Hotel Online Special Report


Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What
March  2002
Heads Above the Rest
The Newsletter of The Boutique Search Firm
The Americas
John Chadwell has left us. One of the industry¹s friendliest faces and most even tempers, he had been battling pancreatic cancer for several months.  Chadwell spent the past eleven years at Pebble Beach where he served as President of Hospitality under three successive owners. He previously worked briefly for Disneyland Paris after a long international career with Méridien Hotels. He will be missed.

Frank Bowling has resigned from his position of Managing Director at the Hotel Bel-Air. Bowling spent ten years at the Bel-Air, and was previously for several years at New York¹s exclusive Carlyle.

Michael Hoffmann has been named Director of Operations for the Shore Club on Miami¹s South Beach. He was most recently the Manager of the Ocean Club in the Bahamas. Hoffmann was also the Vice President and General Manager of Bacara in Santa Barbara, after a nine-year tenure with the Peninsula Hotel Group in New York, Hong Kong and Carmel.

Norm Rich is the new General Manager of Los Angeles prestigious Jonathan Club. A Cornell Hotel School graduate, Rich has had a global food and beverage management career with Hyatt, Amfac and Shangri-La prior to assuming the role of Senior Vice President for Universal Citywalk for a period of twelve years.

Seamus McManus has left his position of Managing Director at the spanking new St Regis Monarch Bay, in Orange County. McManus was at the property for one year and saw to its spectacular opening in the fall of 2001. He is being replaced by Ulrich Krauer, most recently the General Manager of the Sonoma Mission Inn. Krauer, like McManus, is a former Rosewood General Manager. In fact he was at the helm of the Hotel Crescent Court in Dallas a few years after McManus, who ran the property from 1988 until 1992.

Paul Pusateri has been named Chief Operating Officer of Turnberry Associates. He originally joined the company as it was planning a 3,000-room London-themed hotel and casino in Las Vegas, to be built next to its luxury high rise Turnberry and its exclusive Stirling Club. The hotel and casino project has since been shelved.

At the upcoming 2,010-room Borgata in Atlantic City, Peter Finamore will serve as Vice President of Hospitality. Prior to joining the Borgata, Finamore enjoyed a 14-year association with the prestigious Peninsula Group of hotels. He recently served as the opening General Manager of the Peninsula Chicago. His replacement there is Maria Razumich-Zec, until recently the Managing Director at the New York Palace. Razumich-Zec used to live in Chicago while working for Hilton Hotels for several years.

Victor Tiffany serves as Vice President of Food and Beverage of the Borgata. Prior to joining he was Director of Food and Beverage for the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Boca Raton. He also worked for fifteen years with Drew Nieporent of the Myriad Restaurant Group. Like Nieporent, Tiffany earned his Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration from Cornell University. 

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas has named Don Marrandino President & Chief Operating Officer. Marrandino was most recently President of Station Casinos East in Las Vegas, overlooking four hotel casinos. Prior to working at Station Casinos, he worked at the Rio Hotel and Casino for six years. Also at the Hard Rock, Yale Rowe was named Vice President of Marketing. He most recently was the Director of Marketing for Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa in Las Vegas. Prior to this position, he worked as the Director of Sales, Marketing and Entertainment for the Sahara in Las Vegas.

Six Continents Hotels named Brian Quinn Regional Director of Development for the Northeastern United States. Prior to joining Six Continents, he held senior positions with Hilton Hotels Corporation and Bass Hotels & Resorts. Also at Six Continents Gordon Watkins, a Cornell Hotel School graduate, has been named Vice President of Development for the Western United States. Prior to joining Six Continents, Watkins held several senior positions in investment banking and hotel development with Tishman Hotel Corporation, Deloitte & Touche and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. 

Michael Murphy, who was the Director of Catering at the Four Seasons Palm Beach, has been appointed Director of Food and Beverage at the exclusive Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough, New York.
     
At New York's Boutique Hotel Group Vice President of Sales and Marketing Christopher Perry is assembling his team: Melinda Allen Bennett has been hired as Corporate Director of Sales. Prior to joining Boutique Hotel Group, she was Director of Sales and Marketing, North America, for Design Hotels International since June 1999. Lourdes Del Valle joins the team as National Sales Manager. She was most recently Director of Sales & Marketing at the Empire Hotel in New York.  Veronica Popova has been named Corporate Sales Manager. She was previously Sales Manager at the Iroquois in New York.

