Heading the team is Virginie Collin, who joins from the Mirfa Hotel in Abu Dhabi, another property in the portfolio of operator National Corporation for Tourism & Hotels.

A French national who has experience in the UAE, Collin worked in Beijing prior to arriving in the Middle East.

Her team includes Brahim Lamhini, hailing from Morocco, who has extensive experience in the region, including stints in Jeddah as well as several hotels in North Africa. Alpheratz Bellatrix Manuhutu, a graduate of Massey University in New Zealand, gained hotel experience in her native Indonesia before moving to the UAE. She has joined as public relations and promotions executive.
 

Virginie Collin

Brahim Lamhini

Jarrett Beaulieu

Meanwhile, another multi-cultural team member at the Danat Resort Jebel Dhanna is executive chef Jarrett Beaulieu, a Canadian citizen with Finnish residency.

Beaulieu has experience in kitchens in Finland, Singapore, Canada and Switzerland, but is no stranger to the Gulf having worked as an executive sous chef in Abu Dhabi previously.

At Jebel Dhanna, he will oversee Tides, the all-day dining restaurant, the C-View lobby lounge, Zaytoun pan-Arab restaurant, and the L� Attitude bar bistro and poolside dining.

Joining the resort as food & beverage manager is Roy Sequeira, who brings more than 20 years of experience to the resort, including spells in Abu Dhabi.

The 109-room hotel, a full-service deluxe resort, opens at the end of the year and features extensive banqueting, meeting rooms and outside areas catering for up to 1,000 guests, plus a par-36 nine hole sand golf course and a driving range, and a host of sports, spa and leisure facilities.

Located opposite the Sir Bani Yas island, the Danat Resort Jebel Dhanna boasts a unique opportunity to visit the nature reserve, as well as deserted desert dunes and the unpolluted Gulf waters for scuba and fishing trips.

Danat Hotels & Resorts, a division of the Abu Dhabi-based National Corporation for Tourism & Hotels (NCT&H) will manage two new five-star resorts, the Danat Resort Jebel Dhanna and the Al Raha Beach Hotel, as well as a cluster of four-star properties in the emirate. The hotels are either owned and/or managed by the group, or where the group is the owner-representative.

The National Corporation for Tourism & Hotels (NCT&H) was formed in 1996 in response to the need to develop both tourism and commerce in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), especially Abu Dhabi.

The Corporation was formed as a semi-government organisation. NCT&H�s primary objective is to promote Abu Dhabi as an international destination, manage hotels and provide transportation and industrial catering services.