David Hoffman, retired Vice President Human Resources for Hilton International,
has passed away. He had been a key player in the "golden years" of the
company, when Cornellian Curt Strand was the President, and Hilton International
was still headquartered at the Waldorf=Astoria. In the seventies and eighties,
the company opened and ran some of the finest, most innovative hotels in
the world. Hoffman greatly contributed to creating and nurturing a strong
corporate culture based on respect and pride.
President Robert Cotter will be retiring after 32 years from what is
now Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Cotter, 53, joined Sheraton Hotels in
1973. Starwood acquired Sheraton in 1998. Cotter was named Chief Operating
Officer in 2000 and President in 2004. There are no immediate plans to
replace him at Starwood.
John Carnella, a Cornell graduate, has been named Executive Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. Prior to
joining Fairmont, he served as Senior Vice President Finance and Treasurer
of Host Marriott Corporation.
Khaled Hashem is the new Managing Director at Nantucket Island Resorts,
taking over from Michel Ducamp, who has left the company. Hashem had been
the General Manager and Director of Operations for the group since September
2004. He is also a seven-year Four Seasons veteran, for whom he opened
the Four Seasons Amman as Hotel Manager.
Albert Mertz has been named General Manager at the soon-to-open (late
2005) Mandarin-Oriental Riviera Maya, in Mexico. Mertz is no newcomer to
Mandarin-Oriental or to Mexico: he comes from the award-winning Mandarin-Oriental
Miami, where he was the Resident Manager. Mertz opened the Miami property
after opening the Loews Miami. He also served as Director of Food and Beverage
at the Ritz-Carlton Cancun.
Peter Schall, Senior Vice President for Hilton Hotels and Managing Director
of the Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa is retiring at the
end of July. Schall joined Hilton in 1965 and came to Hawaii in 1986 as
the General Manager of the Hilton Hawaiian Village. In 1994, he became
Director of Hilton's Hawaii region.
Randy Gantenbein has been appointed General Manager of the newly re-opened,
118-year-old, nine-room Britt Scripps Inn in San Diego. Prior to joining
the Inn, Gantenbein was a marketing and new business development consultant
with Project Dynamics, working with such companies as St. Regis Hotels
and Resorts, Montage Hotels & Resorts and Peninsula. Gantenbein also
had a fourteen-year career with Loews Hotels until 1992.
Rick Ueno is the new General Manager at the Sheraton Chicago. He had
been the General Manager of the Westin Riverwalk in San Antonio for the
past four years.
At Orient-Express, Clive O�Donoghue has been appointed General Manager
of El Encanto Hotel & Garden Villas in Santa Barbara, taking over for
Nick Davaz who has left the company. O'Donoghue was previously the Assistant
General Manager at the Windsor Court. He joined Orient-Express in 2001
from the Four Seasons Austin where he was the Executive Assistant Manager,
having been promoted from Food and Beverage Operations at the Four Seasons
Dallas.
Robert Cioffi has returned to New Orleans as General Manager of the
Wyndham Bourbon Orleans. Cioffi was formerly the Hotel Manager at the Wyndham
Bel-Age. He also served as Director of Food and Beverage at the Loews Santa
Monica and the Omni Royal Orleans.
Scott Mahr has been promoted from Assistant General Manager to General
Manager at Barnsley Gardens, a property he originally joined in 1999. He
takes over from Euan McGlashan who left the company and returned to Scotland.
Andrew Lee has been promoted to Vice President of Hospitality for Turning
Stone from the position of Vice President of Food & Beverage. He is
a former Resident Manager of the Resort at Squaw Creek.
Chuck Ocheltree is Vice President of Operations for EMCVenues. He was
most recently a Senior Vice President for Sentry Hospitality for seven
years.
Ian Powell has been named General Manager of the Fairmont Hamilton Princess.
He comes from the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, where he served as General
Manager since 1998.
Nicholas Dimeglio is now the General Manager of the Williamsburg Inn
as well as the Director of Food and Beverage for Colonial Williamsburg
Companies. Dimeglio was, for the past eights years, a Vice President for
Guest Services, a family-owned hotel management company.
Ali Ozer is the General Manager/Director of Hotel Operations at the
Scottsdale Plaza Resort. Ozer has been with the resort for the past four
years, most recently as its Director of Quality Assurance.
Leo Percopo is the new Director of Operations at the Phoenician. Percopo
is a Starwood transfer, having been the General Manager of the Westin Galleria/Oaks
in Houston. At the Phoenician, he takes over from Tim Steckbeck, who has
left the company.
Pierre Beswick is the General Manager of the Sands at Grace Bay. He
comes from Island Outpost, where he served as Hotel Manager of the Caves
in Jamaica.
