Starwood has combined St. Regis, W and the Luxury Collection into the
Luxury Brands Group for marketing purposes. Ross Klein, who had served
as President of the W brand, will be the President of the new entity.
At soon-to-be-private-again Four Seasons, Senior Vice President Food
and Beverage Alfons Konrad will be leaving after thirty one years with
the company. He is widely credited for making food and service consistent
at all Four Seasons properties, regardless of where they may be located.
Shortly after leaving Peninsula with whom he had a twenty-five-year
career (that included twelve years as General Manager of the Peninsula
New York) Niklaus Leuenberger takes the helm of the New York Palace. After
the death of John Segreti in February 2006, the position had been briefly
assumed by former owner�s representative Faith Derbyshire, and then kept
vacant for some months.
At Four Seasons, Christoph Schmidinger and Bahram Sepahi have been promoted
to Regional Vice President positions. Schmidinger is currently the General
Manager at the Four Seasons New York. Sepahi is currently the General Manager
at the Four Seasons Golf Club Dubai.
Peter Koehler moves to the soon-to-open InterContinental San Francisco
as General Manager. For the past three years, he served as General Manager
of Kimpton�s Hotel Palomar. Koehler had previously been the General Manager
of Villa del Sol, in Mexico and had been the pre-opening General Manager
of the not-to-be Mandarin Oriental Mexico City.
Vikram Singh has been named General Manager of Campton Place-A Taj Hotel
in San Francisco. He comes from the Taj Exotica Resort and Spa in the Maldives
where he had been the General Manager and Director since May 2006. Singh
originally joined Taj in 2004, following a one-year stint at Udaivilas
for Oberoi and five years with Four Seasons. At Campton Place, he takes
over from Carter Donovan, who managed the property for previous owners
the Kor Group.
Robert van Eerde will be the opening General Manager at Gansevoort South
in Miami Beach. He was until recently the General Manager and Regional
Director of Operations for the Raleigh and the Standard Miami. He also
served as General Manager of the Clarence in Dublin for over five years.
Mark Stevenson has been appointed Managing Director at the Rio Mar Beach
Resort & Spa in Puerto Rico. He was previously the General Manager
at the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas after serving as General Manager of
the Ritz-Carlton San Juan. Vincent Mercurio, the former General Manager
of the Ritz-Carlton Beijing Financial District, now runs the Ritz-Carlton
Lake Las Vegas.
Kimpton Hotels has promoted Rick Colangelo to Senior Director of Operations.
He joined Kimpton in 2002 as opening General Manager of the Hotel Marlowe
in Cambridge and, in 2003, was promoted to Area Director of Operations
for Boston/Cambridge. Prior to Kimpton, Colangelo had spent five years
with Interstate and six with Ritz-Carlton.
Jan Tibaldi will be the General Manager of the upcoming Viceroy Anguilla
for the Kor Group. He will be joining from One&Only Resorts where he
has served as General Manager of the One&Only Le Saint Géran
in Mauritius and the One&Only Kanuhura in the Maldives. He had joined
the company in 2004 as Resident Manager at the One&Only Le Touessrok.
Tibaldi was previously the Resident Manager at Sandy Lane in Barbados.
Mark Huntley has been appointed General Manager and Regional Vice President
at the Fairmont Dallas. He rejoins Fairmont from his most recent position
as Executive Vice President, Operations of the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Huntley
spent most of the nineties with Fairmont, serving as General Manager of
the Fairmont San Francisco, and London�s Savoy.
Stephen Bello moves to Duck Key as General Manager of Hawks Cay Resort.
He was most recently Rockresorts� Corporate Director of Operations. Previously
he served as President of Classic Hospitality and General Manager at the
Madison in Washington D.C. and the Hotel Hershey. In addition, he spent
nine years with Ritz-Carlton.