Colm O¹Callaghan is the Director of Food and Beverage at New York¹s St Regis. An Irishman, O¹Callaghan had moved from California to New York as the Director of Food and Beverage at the New York Palace prior to being snapped up by the St Regis. In Los Angeles, O¹Callaghan had been the Director of Food and Beverage at Merv Griffin¹s Beverly Hilton.

At the New York Palace, Jeffrey Seldon is the new Director of Catering.  He comes from the Pierre where he was the Assistant Director of Catering. He had previously worked at the St Regis with current Pierre Director of Catering Arthur Backal. 

Ellen Miller is the General Manager of the newly renovated Hotel Oceana Santa Barbara, sister property to Santa Monica's Oceana. Miller was until the end of last year the General Manager of Avalon in Beverly Hills.

Six Continents Hotels has named Chris Ward Vice President of Strategy.  Prior to joining Six Continents, Ward was for six years at the Boston Consulting Group. 

At Miramonte in Palm Springs, Jean Pierre Alotte is out as General Manager after seven years with the Marcus Corporation. He has been replaced by Dana Holck, who comes from St Charles, Illinois. She has previously worked with Marcus Vice President Operations Paul Upchurch, at Adams Mark Hotels.

Douglas Kemp leaves Hershey where he was in national sales for both the Hershey Hotel and the Hershey Lodge, to become Director of Sales at Orient-Express' Keswick Hall in Virginia.

William Hall is the new Managing Director of the Century Plaza in Los Angeles. The peripatetic Hall has been going back and forth between the East and West coasts in recent years. Among others, he has held the General Manager position in Laguna Niguel, Pasadena and Naples with Ritz-Carlton.

Merril Yu has been appointed Executive Director for the Mansion, the posh ultra-luxury high-roller "secret" annex to the 5,000+room MGM Grand Las Vegas. Yu's international career took him to such properties as Peninsula¹s Kowloon Hotel, Regent International Hotels in Auckland and Jakarta and Pan Pacific Hotels in Auckland and San Francisco. He was also a rooms executive at the Clift when Four Seasons still operated that hotel.

Jason Lapin, a Cornell graduate, is the General Manager of Craft Steak at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. The new outlet, a joined venture between New York chef Tom Collichio and the MGM Grand, will be replacing the Brown Derby at the MGM Grand. Lapin was recently a partner in Jar, in Los Angeles with chefs Mark Peel and Suzanne Tracht. It is homecoming to Vas Vegas for Lapin who was, several years ago the opening General Manager at Wolfgang Puck¹s Spago Las Vegas.

Also at the MGM Grand, Deborah Evans has been hired as Food and Beverage Training Director. She was previously the Director of Food and Beverage at the W San Francisco.

Kim Beto has been hired as Director of Beverage Operations at the MGM Grand. A former Manager of Postrio in San Francisco, he was recently a Regional Director for the Avenir Restaurant Group in San Mateo, responsible for six restaurants.

Canadian (and US citizen) Jacques Villeneuve has been named General Manager of the Pan Pacific San Francisco, replacing Volker Ulrich who retired from the company. Prior to that, Villeneuve was the Hotel Manager at Bacara in Santa Barbara for almost two years. He also served four years at the Beverly Hills Hotel as Manager.

At the Bel-Air, the position of Executive Chef, which had been kept vacant since Gary Clauson left for health reasons more than six months ago, has been filled by Philippe Reininger. An Alsatian, the 41-year-old Reininger made his name working with Louis Outhier at his seminal restaurant L'Oasis in La Napoule as well as at the Grosvenor House in London and, at the Swissôtel Lafayette. Instead of following the tracks of colleague Jean-George Vongerichten who launched his own restaurant, followed since by many more, Reininger stuck with hotels. He recently logged eleven years with Ritz-Carlton where his last posting was at the former Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage, since sold to Rockresorts and renamed the Lodge at Rancho Mirage. 

Speaking of the Bel-Air the property lost its Director of Sales Thulan Banh, who joined Rosewood's Los Angeles Regional Sales Office as Director. She had joined the Bel-Air merely one year ago, coming from Four Seasons' Los Angeles Regional Sales Office. Prior to that she had worked for Sterling, under new Rosewood Corporate Director of Sales Bob Boulogne. Bahn replaces Rob Roche, who has left the company to open the Los Angeles Regional Sales Office for Starwood¹s St Regis Brand.

