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Global Update: Who's where and doing what – Heads above the Rest – Hotel Staff Movements – March 2013

11 April 2013 – News of The Boutique Search Firm, a worldwide retained recruiting firm specializing in hospitality management.

THE AMERICAS
Peripatetic hotelman Avi Haksar is now in Dallas, as the newly appointed General Manager of the Rosewood Crescent. He was most recently the Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons Bangkok.

Sandra Finlay has moved as General Manager to Rosewood’s Inn of the Anasazi. She was most recently the Hotel Manager for the (former) Mansion on Peachtree. She is the former Director of Operations for Caneel Bay. At the Anasazi, she takes over for Andrea Gates, now the General Manager at the Mansion on Turtle Creek.

Sven Wiedenhaupt has been appointed General Manager of the Four Seasons Nevis. The Lausanne graduate joined the company in 2004 as Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons New York and was most recently the General Manager at the Four Seasons Damascus. He is the former Hotel Manager of the Four Seasons Doha.

Christophe Thomas has been appointed General Manager at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. For the past four years, he had served as General Manager at the W New York Union Square. He is the former opening Hotel Manager at the Gramercy Park Hotel and Director of Rooms at the Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans.

Michael O’Shaughnessy has been named General Manager for Wentworth By the Sea Hotel & Spa in New Hampshire. He had previously served with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts for over eight years in various posts with the Four Seasons Boston and the Four Seasons San Francisco.

Connie Dorsey has been named General Manager of the Ranch at Emerald Valley. Most recently, Dorsey served as General Manager of the C Lazy U Ranch in Granby, Colorado.

Alicia Wiley has been named General Manager for the Westin Buckhead. She most recently served as the General Manager for the Sheraton Crescent Hotel in Phoenix. She is the former General Manager of the Radisson Suites Tucson and the Brown Palace in Denver.

Matthew Mackenzie will return as General Manager of the Keltic Lodge Resort and Spa in Nova Scotia. He had managed the resort for the 2012 season and is the former General Manager of the Atlantica Hotel & Marina Oak Island.

Andrew Labetti has been appointed General Manager for the Omni Berkshire Place. He is the former General Manager at the Benjamin Hotel and the Hotel Wales, both in New York.

Richard Sénéchal has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Facilities at Loews Hotels & Resorts. He joined the company in 2005 and was most recently serving as Senior Vice President, Facilities. He is a former Senior Vice President with Wyndham International.

Michael Duggan has been appointed as General Manager for the Nita Lake Lodge in Whistler. He is the former General Manager of the Pan Pacific Whistler.

Joel Bunde has been appointed General Manager at the Hyatt Key West Resort and Spa. He is the former Executive Assistant Manager for the Hyatt Regency Curaçao, the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay, the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis and the Park Hyatt Carmel.

Deanne Gabel was appointed General Manager of the Alfond Inn slated to open in Winter Park, Florida in August. She was most recently a Senior Vice President with Wyndham Worldwide’s Hospitality Division. She is the former General Manager for Disney Yacht & Beach Club Resorts.

James Marino has been appointed General Manager at the Lexington New York. For the past three years, he had served as General Manager at the Hyatt Arlington.

Armel Santens has been appointed General Manager at the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort. He is the former Managing Director of the Brown Palace in Denver and the former BelAge in West Hollywood. He most recently served as General Manager of the Miami Beach Resort & Spa.

Konstantine Drosos has been appointed Hotel Manager at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. He was most recently the Director of Finance at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel.

Martin Wormull has been promoted to Senior Director Brand Performance Management, Americas, for Hilton Worldwide. He was most recently the General Manager at the Conrad Miami.

Stephane Mercier has taken over from Wormull as General Manager of the Conrad Miami. Mercier most recently served as Hotel Manager at the Hilton Paris La Défense. He is the former Director of Operations for the (former) Hilton Arc de Triomphe.

Timothy Herman has joined the Renaissance Las Vegas as General Manager. For the past nine years, he had been with Fairmont Raffles Swissotel International, most recently as General Manager of the Swissotel Chicago. Herman is the former Hotel Manager of the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club and had previously overseen food and beverage operations for the Plaza in New York.

