Peter O�Colmain is being transferred as Vice President and General
Manager to the Four Seasons Boston, from a similar title and position at
the Regent Beverly Wilshire. O�Colmain, a long-term Four Seasons veteran,
was also the opening General Manager of the Four Seasons Wailea Maui, prior
to taking his post at the Regent Beverly Wilshire. In Boston he takes over
from Thomas Gurtner.
Scott Mawhinney has been appointed General Manager of the soon-to-open
Brentwood Bay Lodge & Spa in Victoria, Canada. Mawhinney most recently
opened the Soho Metropolitan Hotel in Toronto. He is also a former General
Manager of Amanresort�s Hotel Bora Bora.
Lisa Carrere has been promoted by CDL Millennium from Director of Sales
and Marketing at the Millennium Cincinnati, which she joined in 2001, to
the position of General Manager for the same hotel. Prior to joining CDL,
Carrere spent several years with Wyndham International as a Divisional
Vice President of Sales and as Director of Sales Recruiting. Prior to Wyndham,
Carrere worked for the Regal McCormick Ranch Resort and Villas (now a Millennium
hotel) in Scottsdale, Arizona, as a Director of Sales and Marketing. Carrere
is also a former Hyatt sales executive. She also worked for American Express
and was the Director of Sales and Marketing for Checkers in Los Angeles
and the Hotel Plaza-Athénée New York.
Laurent Fraticelli has been promoted within HotelsAB to the position
of General Manager of the Standard Downtown LA. Fraticelli, a Lausanne
graduate, originally joined the group in August 2001 as the General Manager
of the highly successful Hollywood Standard. At the Standard Downtown LA,
Fraticelli takes over from Carlton Hudson, now the General Manager of Loews�
House of Blues Hotel in Chicago. Fraticelli�s successor at the Standard
Hollywood is former Assistant General Manager Amy Kowallis. Prior to joining
HotelsAB Fraticelli spent over three years with Starwood�s W brand in New
York as Director of Food and Beverage.
Michael Miner has joined the Kor Group as the General Manager of the
800-room Sheraton Gateway at Los Angeles International Airport. For the
past five years, Miner was the Area Managing Director of the Sheraton Chicago
Hotel and Tower, with regional responsibilities over nine Starwood properties
in Chicago.
Arthur Keith, a graduate of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration,
is to lead the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center as Senior
Vice President, General Manager. Keith, 41, will succeed and report to
Jay Sevigny, 44, who was recently promoted to Chief Operating Officer,
Gaylord Hotels. Keith joins Gaylord from Harrah's, where he was Vice President,
Hotel Operations for the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. He
held similar positions at the Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino and at the
Doubletree Hotel Lincoln Centre in Dallas.
Elizabeth Blau, a well-known hospitality consultant based in Las Vegas,
has been appointed Executive Vice President Restaurant Marketing / Development
for Wynn Las Vegas. Blau, a Cornell graduate, had held a similar post for
MGM Mirage from 1997 to 2001, and was instrumental in assembling a thus-far
unsurpassed array of world-class restaurants at Bellagio. Prior to opening
Steve Wynn�s Bellagio, Blau had been the Director of Development for Sirio
Maccioni�s Le Cirque and Osteria Del Circo in New York and Las Vegas.
Stephen Judge has left his position of Vice President Operations at
Rosewood Hotels and Resorts to become the Vice President Food and Beverage
at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Judge had originally joined Rosewood in 2000
as its Vice President Food and Beverage. He was previously in the cruise
ship industry.
Well-known Dallas Chef and Restaurant Operator Richard Chamberlain will
be in charge of all culinary operations at the soon to open Elk Mountain
Resort near Telluride. Chamberlain made a name for himself in Colorado
as the Executive Chef of the Little Nell in Aspen. He later went back to
the Little Nell as a Consultant for their newly remodeled restaurant Montagna.
Chamberlain also owns and operates Chamberlain Steak and Chop House and
Chamberlain�s Fish Market Grill in Dallas.
