
Eric Sather has been appointed General Manager at Aspen Meadows with
Dolce International. He started his career with Dolce International in
1990 as Assistant Controller at Lakeway Inn & Resort in Austin. His
most recent position was as General Manager at the IBM Learning Center
in Westchester County.
John Finamore has been named Senior Vice President of Regional Operations
at Penn National Gaming. A Cornell Hotel School Graduate (and the brother
of Peter Finamore, Vice President Hospitality for the upcoming Borgata
in Atlantic City ) he served as President of Missouri Operations for Ameristar
Casinos. Prior to his tenure with Ameristar Casinos, he held several senior
management positions with Station Casinos. Finamore also was the Director
of Food and Beverage at the Westin Swan at Disneyworld. His father,
Louis Finamore used to be the General Manager of the former Kahala Hilton
in Hawaii (now the Kahala Mandarin-Oriental).
Rena Udell has been named Director of Hotel Sales, Eastern Region United
States and Canada with Orient Express Hotels, North America. Udell
has more than 25 years of travel industry experience. Most recently,
she was Director of Regional Sales for Regent International Hotels in New
York. She also held similar positions with Forte Hotels and Mandarin
Oriental.
Lorraine McInnes has been appointed Director of Finance for the new
Four Seasons Hotel in Miami. Todd Swaggerty is replacing her as Director
of Finance at Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, on the Big Island of Hawaii.
McInnes joined Four Seasons in 1997 and worked as Assistant Controller
for the Four Seasons Singapore and the Four Seasons Philadelphia.
Swaggerty has been with Four Seasons since 1990, working at Four Seasons
properties in Santa Barbara, New York, Berlin, the Maldives and most recently
as Director of Finance at the Four Seasons Austin.
Eric Dupaix has been appointed Director of Food and Beverage at the
Carlyle in New York. Eric was previously with the Waldorf=Astoria for seven
years in various food and beverage management positions. He is replacing
Jean-Marie Dubos who has been appointed Executive Chef with another Rosewood
property, the Crescent Court in Dallas. Dubos had originally joined Rosewood
in September 2000 as Corporate Director of food and Beverage. He was assigned
to the Carlyle when Rosewood took the property over in September 2001.
Francesca Gori has been appointed North America Director of Sales for
Rocco Forte Hotels based in New York. Prior to her new role she was
based in Rome at Rocco Forte¹s Hotel de Russie where she had worked
since the hotel¹s opening in spring 2000 as Sales Manager for the
company¹s two Italian hotels (the other hotel is the Savoy in Florence).
Asaad Farag is leaving Las Vegas and returning to the Big Apple where
he will be based at the Regent Hotel Wall Street as Executive Assistant
Manager. Most recently Farag was the Vice President & General Manager
of the Stirling Club at Turnberry.
At Island Outpost's Tides, on Miami's South Beach, David Moth and Frank
Holtslag have been brought on as General Manager and Executive Assistant
General Manager respectively; and William Bouvier has been brought on as
Director of Revenue Management for Island Outpost. Moth joins The Tides
from Malmaison in Glasgow, Scotland, where he served as General Manager.
His past experience includes positions as Food & Beverage Director
for the Cuisinart Resort & Spa in Anguilla and General Manager of Nisbet
Plantation Beach Club in Nevis. Holtslag had been working for the past
two years as the Director of Revenue for Island Outpost. Bouvier joins
Island Outpost as Director of Revenue Management from the Cliffs Resort,
in Shell Beach, where he served as Director of Sales & Marketing and
Assistant General Manager.
Rene Paalman has been appointed Director of Finance at the Four Seasons
Austin. He comes from Palm Beach where he has been the Assistant Director
of Finance for the past two years.
Daniel Monnet joined the Marriott Downtown Los Angeles as Financial
Controller. Prior to that, he was in the same position with Le Méridien
at Beverly Hills and the Hotel Inter-Continental Los Angeles.
Attila Gyulai has been promoted to Food and Beverage Director at the
Four Seasons Olympic. He had transferred to the Olympic in 2001 as Assistant
Director of Food and Beverage from the Four Seasons Santa Barbara where
he joined the company as Assistant Food & Beverage Director in 1997.
Jeffrey Jacobs, previously Director of Food and Beverage at the Plaza
in New York has been named General Manager at the Adams Mark in St Louis.
Jacobs had joined the Plaza in 1999, from the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia.
Jean-Claude Wietzel has been appointed Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons
New York. Prior to that, he was the Hotel Manager at Le Méridien
Melbourne.