Also at the Bel-Air, exit Director of Catering Deanna Maddalena, who had been there for a few years, following a comparably stable tenure at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington.

Randy Lewis is now the Executive Chef for Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates in Sonoma County. Lewis, 32, was running Indigo, his own New Orleans restaurant and was named one of the 10 best new chefs in America by Food and Wine Magazine. Earlier, he worked at Norman's in Coral Gables, Florida, under renowned Chef Norman Van Aiken. He was trained at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont. 

Sean Worker has been named Senior Vice President, Sales at MeriStar Hotels & Resorts. He reports to Hoyt Bacon, Chief Marketing Officer.  An Irishman, Worker was previously an Area Director of Sales with Bristol Hotels & Resorts.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts have appointed Paul Iacovino as Regional Director of Sales and Marketing, Asia Pacific. He replaces Vice President Sales and Marketing Jonathon Sicroff, who is now based in San Francisco.

James Cecil, General Manger of Carmel Valley¹s tony Bernardus Lodge, now assumes the additional responsibility of Managing Director for Valley Resort Management, a joint management entity for Bernardus and the Peninsula Group¹s Quail Lodge, also in Carmel.

More changes at the St Regis Los Angeles: last month it was Food and Beverage Manager Kurt Wiksten who joined his former boss Henri Birmele at the Kor Group. Wiksten is now the General Manager of the Estrella Inn Palm Springs. Prior to joining the St Regis, Wiksten was the Director of Food and Beverage at the Omni Interlaken. Speaking of the Kor Group, Mark Neubert, Vice President of Operations, is no longer part of the group: his position has been eliminated. Also leaving the St Regis Los Angeles is Director of Catering Laurie Weil who takes a similar position at La Quinta in Palm Springs.

Gerard Van Grinsven, until recently the Vice President of Food and Beverage for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, has been promoted to the position of Vice-President/Director in charge of new hotel openings worldwide. His successor in charge of food and beverage is Eric Steinbock, until now the General Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Cleveland.  In Cleveland, he is being replaced with Elizabeth Mullins who found herself without a hotel when Vail Resorts/Rockresorts took over the former Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage in December. Vail Resorts appointed Herbert Spiegel as General Manager of the newly renamed Lodge at Rancho Mirage.

Tom Juliano has been appointed General Manager of the Rosario Resort on Orcas Island, a Rockresort. This came following the takeover of Rockresorts by Vail Resorts. Juliano, who once was a regional man for a major Embassy Suites franchisee, replaces Samuel Schorr, who left the company.

Bill Smith has been appointed President of Noble House Hotels and Resorts. He was previously for the last six and a half years the President and Chief Operating Officer of Silversea Cruises. An airline and cruise specialist, he held positions with Costa, Commodore, Princess and Sitmar cruise lines as well as the defunct Eastern and Braniff Airlines.

Adrian McNally has been promoted from Director, Front Office Services at the Fairmont San Francisco to Rooms Division Manager at the Fairmont San Jose.

At the Loews Santa Monica, Pat Clairmont has left as General Manager to be replaced by John Thacker. The latter¹s successor at the Loews Miami Beach is Mike Welly, who managed the Walt Disney World Dolphin at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Thacker is now also a Regional Vice President for Loews.

Christophe Rolland is the Head Sommelier at the soon-to-open Bastide, Alain Giraud's restaurant in Los Angeles. Rolland was previously the sommelier at Aqua in Las Vegas' Bellagio and at the famed Auberge de L¹Ill in Illhausern, France. He joins Bastide Restaurant Manager Donato Poto, formerly of the Water Grill in Los Angeles.

Roy Kretschmer has been named General Manager of the upcoming Hotel Valencia Riverwalk San Antonio, scheduled to open in the fall of 2002.  Kretschmer was most recently Director of Rooms Operations for the Omni Houston Hotel. He also held rooms positions at the Four Seasons Austin.
     
Bonnie Best has been named Corporate Director of Sales & Marketing for the Valencia Group in San Antonio, currently building two luxury properties in that city. Prior to joining Valencia, she was the pre-opening Director of Sales & Marketing of the Westin Westminster in Denver.  Best was also Director of Sales & Marketing for the Westin Mission Hills Resort in Rancho Mirage, California, from 1989 to 1992.

