Mr. Pliessnig will bring a wealth of experience to his new position, having recently served as General Manager of the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City since 1997.  Prior to his position as General Manager of the Four Seasons Hotel in New York, Mr. Pliessnig was General Manager of Four Seasons Hotels in Berlin, Los Angeles, Vancouver and The Pierre in New York.

Mr. Pliessnig has an outstanding track record of team management development and is fluent in three languages (English, German, French) having graduated from the Hotel Academy of Salzburg, with a degree in hotel management.  He will be responsible for managing The St. Regis New York on a daily basis and ensure that the hotel�s impeccable quality of service and standards are maintained at the highest possible level.  Mr. Pliessnig will also have the unique distinction of having served as General Manager of two New York hotels to have received both the Mobil Five-Star Award and Triple A Five Diamond Award.
 

�We are very excited to have Herbert managing The St. Regis New York.  His degree of professionalism and prior experience in managing luxury hotels made him the obvious choice for the job.  He is a rare breed that has a proven track record in the hospitality industry,� said Ted Darnall, President, North American Hotel Operations for Starwood.  Pliessnig is extremely passionate about the hotel business.  He believes that the base of any great hotel begins with hiring employees with the right attitude.  �You have to hire employees who are devoted to giving service and then you need to build upon this attitude by constantly motivating your employees.  It is important that every time a guest walks through the door he feels that the staff is energized, happy and ready to please them,� says Pliessnig. A native of Austria, Mr. Pliessnig resides in Manhattan with his wife, Ava and their two children, Celine and Matthias.

The St. Regis Two East 55th Street - New York, NY A 315 room landmark hotel, 20 stories high. Built in 1904; the hotel closed for the  first time in 84 years in 1988 for a complete restoration. The St. Regis reopened its doors in 1991. Designed by Trowbridge and Livingston, $55 million dollars was originally spent in the hotel's creation in 1904 to construct a hotel with marble floors, crystal chandeliers and to furnish it with antique tapestries, oriental rugs, antique Louis XV furniture and a library of 3,000 leather-bound gold tooled classic and current books. The St. Regis was where a bartender introduced a cocktail called "The Red Snapper" soon renamed the Bloody Mary, at the King Cole Bar.

Starwood is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 725 properties in 80 countries and 120,000 employees at its owned and managed properties.