Andrea Enzo Melotti is now the Director of Hotel Operations Worldwide
for Hard Rock Hotels based in Orlando. He was most recently the Managing
Director of the Bentley Group in Miami. He also served as General Manager
of Miami�s Raleigh.
Omar Said is now the Director of Residences at the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota.
Said has been with Ritz-Carlton for twelve years, most recently at the
Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas and previously at the Ritz-Carlton Dearborn.
Alan Klein has been promoted to Director of Operations at the Westward
Look Resort after being the resort�s Rooms Division Manager for five years.
Joe Derks is Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Hard Rock Hotels
based in Miami. Prior to his joining HRH, Derks was the Regional Director
of Marketing and Managing Director of Global Sales for the Morgans Hotel
Group (formerly Ian Schrager Hotels) for six years and spent ten years
with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts.
Mel Logan is the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Sonesta Maho
Beach Resort & Casino, the Great Bay Beach Resort & Casino and
La Terrasse Suites Maho Village, all in St. Maarten. He previously held
sales and marketing positions with Hilton International in the Caribbean
and Latin America, Hyatt International Mexico and Allegro Resorts.
Jamie Bruce is Vice President Sales and Marketing for Coral Hospitality.
Bruce had been with KSL Resorts since 1999 in Miami and Hawaii. He also
spent four years at Sol Kerzner�s Atlantis in the Bahamas.
Pete Zudyk is the Area Director of Sales and Marketing for the Kor Group
in Chicago. Zudyk was previously the Director of Sales and Marketing at
both the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago and the W Chicago Lakeshore. Kor is launching
three hotels in Chicago this year.
Victor Woo will be the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hotel
del Coronado. He is being transferred by KSL Resorts after assuming the
role of interim General Manager at the Claremont in Oakland along with
his duties in Sales and Marketing, pending the takeover of the hotel by
Fairmont.
Catherine Faber has been named Director of Sales & Marketing for
the Inns of Monterey, a collection of four boutique properties. Faber comes
from the Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa where she was a Sales Manager She
also spent four years at the Carmel Valley Ranch.
Thomas Thorn has been promoted to Area Director of Sales for Kimpton
Hotels. Thorn was formerly the Director of Sales at the Hotel Marlowe in
Cambridge.
Nicole LeBoeuf is Director of Sales at Kimpton�s Hotel Onyx in Boston.
She previously served as Business Transient Sales Manager at the Radisson
Hotel Boston and was Corporate Sales Manager at the Radisson Riverfront
in Augusta.
Talin Kugu is Area Director of Revenue for Kimpton in Boston. Kugu spent
most of her career with Swissôtel, both in Istanbul and Boston.
Danielle St Louis is the new Director of Human Resources at the Windsor
Court. She came from the W Seoul, and takes the position left vacant when
Laura Hamilton left to join the opening team at the InterContinental Atlanta.
Tamir Shanel will be the new Director of Food and Beverage at Las Vegas�
Venetian, a position that had been vacant for one year. Shanel, a fifteen-year
Four Seasons veteran, slides over from the position of Director of Food
and Beverage at the Four Seasons Las Vegas.
Jens Kliemann has been named Director of Wine and Cuisine at Meadowood.
He was most recently at the Vintners Inn in a similar capacity. Kliemann
also worked as Director of Restaurant Operations at the Sonoma Mission
Inn and Spa.
Patrick Cowen was promoted to Director of Food and Beverage at the Scottsdale
Plaza Resort. He was formerly the Assistant Director of Food & Beverage
at the hotel.
Frederick Fung has been promoted to Director of Food and Beverage at
the Mandarin-Oriental Miami. Fung had previously held the position of Director
of Catering & Conference Management at the hotel.
At China Grill Management, Michael Flint becomes Regional Director of
Operations for New York. Flint moves from London, where he held a similar
post, watching over China Grill Operations at Sandersons and St. Martin�s
Lane.
William Hacking becomes the Assistant Regional Director at China Grill
Management, based in New York. Hacking was previously the Director of Food
and Beverage at the Hard Rock Chicago, for China Grill, following a seven-year
stint at the Four Seasons Philadelphia.
Stéphane Gras is the Assistant Director of Food and Beverage
at the Four Seasons Newport Beach. Gras moves from France where he was
the Food and Beverage Manager at the Château de Bagnols near Lyon.
This is a return to Four Seasons for Gras who was formerly in Food and
Beverage operations at the Four Seasons Austin and the Four Seasons New
York.
Debra Shinn has been promoted to Rooms Division Manager at the Peninsula
Beverly Hills. Shinn joined the hotel three months ago as Director of Sales-West
Coast. She was previously the Director of Sales and Catering at San Ysidro
Ranch and the General Manager of Fess Parker�s Wine Country Inn and Spa.