Philippe Spagnol is replacing Laurent Carrasset as the General Manager
of Orient-Express Hotels and Resorts' Hotel Monasterio Del Cusco in Peru.
Spagnol comes from Quinta Do Lago in Portugal, a property Orient-Express
sold earlier this year. He had joined the company in 1995, coming from
the Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg.
Michael and Luciana Nijdam are the new co-General Managers of Vermont�s
Pitcher Inn, a Relais & Chateau. They join following three and half
years as General Managers at Biras Creek Resort on Virgin Gorda, another
Relais & Chateau. They also previously managed Montpellier Plantation
on the island of Nevis.
John Luke has been named General Manager of the Hilton Minneapolis.
He most recently served as General Manager of the Hilton Pasadena.
Andrew Lee, a former Resident Manager at the Resort at Squaw Creek in
Lake Tahoe, has been named Vice President of Food and Beverage at the Oneida
Indian Nation�s Turning Stone Resort and Casino. In addition to his ten-year
tenure at the Resort at Squaw Creek, Lee spent twelve years with Omni Hotels.
Adam Leavitt left his position as Senior Vice President of Marketing
at Crystal Cruises, to join M&C Saatchi, Crystal's advertising agency,
as Vice President of Client Services.
Steven Janicek has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing at
the Lodge at Rancho Mirage. He previously was part of the Exceptional Marketing
Group for two years. Janicek also logged nine years with Ritz-Carlton in
Phoenix and Aspen.
Linda Hodgson has been appointed Director of Sales & Marketing at
the Langham Boston (formerly known as Le Méridien). Most recently,
she was Director of Worldwide Business Travel Sales for Hilton Hotels in
New York. Before that, Hodgson was employed by Intercontinental Hotels
UK.
Beresford Wall is joining Estancia La Jolla as Director of Food and
Beverage from the Hotel Del Coronado. Wall also served as Director of Food
& Beverage at the Summer House Inn in La Jolla.
David Siguaw is the new Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hollywood
Roosevelt. Prior to that, he worked at Le Méridien Beverly Hills
and the Highlands Park Hyatt in Carmel in the same capacity.
Sarah Cairns has been appointed Director of Public Relations at the
Four Seasons Beverly Hills. She was at the St. Regis Los Angeles before
as Director of Public Relations and also worked in Asia with Ritz-Carlton
and Mandarin-Oriental in public relations and marketing.
Albert Smith has been appointed Director of Rooms at Avalon in Beverly
Hills. He was previously Director of Front Office Operations at the Millennium
Biltmore.
Hans Mulders has been appointed General Manager of the Ocean Place Resort
& Spa. Prior to joining Ocean Place Resort & Spa, Mulders served
with Noble House Hotels & Resorts for eight years. He began his tenure
with Noble House at the acclaimed Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, as Director
of Catering in 1993 and was promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing
in 1994. Shortly thereafter, he was promoted to Managing Director of the
Grove Isle Club & Resort in Miami. He then returned to the Adolphus
as Director of Sales and Marketing in 2000.
At Turnberry Isle, where Fairmont has taken over from Mandarin-Oriental,
Jens Grafe has been replaced as General Manager by Ian Robinson, a Regional
Vice President at Fairmont, who moves North from the Acapulco Princess.
Michael Littler has been appointed Executive Vice President and Chief
Operating Officer of New York�s prestigious Sherry-Netherlands. He replaces
long-time General Manager Lou Ventresca, who passed away. Littler joins
following a tenure as Managing Director at IndeCorp, the group that now
includes Preferred Hotels, Summit and Sterling. Prior to that, Littler,
a former General Manager of the Four Seasons Philadelphia, spent eleven
years at the helm of New York�s former Hotel Macklowe, now the Millennium
Broadway.
Ben Soto is the new General Manager of the Adam�s Mark Jacksonville.
He is the hotel�s seventh General Manager since it opened in 2001. He takes
over from Donald Dickhens, who managed the hotel since February 2002. Soto
comes from within Adam's Mark, where he previously served as a Regional
Vice President.