Lee Bowden, who was the Managing Director of the Sagamare on Lake George
for six years, has been named President and General Manager of Gateway
Canyons Resort Properties in Colorado. Prior to the Sagamore, Bowden was
the General Manager of the Equinox for ten years. Ho holds an MPS in Hotel
Administration from Cornell.
George Fong has rejoined Rosewood as Senior Vice President of Architecture
and Design. Fong had left the company to work with former Rosewood President
Atef Mankarios, first at Foresthills Hotels, then at St. Regis, most recently
as Vice President of Technical Services and Project Management.
Katherine Blaisdell has been named Vice President of Development Construction
by Rosewood. She had left the company in March 2005, after serving as its
Director of Design and Construction.
Paul Cherrett has been named Senior Vice President, Hospitality for
the Aspen Skiing Company, following twenty five years with Four Seasons.
He was most recently the General Manager at the Four Seasons Jackson Hole.
He also served as General Manager at the Four Seasons Austin and Resort
Manager at the Four Seasons Dallas.
Pascal Forotti becomes the General Manager of the InterContinental Toronto,
succeeding Yannis Anagnostakis, who will be leaving the company. Forotti
had, a year ago, been promoted from Hotel Manager at the InterContinental
Buckhead to the same position at the InterContinental Chicago.
James Riker is the new General Manager of the Hilton Hartford. Since
1998, he has served as Regional Hotel Director for the Waterford Hotel
Group.
Karl Bruno has been appointed General Manager of Napa Valley�s Kenwood
Inn & Caudalie Spa. He comes from the W Seattle where he served as
Director of Food and Beverage.
At New York�s Dylan, George Buchelli has been promoted to General Manager
from Director of Operations. Prior to joining the Dylan, he was the Revenue
Manager at the San Carlos, also in Manhattan.
André Zotoff has been promoted from Hotel Manager to General
Manager at the Fairmont Chicago. He originally joined the hotel in 2001
as Director of Food and Beverage, following sixteen years with InterContinental.
G. Michael Thomas has been named President and Chief Operating Officer
of the Horseshoe Bay Resort in Texas. He was most recently the President
and Chief Operating Officer at Barton Creek in Austin and previously served
as President of the Daufuskie Island Club & Resort.
Gabriel Ratner has been promoted to Vice President of Operations West
Coast for the Oceana Hotel Group. Since 2005, he was the General Manager
at the Oceana Santa Monica. He was previously the Operations Manager at
the Sagamore in Miami, following six years with Four Seasons.
Jon McGavin has been appointed General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead.
The position had become available when Otto Svensson left the company last
December. Most recently, McGavin was the Hotel Manager at the Ritz-Carlton
Grande Lakes in Orlando. He also served as Director of Food and Beverage
at the Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey.
Robert Villalta has been named General Manager of the Glen Cove Mansion.
Most recently he was the Corporate Director of Operations of the Amsterdam
Hospitality Group and previously served as the General Manager of the Dream
Hotel in New York.
Michael Gordon has been appointed General Manager at the Greenbrier,
following seven years with Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans, Greensboro and,
most recently, as Hotel Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua. At the Greenbrier,
he reports to President Paul Ratchford, another former Ritz-Carlton man.
Julian Smaldoni joined the Kor Group as General Manager of the Tides
Riviera Maya. He comes from a similar position at the Quinta Real Huatulco.
Peter Humig has been promoted to Resort Manager at the Four Seasons
Aviara, having joined the resort sixteen months ago as Director of Rooms.
He joined the company at the Four Seasons Berlin in 1999 and moved on to
the Four Seasons Washington D.C. in 2003.
Edward Linsley has been appointed Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons
Houston. He joined the company in 1990 and was most recently the Director
of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Philadelphia. Linsley previously
served in various food and beverage management roles at the Four Seasons
Chicago, the Four Seasons Dublin and the Four Seasons Nevis.
Ozgen Cevik has been appointed Hotel Manager at the Westin Providence.
Most recently he served as the Director of Food and Beverage at the Conrad
International Chicago.