Tom Thomas has been appointed General Manager at the Magnolia Hotel Dallas. He was most recently overseeing the Embassy Suites in Frisco.

The Wyndham Orlando Resort has named Richard Larkin General Manager. Larkin was most recently General Manager of Hilton Daytona Beach Resort.

Sage Hospitality has promoted Mike Harrison to Regional Vice President – Select Service Division. He joined the company in 2006 and was previously serving as Regional Director of Operations-Full Service Division.

The St. James’s Club Morgan Bay in Saint Lucia has appointed Mark Grebby General Manager. He most recently served as the General Manager at LaSource in Grenada.

Jim Gerney has been named General Manager of the Toll House Hotel in Los Gatos. He was most recently serving as Regional General Manager in San Francisco for Larkspur Hotels. He is the former General Manager for the Canterbury Hotel and Joie de Vivre’s Maxwell Hotel, as well as Managing Director of the Hotel Kabuki.

Paige Koerbel has been appointed Managing Director of Turnberry Isle Miami. Koerbel was most recently the General Manager at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa.

Bernard Agache has been named Managing Director at Canyon Ranch Miami Beach, taking over from Matthias Kammerer. Agache is the former Senior Vice President at The Leading Hotels of the World and Westmont Hospitality Group.

Troy Furbay has been promoted to Chief Investment Officer for Loews Hotels & Resorts. He joined the company in 2010 and was most recently serving as Executive Vice President, Acquisitions and Development. Furbay is the former Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Development for Kimpton Hotels.

Ed Anonas has joined the Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood as Director of Finance. He was most recently with Mr. C in Los Angeles in the same role. He is the former Director of Finance at the Langham Huntington and the Hotel Bel-Air.

Sage Restaurant Group has promoted Louis Esposito to Corporate Director of Beverage. He joined Sage in 2008 as Food and Beverage Manager at the Nines in Portland, Oregon.

Daniel Bausá Peris has been promoted to Food and Beverage Director at the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. He was most recently serving as both Executive Chef and Food and Beverage Director for the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower Panama City.

Javier Salcedo Gomez takes over from Peris with his promotion to Food and Beverage Director at the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower Panama City. He was most recently serving as the resort Banquet Director and is the former Food and Beverage Director at Le Méridien Panama.

Michal Sabata has been named as Director of Food and Beverage for the International Palms Resort and Conference Center Cocoa Beach. Most recently, he served as Director of Food and Beverage and Executive Chef at the Ramada Resort in Kissimmee. He is the former Executive Chef of the Mystic Dunes Resort & Golf Club.

Jeff Hamilton has been promoted to Vice President of Human Resources at the Mohegan Sun. Hamilton has served in a variety of roles since starting at the Mohegan Sun in 2004, most recently holding the title of Director of Compensation and Benefits.

Justin Todd has moved to the St. Regis Aspen as Director of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Little Nell, Residences at the Little Nell and the Limelight Hotel. He is the former Director of Sales at the Four Seasons Jackson Hole.

Lauren Carr has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for Las Ventanas al Paraíso. Most recently, Carr served as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Fairmont Newport Beach. She is the former Director of Group Sales at the Fairmont Washington, D.C.

Kevin Rosa has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for Turnberry Isle Miami. Rosa was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Sagamore Resort. Prior, he held sales positions with the Cloister and the Lodge at Sea Island, the Greenbrier and the Breakers.

Robert Filipelli has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for the Trump Doral Resort. He was most recently the Managing Director, Sales and Marketing at the El Conquistador Resort, Las Casitas Village. He is the former Director of Sales and Marketing for the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa.

Michelle Clement has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for the W Dallas – Victory Hotel. Most recently, Clement was Complex Director of Sales and Marketing for the Westin and Sheraton Stonebriar in Frisco. She is the former Director of Sales and Marketing at the Westin Galleria and Director of Group Sales for the Westin City Center.

Stephanie Hinckley has joined Loews Hotels & Resorts as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Most recently, she served as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Arizona Biltmore and prior to that served as Director of Marketing at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay.

Alan Feuerman has joined the Westin Cleveland Downtown as Director of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Embassy Suites Cleveland Downtown.