Manvinder Puri will be the opening General Manger at the Setai on Miami�s
South Beach. The property will be operated by Amanresorts� sister company,
GHM, of Singapore. Puri just left the Peninsula Hotel Group where he held
for six months the position of Group General Manager, Head Office Operations.
Puri also served as Regional Senior Vice President Asia Pacific for Raffles
International Hotels and Resorts. Puri�s varied career also included stints
as opening General Manager of Singapore�s Fullerton, Vice President Food
and Beverage for Rosewood, Head of Worldwide Food and Beverage Operations
for British Airways and Executive Assistant Manager at Raffles in Singapore.
Robert Wilson has been named General Manager for the Thayer Hotel West
Point, part of the Fisher Hotels Group. Wilson has been associated with
Fisher since 1982. Since 1998, he was Director of Finance for the Thayer
Hotel.
Las Ventanas al Paraiso has named Andres Araya Resort Manager. Araya
comes to Las Ventanas from the position of Executive Assistant Manager
/Director of Food & Beverage at the Ajman Kempinski Hotel & Resort.
Previously he served as Director of Food & Beverage at the Conrad Cairo
Hotel & Casino, St. Regis Aspen, Sheraton María Isabel, and
the Palace of the Lost City.
Anthony Eccher has been promoted by the hotel Sofitel Los Angeles to
Director of Operations, while keeping his original responsibilities as
the hotel�s Financial Controller. Prior to joining Sofitel, Eccher had
been a Regional Controller for Noble House Hotels & Resorts. He also
spent twelve years in Controller positions with Sheraton.
Marcus Hotels and Resorts have promoted Keith Halfmann to the position
of Director of Project Management and Food and Beverage. Halfmann joined
the company in 1999 as Director of Food and Beverage for the Pfister Hotel.
He was subsequently promoted to Director of Operations at the Hilton Milwaukee
and later to Director of Operations at the Grand Geneva Resort.
Michael Otsuka has been appointed Executive Chef at the Ojai Valley
Inn and Spa. The position had been left vacant for the past year as the
hotel was undergoing major renovations. Otsuka relocates from New York
where he was a co-owner of Verbena, with wife Diane Forley. Otsuka also
was the Executive Chef at Thalia. In California, Ostuka was a long-time
disciple of Joachim Splichal with whom he worded at Max au Triangle (his
first restaurant) Pinot Bistro and Patina.
Franck Brunacci has been appointed Executive Chef at L�Auberge de Sedona.
The property was recently taken over by the management company of former
Ritz-Carlton President Horst Schulze. Brunacci spent six years with Ritz-Carlton
where his most recent position was that of Chef de Cuisine at Victor�s,
the now shuttered restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans. An Australian,
Brunnacci was brought to Ritz-Carlton by Joel Antunes, then the acclaimed
Chef at the dining room of the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead. Brunacci had worked
for Antunes in London at his stellar restaurant Les Saveurs.
Fairmont has transferred Bruno Tison from New York�s Plaza to the Sonoma
Mission Inn in the same position of Executive Chef. Tison had been the
Executive Chef at the Plaza since 1989. In Sonoma, he replaced Michael
McDonald who left the company.
Pogtawat Chalermkitticha has left his position of Executive Chef at
the Four Seasons Bangkok to become the Chef of a Panasian restaurant soon
due to open inside New York�s 60 Thompson.
Gregory Gourreau is the Pastry Chef at the St. Regis Monarch Beach,
Replacing Yves Chauchereau who left in September. Gourreau is a former
Executive Pastry Chef for Osteria del Circo and Le Cirque at the Bellagio
in Las Vegas. He was also a Pastry Sous-Chef at Daniel Boulud�s Restaurant
Daniel, and the Pastry Chef of the dining room at the Ritz Carlton San
Francisco.
Robert Curry, who had been the Executive Chef at Domaine Chandon from
1997 to 2002, which he had left for the Disney organization in Orlando,
is now the Executive Chef of the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant in
St. Helena. He replaces Pilar Sanchez, who left last year to open her own
restaurant (with husband Didier Lenders) in Napa.