Emmanuel Guémon has been named Executive Chef at Grace Leo-Andrieu's Cotton House on Mustique. He takes over from Jean-Jacques Ugé. Guémon comes straight from equally posh Sandy Lane in neighboring Barbados where he was the Executive Sous Chef to Mark Patten. Prior to Sandy Lane, Guémon had held the same position, also under Patten, at the Anassa in Cyprus.

Jim Young has been named Vice President of Global Distribution for Six Continents Hotels and Resorts. Prior to joining Six Continents Hotels, Young was Managing Director, Distribution Planning, for Continental Airlines. 

At Callaway Gardens in bucolic Pine Mountain, Georgia, Eric Scuiller has left as Director of Food and Beverage, and has been replaced with Michael Fleisen, formerly of the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.

Joe Henry has joined Callaway Gardens Resort as Director of Operations. He joins after a twenty-five-year tenure at Nashville¹s Opryland Hotel.

Tracey Ford is the Director of Food and Beverage at the Grand America in Salt Lake City where he takes over from Gérard Agid. Agid left a few months ago to become the opening General Manager of the 110-room Madison Hotel in Memphis, slated for an April opening. Ford once was the Director of Food and Beverage at the Ihilani in Hawaii as well as Maui's Grand Wailea Resort.

Olivier de Saint Martin is getting ready to open the 14-room Morris House and Restaurant Olivier in Philadelphia. The house was built in 1787. De Saint Martin was previously the Chef and a Partner in the Dock Street Brewery and Restaurant also in Philadelphia.

Christopher Holbrook was named General Manager of the 91-room Monticello Inn for the Kimpton Hotel Group. It is Holbrook¹s third posting with the group. He was most recently the Executive Assistant Manager at the newly opened Hotel Monaco New Orleans as well as the Hotel Monaco San Francisco. He also spent two years as the Assistant General Manager at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel and at the Galleria Park Hotel, both in San Francisco. Prior to joining Kimpton, Holbrook spent three years with Hyatt in San Francisco and Monterey.

David Maloney has been named Chief Financial Officer of Méridien Hotels and James Lamb has been appointed Chief Information Officer for the company. During the past two years, Maloney served as Chief Financial Officer for Thomson Travel Group. Previously, Maloney served as Chief Financial Officer of Avis Europe. James Lamb has over seventeen years of information technology experience, including the last twelve with Perot Systems.

Debra Shinn is the new General Manager of Fess Parker's Wine Country Inn & Spa. She joins from the Merv Griffin Hotel Group in Beverly Hills. Prior to that, Shinn was the General Manager of the Beverly Hills Inn for over five years. She also worked at the Hotel Bel-Air and was a Vice President of the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce.

David Feder has been promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer of Boca Resorts. He replaces Richard Rochon who has resigned. Feder originally joined the Boca Raton Resort & Club in 1987 as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales, and was later named Senior Vice President and General Manager. In 1999, Boca Resorts, Inc. acquired the Arizona Biltmore Hotel and Spa in Phoenix and named Feder Senior Vice President and Managing Director. He returned to the Boca in October of 2001 shortly after the sale of the Arizona Biltmore to KSL Resorts.
     
Win Person has been transferred by Four Seasons from Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Houston to the same position at the Sports Club of the Four Seasons Dallas.

Ressul Rassallat is the new Chef de Cuisine at Dux, the signature restaurant at the Peabody Orlando. He replaced Christophe Gérard who left in August to take over as Chef at Park Plaza Gardens in Winter Park, Florida. Rassallat was most recently a Sous Chef at L'Orangerie in Los Angeles.

Brian Hardy has been promoted from Assistant Manager of Spice Island Beach Resort (a position he held for two years) to Resort Manager.  Sheldon Keens-Douglas replaces Hardy as Assistant Manager. He comes from the Four Seasons Nevis.  Also at Spice Island Michael Carroll is the new Executive Chef. He previously worked for Forte, De Vere and Swallows Hotels.

The new Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida has promoted Jeanine Payne from Associate Director of Sales to Director of Sales. Payne has been with the resort nearly two years. She was also with the Buena Vista Palace Resort and Spa/Wyndham Palace, Orlando, as the Associate Director of Sales. She was also previously in management with the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, Hyatt Orlando, Hyatt Regency Knoxville and Hyatt Arlington.

The Pinehurst Company has announced the appointment of William Van Loon as Vice President of Incentive Industry Sales. Van Loon most recently has served as Senior Travel Program Manager for Maritz Travel Company.
     