Jim Curtis has returned as Director of Sales and Marketing to the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa. He had previously served in this same role before taking on his most recent position overseeing sales and marketing efforts for Starwood Caribbean. He is the former Director of Sales and Marketing for the Westin St. John Resort & Villas and the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort in Phoenix.

Andrew Pena has been named Director of Sales and Catering for the Great Wolf Lodge Grapevine in Texas. Most recently, Pena served as an Area Sales Leader with Marriott International.

Molly Breth has been appointed Director of Events and Conference Services for the Morgans Hotel Group. She had previously served in similar roles at the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas and the Sofitel San Francisco.

Nicole Northrop-Jost has been named Director of National Sales at the Broadmoor. For more than ten years, she had served as Senior Sales Manager at the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas. She is a former Group Sales Manager for the Omni Mandalay Hotel and the Hyatt DFW.

Braedan Quigley has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hyatt Key West Resort and Spa. He is the former Director of Sales and Marketing for the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa & Marina and Director of Sales for the Hyatt Regency O’Hare and Hyatt Rosemont.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has moved Jenny Dunbar into the role of Regional Director of Tour and Leisure Development-Western Mountain Region. She was most recently serving the company as Regional Director, Public Relations-Western Mountain Region.

Destination Hotels & Resorts has named Marnie Hock to the newly created position of Regional Director, National Accounts, based at the Hamilton Park Hotel in New Jersey. Most recently, she served as Director Group Sales, North America, for Kempinski Hotels, based in Geneva.

Martha Palacios has been appointed Global Account Director at the Sonesta International Hotel. Most recently, she was the Director of International Sales for InterContinental Hotels New York.

Ana Gabriela Ramos has been named Director of E-Commerce at Karisma Hotels and Resorts. Most recently, Ramos held the position of E-Commerce and Marketing Manager for the Latin American division of Marriott International.

Didier Elena is the new Executive Chef de Cuisine for Food and Wine Chefs Club in Aspen. For the past two years, he had been serving as Executive Chef de Cuisine at the now shuttered Adour Alain Ducasse in the St. Regis New York. Elena spent over five years as Executive Chef de Cuisine at the Two-Michelin-Starred Les Crayères in Reims. He was also the opening Chef of Alain Ducasse at the Essex House.

Anthony Zappola has joined the Langham Huntington as Executive Chef for its new The Royce | Wood-Fired Steakhouse, formerly known as The Royce and helmed by Executive Chef David Feau. Zappola spent the last eight years working at Tom Colicchio’s Craft Restaurant Group, most recently as Chef de Cuisine for Craft in Los Angeles.

Mark Pollard, who was most recently the Executive Chef at Epic in Chicago, after leaving his mark on Los Angeles as the Executive Chef of the Standard and Asia de Cuba, is back in the limelight as Corporate Executive Chef of that phenomenon called UMAMI.

Gordon Maybury has been appointed Executive Chef at the Arizona Biltmore. He was most recently in the same role for the PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach. Maybury is the former Executive Chef of the Loews Miami Beach Hotel and the Peninsula New York.

The Kiawah Island Golf Resort has appointed Brendon Bashford Executive Chef. Bashford was most recently in Boston as Executive Chef at the Fairmont Battery Wharf. He is a former Executive Chef for the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

Patrick Maurin has been appointed Executive Chef at the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower Panama City. He takes over from Daniel Bausá Peris who is now in Las Vegas. Maurin is the former Executive Chef for the Meritus Surabaya City Centre.

Leon Teow has been promoted to Executive Chef at the Loews Portofino in Orlando, taking over from Luke Forzano. For the past year, Teow had been serving as Executive Sous Chef for the resort.

Mark Timms has been named Executive Chef at the Fairmont Washington, D.C. He is the former Executive Chef at the Inn at Perry Cabin.

EUROPE
Christophe Alaux has been appointed Chief Operating Officer for Mercure and MGallery Europe. He will retain his current duties within Accor as Chief Operating Officer, Hotels France.

Christophe Vanswieten has been appointed Chief Operating Officer for Pullman Europe. He was most recently serving Accor as Chief Operating Officer BeNelux, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Ireland.

Jean-Paul Philippon has been appointed Chief Operating Officer for Novotel and Suite Novotel Europe. He has served Accor as Chief Operating Officer, Hotels Southern Europe since 2007.