Berny Goott has joined Resources & Development, a spa & resort
management consulting firm as their Director of Sales & Marketing.
He was most recently Director of Guest Services and Conference Service
Manager at Bacara Resort & Spa and prior to that he was at La Costa
Resort & Spa as Guest Service Manager.
Juan Carlos Velazquez has also joined Resources & Development as
the Director of Human Resources for their Caribbean division. He was the
Director of Human Resources for Martineau Bay when it was being managed
by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts and prior to that he was an opening team
member for the Ritz-Carlton, San Juan Hotel, Spa & Casino as Assistant
Director of Human Resources.
Eric Aubriot is the new Executive Chef at Chicago�s Hotel 71. He previously
had his own restaurants in Chicago, namely L�Escargot and Tournesol.
Jason McLeod has been promoted by Four Seasons from Executive Sous Chef
at the Four Seasons Toronto, to Executive Chef at the Four Seasons Vancouver.
At the Loews Coronado Bay Resort, Stephen Cummings was promoted to Director
of Food and Beverage after serving as the resort's Executive Chef for more
than five years. He replaces Paul Maddison who transferred to the Loews
Santa Monica Beach in the same capacity. Prior to joining Loews, Cummings
worked at the St. Regis in Aspen and the Ritz Carlton in Palm Beach.
Thomas McMahan has been appointed National Sales Manager at Estancia
La Jolla. He was previously a National Sales Manager at the Biltmore in
Los Angeles and is re-joining Biltmore's former Director of Sales, Barbara
Piagari. McMahan also spent nearly ten years with Inter-Continental in
Los Angeles. Also at Estancia La Jolla, Stuart Burdette will be the Director
of Conference Services. He comes from the Hotel Del Coronado.
Roland Venturini has re-joined the Hotel Bel-Air as Food and Beverage
Manager. He had left the hotel last March to manage the food and beverage
operations at Chateau du Sureau in Oakhurst. He had worked at the Hotel
Bel-Air for four years before, starting as Director of Restaurants then
promoted to Director of Food and Beverage in 2001.
Ron Boyd is the new Chef at Domaine Chandon in Yountville. He replaces
Eric Torralba, who left before the holidays to pursue his own project in
St. Helena.
Glenn Jones is the new Executive Sous Chef at Bouchon at the Venetian
in Las Vegas. He was previously at Simon Kitchen and Bar at the Hard Rock
Hotel as Head Chef and also worked at Tonic in New York and XS Complex
in Orlando. Prior to coming to the United States, Jones was the Head Chef
at Sir Terence Conran�s Bluebird in London. He also spent several years
with Marco Pierre White.
Raymond Valeske is the new Executive Chef at Kimpton�s Helios at the
Cypress Hotel in Cupertino. Waleske, a graduate of the Culinary Institute
of America, just finished a thirteen-year tenure with Four Seasons in Dallas,
Aviara, Beverly Hills and Maui.
Bruno Davaillon is Alain Ducasse�s choice to be the opening Executive
Chef at Mix Las Vegas. Slated for a September opening, Mix will be located
on the fifty-second floor of the new tower at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and
Casino. Davaillon joins from Beaucoup in San Francisco following a 20-montth
stint as the Chef de Cuisine for Encore at the St. Regis Los Angeles. In
France, Davaillon spent six years as a Senior Sous Chef at the Two-Michelin-Starred
Ferme Saint Siméon.
Oliver Schulz-Jander has been appointed Food and Beverage Director at
the newly renamed Viceroy Palm Springs (the former Estrella Resort and
Spa). He came from Casa del Mar in Santa Monica where he was a Food and
Beverage Manager in charge of the restaurant.
Azadeh Nashat has been appointed Hotel Manager at Maison 140, the Kor
Group�s mini-boutique hotel in Beverly Hills. She came from sister property
the Viceroy Santa Monica, where she was a Catering Events Producer. |