Edward Stanton has been named Hotel Manager at the Westin Copley Place
Boston, replacing Safak Guvenc. Stanton comes from the former Sheraton
Lexington.
MGM Mirage has promoted Anton Nikodemus to Senior Vice President Hotel
Operations at the Bellagio. He held a similar position at the MGM Grand
Las Vegas for the past two years. Previously, he had been the Resort Manager
at the Boca Raton Resort and Club, after serving as Director of Operations
at the Arizona Biltmore.
Joshua Fluhr has been appointed Vice President Operations for SBE Hotels.
A Cornell graduate, he was most recently the Director of Operations for
Aloft, Starwood�s new brand. He also previously served as Director of Operations
at the W New York.
Kelly Martin Cuff has been named Director of Operations at the French
Lick Resort in Indiana. Cuff was previously the Resort Manager at the Zermatt
Resort & Spa in Utah.
Dan Moore has been promoted to Regional Controller with the Morgans
Hotel Group. Since 2005, he has been the Financial Controller at Miami�s
Delano.
Bharath Bangalore has been appointed Director of Finance at the Irvine
Company�s upcoming Resort at Pelican Hill. He spent the past nine years
with Ritz-Carlton, most recently as Director of Finance in Boston after
a turn at the Ritz-Carlton Naples.
Kelli Bryant has joined Chatham Bars Inn as Financial Controller. She
comes from the Ocean Edge Resort & Club where she held the same title.
Previously, she has served as the Financial Controller at the Sonesta Hotel
& Suites in Coconut Grove, Florida and the Sonesta Beach Resort in
Anguilla.
John Connor has been appointed Financial Controller for Benchmark Hospitality.
He was previously the Controller at the Zermatt Resort & Spa in Utah.
In the past, he has served as Controller at the Houston Marriott Greenpoint,
the Radisson DFW South in Dallas and the Radisson Penn Harris Hotel.
Saul Esquivel has been promoted to Director of Finance at the Four Seasons
Punta Mita. He started his Four Seasons career almost ten years ago at
the Four Seasons Mexico City as Credit Manager. In 2001, he became Chief
Accountant and then was promoted to Assistant Director of Finance in December
2003.
Pinnacle Entertainment has appointed Dan Boudreaux to the newly created
position of Chief Accounting Officer. Prior to joining Pinnacle, Boudreaux
served in various accounting and finance positions at Harrah's Entertainment
in operational, regional and at the corporate level.
Cornell graduate Nicolas Béliard has joined the Mandarin Oriental
Miami as Executive Assistant Manager-Rooms. He had been with Four Seasons
since 1997, save for a two-year stint as General Manager of the Château
de Bagnols. Béliard�s last position with Four Seasons was that of
Director of Rooms at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva, a title
he also previously held at the Four Seasons Nevis. He had been part of
the opening executive team at the Four Seasons George Cinq.
Chrissy Burton has been appointed to the newly created position of Director,
Hotel Integration, Rooms, Corporate Office, for Fairmont. She was previously
the Director of Rooms at the Fairmont Chicago.
Miramonte Resort in Indian Wells has appointed Leopold Krenn Food and
Beverage Director. He comes from the Indian Wells Country Club, where he
was the Operations Manager. He also served as Operations Manager at the
Desert Falls Country Club and as Food and Beverage Manager at the Lake
Arrowhead Country Club.
Ludovic Poirier has joined the Alden in Houston as Food and Beverage
Director. He was most recently the Director of Operations at Bistro Moderne
at the Hotel Derek. In addition, he previously served in various food and
beverage managerial positions at the St. Regis Houston and the Four Seasons
Houston.
Kyrsta Scully has been promoted to Director of Food and Beverage at
the Four Seasons Philadelphia, taking over for Edward Linsey. She moves
up from Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the hotel. Scully joined
Four Seasons in 2001 at the Beverly Wilshire and has previously held various
food and beverage positions at the Hilton in Old Town Alexandria and at
the Willard Intercontinental.