Peter Verhoeven has been appointed Chief Operating Officer for Ibis Europe. He has served as Chief Operating Officer for Accor in Germany since 2009.

The Chedi Andermatt in Switzerland has named Stefan Noll Hotel Manager. He was most recently with the Chedi Chiang Mai as General Manager. He is the former General Manager of the Chedi Club at Tanah Gajah, and Executive Assistant Manager at the Legian Bali.

Gilles Bonnier has been appointed Global Chief Asset and Investments Officer for Accor. He was most recently with Gecina as Chief Financial Officer.

Kempinski Hotels has named Christine Hodder General Manager at St James’s Place in London. She was most recently in a similar role for sister property the Stafford.

Stefan Soennichsen has been appointed General Manager of St Martins Lane and will oversee both St Martins Lane and the Sanderson London as Area General Manager for the Morgans Hotel Group. Since 2008, he had served as General Manager of One Aldwych. He is the former Hotel Manager at the Savoy.

Jurgen Baumhoff is now overseeing the InterContinental Geneva. He is the former Chief Operating Officer for Emaar Hospitality Group.

Jeremy Hopkins has been appointed General Manager at the athenaeum in London. Previously, Hopkins had served as General Manager at the Macdonald Townhouse Hotel in Manchester and Interim Hotel Manager at Beaumont Estate in Windsor. He is the former Director of Food and Beverage for the Savoy London.

Volker Kohler has been promoted to General Manager for the Steigenberger Hotel Frankfurt-Langen. Since 2010, he had served the hotel as Resident Manager.

Nick Tsiros new General Manager at Radisson Blu Split in Croatia. He was most recently serving as Executive Assistant Manager at the Radisson Blu Hanover.

Jacques Vitu has joined the Warwick Royal Windsor in Brussels as General Manager. He is the former General Manager of the Hotel Amigo. Vitu also spent over five years in a variety of executive roles at the former Conrad Brussels.

Digvijay Singh has been appointed General Manager at 51 Buckingham Gate, Taj Suites and Residences, taking over from Prabhat Verma. Singh has spent the past 18 years with Taj serving as General Manager of the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Taj Lake Palace, Udaipur.

Jacky Tresch is the new Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hotel Royal Savoy in Lausanne. He is the former Director of Sales and Marketing at Le Richemond in Geneva. Tresch is a former Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Europe, Africa & Middle East for Sofitel.

Ascott has appointed Joanna Fisher Regional Director of Sales and Marketing in London. She was most recently with Guoman & Thistle Hotels, overseeing corporate sales for London for the past two years.

Rougui Dia has moved to open Le Vraymonde brasserie in the soon-to- launch Buddha Bar Hotel, Paris with Loic Le Berre as the hotel General Manager. For the past ten years, Dia had been with Petrossian Paris. As for Le Berre, he was the General Manager of the Hotel de Castille.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Prabhat Verma has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer – Gateway Hotel Division – at the Taj Group. He was most recently the General Manager at 51 Buckingham Gate, Taj Suites and Residences in London.

Thomas Hoffmann has been appointed Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons Bangkok taking over from Avi Haksar. Hoffmann was most recently serving as Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons Westlake Village. He is the former Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Lanai.

Michael Hanratty has been appointed General Manager at G Hotel Penang in Malaysia. He is the former General Manager for the Langham Place Samui at Lamai Beach, and the Sofitel Bangkok Silom.

Jean Marc Garret has been appointed Vice President Operations and Development Thailand with Swiss-Belhotel International. He has previously served as Senior Vice President Development for Centara Hotels & Resorts, Vice President Europe with Amanresorts and President (Thailand) with Choice Hotels International.

Torsten Van Dullemen has been appointed General Manager at the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi in Thailand, taking over from Andrew Abram. For the past two years, he had served as Hotel Manager at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok. He is the former Resident Manager of the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park London.

Richard Chen has been named General Manager at the Swiss-Belhotel Hualun. He is the former Director of Operations for the Hilton Nanjing Riverside.

Andrew Leith has moved to the Bali Kuta Resort by Swiss-Belhotel as General Manager. He is the former General Manager of the Swiss-Belhotel Bay View.

