Feb. 8, 2012, Victoria, BC ­– With the iconic Oak Bay Beach Hotel scheduled to reopen in just three-months time, owners Kevin and Shawna Walker have hired two new key staff members for the hotel’s management team: Michelle Le Sage joins as hotel manager while Sarah Henderson, a past employee of the original Oak Bay Beach Hotel, takes the position of rooms division manager.
 
“I’m pleased to welcome Michelle, and re-welcome Sarah, to our team here at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel,” said Kevin Walker, longtime owner and developer of the Oak Bay Beach Hotel. “As two accomplished hospitality professionals, I’m confident that Michelle and Sarah will help lead our hotel to success by providing superior customer service and creating incredible guest experiences.”
 
Relocating from Comox Valley, BC, Le Sage has spent the past 24 years working in management roles at a number of Vancouver Island hotels, including the Quality Resort Bayside, Parksville (director of sales and marketing, front office manager); Chateau Victoria Hotel & Suites, Victoria (executive assistant manager, director of food and beverage, food and beverage manager, duty manager); and Best Western Plus, The Westerly Hotel & Convention Centre, Courtenay (general manager).
 
In addition to her experience in the hotelier industry, Le Sage is heavily involved in her community. Some of Le Sage’s affiliations include the Rotary Club of Courtney (active board member), the Greater Victoria Eldercare Foundation (foundation member), Tourism Victoria (past director) and the BC Restaurant & Foodservices Association (past chair).
 
“I’m elated to return home to Victoria, the place where I spent the majority of my years working in hospitality,” said Le Sage. “And taking the role of hotel manager at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, arguably what’s gearing up to be the city’s most luxurious and sought-after accommodation, is truly a dream come true.”
 
For returning Oak Bay Beach Hotel guests, Henderson will be a familiar face – the new rooms division manager worked as an eco tour guide from 2002 until 2006, the year when the doors of the original hotel were closed in anticipation of the $52M rebuild.
 
After leaving her post at the original Oak Bay Beach Hotel, Henderson continued her hotelier training and worked in positions across Canada and abroad, including at The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald, Edmonton, AB (chief concierge, assistant front office manager); at The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, AB (executive housekeeper); and at Fairmont St Andrews, Scotland (executive housekeeper).
 
“At the end of each contract, I’d reach out to Kevin and Shawna Walker in hopes of, one day, returning to the Oak Bay Beach Hotel,” said Henderson. “I’m thrilled to see this day finally come and to be back working with the team.”

For more information about the Oak Bay Beach Hotel or to book a stay, visit www.oakbaybeachhotel.com

About the Oak Bay Beach Hotel
The new Oak Bay Beach Hotel is being completely rebuilt on the same spectacular oceanfront lot where the previous hotel sat for more than 80 years. It will reopen this spring as a 100-room hotel with 20 luxury residences and vacation hotel suites. Built to five-star standards, hotel and residential amenities include a seaside therapeutic mineral pool, a fitness centre, spa, dinner theatre program and fine-dining restaurant. Not only is this Victoria’s first combination full service luxury hotel and private residence, but it is also the only commercial waterfront development in Oak Bay.