Steven Rice is coming back to Four Seasons as Director of Catering at
the Pierre. He comes from the Waldorf=Astoria, where he has been in catering
since 1998. He had been the Director of Catering at the Four Seasons Washington
D.C. At the Pierre, he replaces Arthur Backal who left after four years
to launch his own event planning firm.
Geoffrey Mills has been named Managing Director of the Melrose New York,
the former Barbizon. Prior to joining the Melrose, Mills was with the Camberley
Hotel Company, both as Vice President of Operations and as General Manager
of the Algonquin.
As of January 2003, Kathy Springstead will be the Director of Food and
Beverage of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. She had been with Four Seasons
for several years in the Newport Beach, Dublin, Beverly Hills and Las Vegas
properties.
Sheldon Suga has been appointed Area Director of Operations for the
Atlanta area with Wyndham International. Suga was most recently the
president of his own consulting firm. He began his career with Sheraton
and was the General Manager of the Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay.
Antonio Vera has been named Director of Sales for Hilton Los Cabos Beach
& Golf Resort in Mexico. Vera most recently served as Regional Commercial
Director for all resorts for Grupo Posadas, Fiesta Americana Hotels in
Mexico.
Martin Rhomberg has been appointed Director of Food & Beverage at
Four Seasons Punta Mita. He worked as Director of Food & Beverage
at the Park Hyatt Buenos Aires when the property was taken over by Four
Seasons. His last assignment was as Director of Food & Beverage for
the Four Seasons Hotel Caracas. In Punta Mita, he replaces
Jorge Moran, who left the company.
Yann Giacomoni has been named Executive Chef at the Sofitel Minneapolis.
He comes to Sofitel after more than twenty years with Le Méridien
Hotels & Resorts, most recently at Le Méridien Nouméa.
He was also Executive Chef de Cuisine at Le Méridien hotels in Bali,
San Diego, Newport Beach, Cairo. In Minneapolis, he replaces Lindell Mendoza,
who was promoted to Director of Food & Beverage.
Mark Calibo has left Miami¹s Shore Club to re-join Sonesta, where
he had previously spent ten years. He is now part of the opening team for
the upcoming Trump International-Sonesta Beach Resort on Miami Beach opening
in January 2003. He will be responsible for incentive sales.
Ameristar Casinos has named Lisa Betzel Corporate Director of Recruitment.
Most recently, she was affiliated with Resource Technology Associates,
a retained staffing firm based in Chicago. Prior to that position, Betzel
served as a Partner in Bio-Link, a firm specializing in biopharmaceutical
placements.
Jeffrey Jackson has been named Corporate Director of Internal Audit
with Ameristar Casinos. Before joining Ameristar, Jackson held management
positions primarily with Arthur Andersen and PricewaterhouseCoopers, two
of the big five global accounting firms.
Mark Osterhaus just joined Harrah's Las Vegas Strip as Director of Hotel
Operations. He moved from sister property, the Rio All Suite Hotel and
Casino.
Montage Resort and Spa has announced the appointment of Todd Orlich
as Director of Food and Beverage. He was previously the Food and Beverage
Director of the Westin Mission Hills. Prior to that, Orlich served as Restaurant
Manager for Mary Elaine¹s at The Phoenician, where he and Chef James
Boyce elevated the restaurant to a Mobil Five-Star and AAA Five-Diamond
status.
Also at Montage, Barbara Schultz was named Spa Director. Schultz most
recently served as spa director for the Ritz-Carlton Naples, opening its
52,000-square-foot spa.
Anne Engelerdt will be directing the retail operations at Montage after
a similar position at the Ritz-Carlton Company. She opened the Ritz-Carlton
Laguna Niguel in 1984 and has since opened 44 other Ritz-Carlton properties
around the globe. In 1997, she was appointed Vice President of Retail for
Ritz-Carlton, and in 1998 she created the company¹s first retail catalogue.
Iqbal Bashir will be responsible for accounting and finance for Montage
Resort & Spa. He was most recently involved with the pre-opening of
the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas, and previously served as Director of Finance
at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay.
SaraLynne Boch will be at the head of purchasing at Montage. She was
most recently the Director of Purchasing for the Stirling Club in Las Vegas
and also worked in similar positions at Bacara and the Orchid Mauna Lani
(now the Fairmont Hawaii).
Christopher Perry has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for
the New York Hilton. Perry most recently served as Vice President of Marketing
and Sales for the Boutique Hotel Group in New York overseeing three to
five-star boutique urban and resort properties located in New York City
and the Caribbean. Perry¹s career began in 1985 as the Regional
Sales Manager for Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. He has held various positions
with prominent hospitality organizations in New York, including Savoy Hotels
and Resorts and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. He is a graduate of the
Cornell Hotel School.