Nigel Pace has been appointed General Manager for NIYAMA Maldives. He is the former General Manager for the Lebombo and Sweni Lodges in Singita Kruger National Park, and Cape Grace in Cape Town.

Jaideep Anand is the new General Manager for the Leela Mumbai. He is the former General Manager at the Ista Hotel.

Patrick Both has swapped resorts with Mark Eletr to take over as General Manager at the Anantara Rasananda Koh Phangan Villa Resort & Spa in Thailand. Eletr leaves Thailand to move into Both’s post as General Manager at the Anantara Mui Ne in Vietnam.

Jean-Luc Bonneau is now in Vietnam as General Manager of the Sunrise Hoi An Beach Resort & Spa. He is the former Area Director for Sunway Group and previously served as General Manager of the Villa Sekar Nusa and Villa Semana in Bali.

Jean-Pierre Joncas has joined the Park Hyatt Maldives as Director of Food and Beverage. He was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage at the Millennium Hilton Bangkok. He had previously served in food and beverage posts with the Fairmont Peace Hotel, and the Fairmont Palm Jumeirah.

The Conrad Bali has appointed David Laval Director of Food and Beverage and Culinary Operations. He was previously in charge of the food and beverage offerings for the Conrad Maldives.

Leon Pellicer has been promoted to Director of Restaurants at the St. Regis Princeville. He joined the resort in 2012 as General Manager for Kaua’i Grill by Jean Georges. He is the former Director of Outlets at the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort in Puerto Rico.

Laucala Island has named Vincent Pauchon Director of Sales and Marketing, Concierge Services. He was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Legian Bali and the Chedi Club Tanah Gajah. He is the former Director of Sales and Marketing for Le Méridien Fisherman’s Cove and Le Méridien Barbarons in the Seychelles.

Eugene Feklistov has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for the Park Hyatt Maldives Hadahaa. He was most recently the Area Director of Sales and Marketing for Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts in the Maldives.

Andrés Jiménez is now in China as Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Sanya. For the past two years, he had served as Executive Chef for the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel. He is the former Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Denver.

Christian Dolenc has joined the Mandarin Oriental Jakarta as Director of Rooms. For the past two years, he had served as Front Office Manager at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. He is the former Assistant Front Office Manager for the Peninsula Hong Kong and Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
Alan O’Dea has been promoted to Senior Vice President Africa for Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts. He replaces Cornellian Roger Kacou who has been appointed Minister of Tourism of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. O’Dea was most recently serving as Vice President Revenue Strategy and Development. He is the former Regional Director of Revenue Management for InterContinental Hotels Group France.

Andrew Abram has been appointed General Manager of Raffles Dubai succeeding Peter French. Abram was most recently the General Manager of the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi. He is the former General Manager at the Mandarin Oriental Jakarta and Resident Manager of the Excelsior Hong Kong.

The Time Grand Plaza Hotel in Dubai has named Chris Fourment Hotel Manager. Fourment was previously in General Manager roles with Accor in the Czech Republic and UK.

Nizar Weshah has been appointed General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Riyadh Olaya, slated to open later this year. He was most recently serving as Director of Operations for the Park Hyatt Jeddah after joining the property as Executive Assistant Manager Food and Beverage.

Martin Cramer has been appointed General Manager at the Sheraton Abu Dhabi Hotel & Resort taking over from Thomas van Opstal. Cramer is the former General Manager at the Sheraton Muscat Hotel in Oman.

Moritz Klein has been appointed General Manager for the Eastern Mangroves Hotel and Spa and Area General Manager, Abu Dhabi for Anantara Hotels. He is the former Area Vice President Abu Dhabi & Al Ain for Rotana Hotels.

Nizam Bou Antoun is moving to Saudi Arabia as General Manager of the Park Inn by Radisson Al Khobar. He was most recently the General Manager at Radisson Blu Martinez in Beirut.

Konstantinos Kourotsidis takes over for Nizam BouAntoun as General Manager at the Radisson Blu Martinez. The Cornell graduate is the former Director of Food and Beverage at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Alexandria.

Do you have news for us? Please do not hesitate to send us an e-mail at [email protected]
Edited by Susana Parks, Benoit Gateau-Cumin & Lisa Leroy
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