Brad Barnett has joined HEI Hospitality in Connecticut as Senior Vice
President of Sales and Marketing. He comes from the Kor Group in Los Angeles
where he was the Corporate Director of Sales. He also served in various
sales and marketing positions at the Monaco and the Westin St. Francis
in San Francisco.
Jack Bickart has been named Chief Sales Officer at the Horseshoe Bay
Resort in Texas. He was most recently the Vice President of Sales and Marketing
for Barton Creek Resort & Spa for more than five years. Previously
he has held various sales and marketing positions at the Daufuskie Island
Club & Resort in South Carolina and Wintergreen Resort in Virginia.
Suzanne Chabre has joined Pinnacle Entertainment as Vice President-Brand
Marketing. She joined the company from MGM Mirage, where she served as
Vice President of Marketing, Residential Division for the City Center project
in Las Vegas. Previously, she served as a marketing integration team leader
during and after Harrah's Entertainment acquisition of Caesars Entertainment.
Cristina Romero-Peri has been named Area Director of Sales, Mexico,
for the Kor Hotel Group, based in Los Angeles. She comes from Rosewood�s
Las Ventanas al Paraiso where she was (twice) the Director of Sales and
Marketing. Romero-Peri had also been the Vice President Sales and Marketing
at the One&Only Palmilla.
Tracy Fitz has been appointed Director of Marketing at the Mansion on
Turtle Creek, taking over from Shirley Dunn Hanks. He comes from the Hotel
Derek in Houston where he was the Director of Marketing. Previously
he was the Executive Assistant Manager at the Lake Austin Spa Resort and
held the same position at the Driskill. He has also served as Director
of Sales and Marketing at the Omni Houston, the St. Regis Houston and Rosewood�s
Crescent Court.
Skip James is the new Director of Sales and Marketing at the Westin
Riverwalk in San Antonio. He comes from the same position at the Wigwam
in Arizona. He also served as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Westin
Park Central and the Sheraton Park Central in Dallas and the Westin Fort
Lauderdale.
Matthew Vesely has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing at
the Ritz-Carlton Westchester scheduled to open this fall in downtown White
Plains. He joined Ritz-Carlton six years ago and was most recently the
Director of Sales at the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach.
Douglas Wojick has been named Director of Sales and Marketing at the
Chateau on The Lake Resort in Branson. He previously worked with Ritz-Carlton,
Hyatt and Hilton, as well as at independent resorts like the Mohegan Sun
in Connecticut and Treetop Resort in Michigan.
Michele O�Malley has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing
at the Eldorado Hotel & Spa. She has previously held various sales
and marketing positions in Napa Valley at the Harvest Inn and the Silverado
Resort & Spa, and in San Francisco at Campton Place and the Stanford
Court.
Michael Newman joins the Doubletree-Times Square as Director of Sales
and Marketing. He comes from the Grand Hyatt New York, where he has served
as Director of Sales and Marketing since 2005. During his twelve years
with Hyatt, he also held the position of Director of Sales and Marketing
at the Hyatt Regency Jersey City.
Barbara Hicks has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for
the Loden in Vancouver, for the Kor Group. For the past three years she
has been the Director, Global Sales, for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
in Chicago. She previously served as the Director of Sales and Marketing
at the Fairmont Orchid and the Fairmont Waterfront in Vancouver.
Kenwood Inn & Caudalie Spa has named Karyl Bridgewater Director
of Sales and Marketing. Previously she was based in Los Angeles serving
as Director of Entertainment Sales at the Bel Age.
Barbara Piagari has joined the Viceroy Santa Monica as Director of Sales
and Marketing, taking over from Carolyn Harber. Piagari was previously
the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Le Méridien Sunny Isles
Beach, a property she opened. She also was the Director of Sales for the
Fontainebleau Tower at the Fontainebleau Hilton in Miami.