Linda Bartlett is Executive Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions
for Marriott International and Carl Berquist is Executive Vice President
of Financial Information and Enterprise Risk. Bartlett was promoted from
her job as Marriott's Corporate Controller. Berquist joins Marriott from
accounting firm Arthur Andersen. Marriott also named Rita Cuddihy, a former
US Airways executive, as Senior Vice President, Marketing.
The new Chef at Cayo Espanto is Simon Capewell, Australian Chef formerly
at Altamer in Anguilla, where he was a Sous Chef. At Cayo Espanto, he takes
over from Christophe Crot.
Perry Goodbar joins the PGA National Resort and Spa as Vice President
of Sales and Marketing. Goodbar had been with the Broadmoor in Colorado
for the past twelve years. His last position at the Broadmoor was Vice
President of Sales and Marketing. He was replaced there by Mike Dimond.
Franck Arnold has been named Hotel Manager for the Inter-Continental
the Barclay New York. He was most recently the opening General Manager
of the Holiday Inn in Valencia, Spain. Arnold has spent his career with
Six Continents. Prior to his tenure at the Holiday Inn in Valencia, he
was the Executive Assistant Manager for the Castellana Inter-Continental
in Madrid, the Food and Beverage Manager at the Brussels Inter-Continental
and Assistant Food and Beverage Manager for the Athenaeum Inter-Continental
in Athens.
Also at the Inter-Continental the Barclay New York, Deedee Aguilar joins
as Director of International Sales. Most recently, she was the Director
of Event Sales and Marketing at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square.
Lisa Le Chatton recently joined the Barclay sales team as Corporate Sales/Diplomatic
Affairs Manager. A native of Canada, Le Chatton came to New York five years
ago (her husband Christophe Le Chatton is the Director of Food and Beverage
at the Waldorf=Astoria) and has worked at the Mark and most recently at
the Omni Berkshire Place in the role of Business Travel Sales Manager.
Laurent Carrasset has been promoted from Hotel Manager to General Manager
at the Monasterio del Cusco in Peru. Laurent has been with the hotel since
1999 and worked previously at the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort in French Polynesia.
Both are Orient-Express properties.
Biras Creek Resort has appointed a new Food and Beverage team, headed
by Executive Chef Neil Hitchen and Restaurant Manager Louise McCaffrey.
Both are British and joined Biras Creek from Fearrington House near Chapel
Hill, North Carolina prior to which they were at Hambleton Hall in England,
both Relais & Chateaux properties. Previous Executive Chef and Food
and Beverage Manager Jérôme Gottraux and Yvonne Volckmaer
have bought a restaurant in the vicinity of the Swiss town of Yverdon.
Flynt Payne has been named Executive Chef at Esperanza in Los Cabos,
part of Auberge Resorts. Payne previously worked as Executive Chef at Atwaters
in Portland and with the Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe.
Darryl Alexander is the new General Manager at Planet Hollywood in New
York. Alexander was previously with the Redeye Grill, part of the Fireman
Hospitality Group.
Nurkan Arin has been named Restaurant Manager at the Four Seasons New
York. Nurkan was previously with the Boar¹s Head Inn Resort in Virginia
for four years. Originally from Turkey, Nurkan also held several restaurant
management positions with the Regent Ankara and the Swissôtel Bosphorus.
Zack Zahran, who is also originally from Turkey, has been promoted to
Resident Manager of the Peninsula New York after thirteen years with the
hotel where he first started as Bar and Restaurant Manager.
Diane Tanner joined Marcus Hotels and Resorts as Vice President of Acquisitions
and Development. She joins from Lend Lease Real Estate Investments.
Also at Marcus, Peter Rockwood was named Vice President of Sales and
Marketing. He was until recently with Olympus Hospitality Group, which
owns Rockresorts and Unique Hotels, where he held a similar position. Prior
to his tenure at Olympus, Rockwood spent several years with the Marriott/Renaissance
Hotel Group as Director of Sales & Marketing for individual properties
and as Director of the National Sales office in Los Angeles.
Andrew Anthony is now Front Office Manager at the Bryant Park in New
York, having previously been Director of Revenue Management at the Shore
Club in Miami, formerly a sister property to the Bryant Park.
Stan Kantowski has been appointed General Manager of the Magnolia Hotel
in Houston. He was previously the EAM Food and Beverage with the Sunriver
Resort in Oregon. |