Lynn Brutman is the Director of Rooms at the Four Seasons Miami. Brutman
moves from the same position at the Four Seasons Newport Beach.
Andrew Broderick has been appointed Assistant Rooms Division Manager
at Raffles L'Ermitage in Beverly Hills. He was previously with Abercrombie
& Kent Destination Clubs in Aspen. Prior experience also includes four
years at the Little Nell in various rooms division positions.
Robert Curry will be the new Executive Chef at Napa Valley�s legendary
Auberge du Soleil, starting later this month. Curry had been the Executive
Chef at the Culinary Institute of America's Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant
for the past year. A well-known figure in Napa Valley�s food world, he
also spent eight years at Domaine Chandon, first as Sous Chef to Philippe
Jeanty, then as Executive Chef when Jeanty left to open Bistro Jeanty in
Yountville.
Joseph Humphrey, who was the Executive Chef at Auberge du Soleil, has
reconnected with his former employer and mentor George Morrone. He will
be the Chef at Morrone�s Boca, due to open in Novato later this spring.
Humphrey had worked under Morrone at Bradley Ogden�s One Market, at the
Fifth Floor, at the short-lived Redwood Park, and at the Mina Group.
Kimball Jones has taken over from Philip Wang as Executive Chef of Carneros
Inn, also in Napa. Jones had been the Executive Chef of Wente Vineyards
for several years.
Rolf Weithofer is the new Executive Chef at El Conquistador Resort and
Casino. Weithofer has spent the past eighteen years with InterContinental
Hotels in Los Angeles, Hawaii and most recently in Puerto Rico, as Executive
Chef.
David Yeo has been named Executive Chef at Asia de Cuba at the Clift
in San Francisco. Yeo�s previous stints as Executive Chef included the
Straits Café in Santa Monica and the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. He
also toiled at Tavern on the Green, Le Cirque and Joel Robuchon.
Katsuo "Suki" Sugiura is now the Executive Chef at the Beverly Hilton.
Sugiura was previously the Executive Chef at the Beverly Hills Hotel, where
his successor is Eric Scuiller.
Rodger Martin is the new Executive Chef of the Homestead. His
twenty-five-year career has included stints at the Grand Hyatt New York,
the Mandalay Four Seasons and Halekulani.
Jamie West comes back to his hometown to be the Executive Chef at the
Westward Look Resort in Tucson. He was previously the Chef at the Mayflower
Inn. West also served as the Executive Chef of San Ysidro Ranch. He is
a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America.
David Mc Callum is Executive Chef at Coral Sands on Harbour Island.
He previously held comparable posts at Pink Sands and Cotton House.
Michel Ré is now the Executive Chef at the Flamingo Las Vegas.
Ré was previously at Bally�s and Paris La Vegas both sister properties
to the Flamingo. He also was the opening Executive Chef at the Conrad Istanbul.
Carlo Apolloni is the Chef at New York�s Osteria del Circo. Apolloni
comes from Le Cirque in Las Vegas.
Patrick Farjas is at the California Culinary School as Chef de Cuisine
at the newly reopened Academy Grill. Farjas was previously at the Olympic
Club at Lakeside in San Francisco.
Glenn Jones is the Chef de Cuisine at Michael Mina at Bellagio. Jones
comes from Bouchon at the Venetian where he was the Executive Sous Chef.
He originally came to Las Vegas as the Chef de Cuisine at Simon Kitchen
and Bar at the Hard Rock Hotel.
Bruno Lopez has been appointed Chef de Cuisine at the Hotel Bel-Air
with the mandate to bring the famed restaurant back to the forefront of
Los Angeles�s fine-dining scene. Lopez had recently left the Regent Beverly
Wilshire where he had been the Executive Chef since July 2004.
Gregory Gourreau is the Pastry Chef at Mix Las Vegas. Gourreau was previously
at the St. Regis Monarch Beach, Osteria del Circo, Le Cirque at the Bellagio,
Restaurant Daniel, and the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco.
Michael Collins is the Banquet Chef at Bacara. He was previously with
the Beverly Hills Hotel and St. Regis Monarch Beach.
Jan-Bastian Breuer is the Restaurant Director at the newly-opened Palms
Resort and Spa in Turks and Caicos. Breuer was previously at the Ritz-Carlton
Half Moon Bay, most recently as Director of Restaurants.
Ignace Lecleir is the new General Manager at Restaurant Daniel in New
York. Lecleir comes from Gary Danko in San Francisco and was previously
at L�Orangerie in Los Angeles. At Daniel, he takes over from Michael Lawrence,
who moves up to Dinex�s corporate office.
Keith Fergel is the Restaurant Manager for Charlie Trotter at "C" at
the One and Only Palmilla. Fergel was previously at the Fifth Floor in
San Francisco. |