Peggy Ryan has been named Regional Sales Manager at the Enchantment
Resort. Most recently, she served as Director of Sales at El Monte Sagrado.
Previously she held regional sales positions at Miraval � Life in Balance
for seven years and Canyon Ranch in Tucson, for six years.
Mark Feldman has been named Director of Group Sales at the soon-to-open
Grand Del Mar. He was a National Sales Manager for Pebble Beach Resorts
and previously served as National Sales Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua.
Mike Pistana has been promoted to Executive Director of Leisure Sales
at Bellagio from his previous position of Director of Leisure Sales. He
has been with MGM Mirage for fourteen years, previously serving in various
management positions at the Golden Nugget and Beau Rivage.
Guy Bagg is the new Director of Sales-Mid Atlantic for the Preferred
Hotel Group. He has previously worked at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa,
Colonial Williamsburg and, most recently Hershey Resorts.
Raffles L'Ermitage has named Trish Kopera Director of Sales. Most recently,
Kopera was the Group Sales Manager at the Peninsula Chicago.
Destination Hotels & Resorts has named Alyson Heidesch Director
of Corporate and Leisure Travel for Estancia La Jolla and Auberge Del Mar.
She was previously the Corporate Sales Manager at the Grande Colonial La
Jolla and the Sir Francis Drake in San Francisco.
Lisa Poksay is the new Director of Leisure Sales at Meadowood. She comes
from the global sales office of Kempinski Hotels in San Francisco. She
previously served as Director of Corporate Sales at the Peninsula Chicago
and the Pan-Pacific San Francisco as well as Assistant Director of Sales
at the Hotel Plaza Athénée in New York.
Jennifer Oberstein has expanded her role to Area Director of Public
Relations for the Ritz-Carlton Hotels of New York and Boston. Her previous
role was that of Area Director of Public Relations for the Ritz-Carltons
of New York.
Fairmont has promoted Lori Holland to Executive Director Public Relations.
She joined the company in 2001 and moves up from her previous position
as Director, Public Relations for the group.
Dan Waite has been promoted to Area Director of Human Resources for
the Morgans Hotel Group. He moves up from Director of Human Resources at
the Delano.
Afsi Behnam moves to Director of Rooms at the Four Seasons Resort Aviara.
She has been with the company for seventeen years in various positions
at the Four Seasons Newport Beach, the Four Seasons Scottsdale and, most
recently, as the Director of Rooms at Four Seasons Santa Barbara.
Jeff Rednour has been appointed Director of Rooms at the Four Seasons
Houston. Since 2005, he had been a Corporate Rooms Division Manager for
the company.
Jerry Mong has joined the Hollywood Roosevelt as Director of Rooms.
He comes from the Fairmont Newport Beach where he was the Director, Rooms
Division. Previously, he held various operational positions with InterContinental
in Buckhead, Cleveland and Chicago.
Delaware North has promoted Roland Hénin as Corporate Executive
Chef and Chief Culinary Ambassador for their global hospitality operations.
He most recently served as Corporate Chef for the company�s Parks &
Resorts division.
Katsuo �Suki� Sugiura has returned to his position of Executive Chef
at the Beverly Hilton after a brief stint in the same capacity at the Taj
Boston. He returns to the post he held for two years after serving as Executive
Chef at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Eric Klein has rejoined Wolfgang Puck as Executive Chef of Spago Las
Vegas. He spent seven years at Spago Beverly Hills as a Sous Chef, he had
served as Executive Chef at Maple Drive in Beverly Hills, SW Steakhouse
in Wynn Las Vegas and, most recently at Fix at Bellagio.
Miramonte Resort in Indian Wells has named Robert Nyerick Executive
Chef. For the past two years, he had been at Spencer�s in Palm Springs.
Previously, he was the Executive Sous Chef at the Four Seasons Beverly
Wilshire.
Gael Cruchet has transferred to the Ritz-Carlton Tyson�s Corner as Executive
Chef, taking over from John Coleman who will be the opening Executive Chef
at the Ritz-Carlton Dallas. Cruchet comes from the Ritz-Carlton Boston
Common where he held the same position for the past six months. Previously,
he served as Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Boston and the Ritz-Carlton
St. Thomas.
The Westin Kierland in Scottsdale has promoted Todd Berry to Executive
Chef. He joined the resort a year ago as head of the banquet department.
Prior to joining the resort, Berry served as the Executive Chef at both
the Sheraton Grand Sacramento and Hidden Meadow Ranch.
Martineau Bay Resort has named Andrew Niedenthal Executive Chef. He
was most recently the Executive Chef at Peter Island. Previously he served
as Executive Chef at the Marshall House, Pierre�s at Morada Bay and Cheeca
Lodge.
Guy Gateau has joined the Coral Gables Biltmore as Executive Chef. He
was most recently the Executive Chef at the Marietta Country Club in Atlanta.
At the Biltmore, Gateau takes over from Tim Keating who is now the Executive
Chef at Flying Fish at Disney�s Boardwalk Resort in Orlando.
Cupertino Ortiz will be the opening Executive Chef at the Tides Riviera
Maya for the Kor Group. He comes from the One&Only Palmilla, where
he held the position of Executive Sous Chef.
Hubert Desmarais has joined the Fairmont Turnberry Isle as Executive
Chef. He spent seventeen years at what is now the Four Seasons Palm Beach,
taking part in its opening under its original name of Ocean Grand.
Michael Voltaggio is joining Hemisphere at the Greenbrier as Chef de
Cuisine. He comes from Sonoma where he was most recently the Executive
Chef at Charlie Palmer�s Dry Creek Kitchen. This is a return to the resort
for the chef after spending four years at the Ritz-Carlton Naples moving
up from Sous Chef to Chef de Cuisine.
Patrick Fortemps will be the opening Food and Beverage Director for
Miami�s Canyon Ranch. He comes from the Boca Raton Resort and Club where
he was in charge of food and beverage at the Beach Club, due to close this
summer for extensive renovations.
Marc Bromley has joined Four Seasons as Assistant Director of Food and
Beverage at the Four Seasons Chicago. For the past four years, he had been
with Peninsula, most recently as Director of Restaurants at the Peninsula
Chicago after serving as Director of Banquets at the Peninsula Beverly
Hills.
Michael Gluckman has been promoted to Assistant Director of Food and
Beverage at the Ritz-Carlton Boston Common. He was most recently Director,
Food and Beverage Outlets at the Ritz-Carlton Tyson�s Corner.
Stéphane Clasquin is the new Restaurant Manager at Club XIX at
the Lodge at Pebble Beach. He was most recently the Restaurant Manager
at Ortolan in Los Angeles after spending a total of seven years at L�Orangerie.
Gilles Flores is the new General Manager of La Cabaña in Buenos
Aires operated by Orient Express. He comes from St. Lucia where he had
been the Corporate Director of Food and Beverage for Sunswept Resorts.
This is a return to Orient Express for Flores who spent the previous four
years in food and beverage management positions at El Encanto, La Samanna
and the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort.
Jared Heber will be joining Nancy Silverton and Mario Batali at their
soon-to-open Mozza Osteria in Los Angeles as Sommelier. He comes down the
coast from his position as Lead Sommelier at Bouchon in Yountville and
had previously worked at the French Laundry as Sommelier, as well as at
Seattle�s Canlis.
Auberge du Soleil has appointed Susan O�Bryen Spa Director. She joins
the resort after stints at several leading destination spas in the Southwest,
including the Enchantment Resort�s Mii Amo Spa, El Monte Sagrado and, most
recently, Miraval.
Pablo Curtosi has been appointed Yield & Reservations Manager at
the Iguazu Grand Hotel Resort & Casino in Argentina. Curtosi was previously
the Operations Manager at the Lennox Boutique Hotel in Ushuaia. |