Peter Wirth announces the arrival in California of Swiss hotelier/chef Roberto Ruprecht, 52, once considered one of the most successful young chefs in Geneva, with his one star Michelin Restaurant called "Au fer à cheval". He has been named General Manager for the AAA 4 star Rocklin Park Hotel at Rocklin, California. He replaces Dirk Oldenburg who joined a hotel on the East Coast. 

Frank Stocek left as General Manager of the Mandarin-Oriental Macau to take over as General Manager of the Mandarin-Oriental Bermuda, Elbow Beach. Stocek replaces Hartmut Zunk. Replacing Stocek in Macau is Jonas Schuermann, previously Resident Manager of the Oriental, Bangkok.
     
Full circle for Executive Chef Eric Brunel who is again the Executive Chef at the Grace Bay Club in the Turks and Caicos, after a two-and-a-half-year stint at Orient-Express¹ Bora Bora Lagoon Resort.  Brunel was the top toque at Grace Bay from March 1997 to March 1999.  Prior to that he served as Executive Sous Chef at Rosewood¹s Little Dix Bay.
     
Todd Shallan has been promoted by KSL Resorts to Vice President and General Manager of the historic Claremont Resort & Spa in Oakland, California. Shallan brings more than 22 years experience in the hospitality industry to the position, having most recently been Director of Operations at KSL¹s famed Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa. Shallan is replacing Ted Axe, who was appointed General Manager of KSL's newest hotel acquisition, La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. Shallan¹s career has come full circle, since he began working in the hospitality industry over 18 years ago at the St. Francis in San Francisco. He then worked in catering and convention services at the Westin Hotel in Santa Clara, California as well as the Ritz-Carlton in Rancho Mirage. He next spent five years at the Boca Raton Resort & Club in Florida. He was transferred by then-owner Wayne Huizenga to the Arizona Biltmore, which has since then been purchased by KSL. Shallan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel Administration from Cornell University.

Eric Bourdales has been promoted to General Manager of the Hotel Melia Cohiba in Cuba. He previously was the Resident Manager at that same property. Prior to joining Melia, Bourdales was the Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage at the Conrad Rey Juan Carlos Primero in Barcelona. 

Carlson Hospitality has named John Reynolds Vice President of Human Resources. A 15-year Carlson employee, he was promoted from the Carlson Marketing Group, where he was Vice President of Projects.
     
Executive Chef Hans Schadler, a renowned chef at Colonial Williamsburg for 15 years, has returned home. Schadler has become the Director of Food and Beverage and Executive Chef at the Williamsburg Inn and Historic Area Hospitality Operations, which includes Colonial Williamsburg's four dining taverns. The inn's current top chef, Calvin Belknap, will stay at Colonial Williamsburg and take on a newly created position Food and Beverage Director and Executive Chef at the Williamsburg Lodge, the Woodlands Hotel and Suites, the two Golden Horseshoe golf clubhouses and the Woodlands Conference Center.  Schadler originally came to Colonial Williamsburg in 1982 as the inn's Executive Chef and later added the titles of Food and Beverage Director and Executive Chef at the Lodge and Inn. Belknap came to Colonial Williamsburg in 1997, when Schadler left to become the Executive Chef of the Caneel Bay Resort on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Schadler had already worked as the top chef at the Caneel Bay Resort from 1968 to 1974.

Six Continents have transferred Philippe Schwartz to Regional Director of Finance for the West Coast and Controller for the company¹s Mark Hopkins Inter-Continental in San Francisco. Schwartz, a Frenchman, was previously a Regional Controller for Six Continents, based in Athens, Greece. He originally joined the company (then known as Inter-Continental Hotels) in 1983.

Maarten van Wijk has resigned his position as General Manager of the Hotel Hershey to take a "sabbatical", traveling to Utah where he worked with Heineken in the Holland Heineken House during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Van Wijk originally joined Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company in 1991 as Director of Food and Beverage at the Hershey Philadelphia Hotel. He then became General Manager of the Hershey Country Club in 1992. In 1994, Maarten was promoted to Assistant General Manager at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center. In 1996, he assumed his position of General Manager at the Hotel Hershey. A Dutchman, Van Wijk comes from a high profile family of hoteliers and is a graduate of the Maastricht Hotel School.

Gabriel Kreuther has been picked by Ritz-Carlton to be the Executive Chef at their new Central Park South New York flagship slated for a spring opening. Kreuther moves two blocks from Jean-George at Trump International where he was the Chef de Cuisine. Also at the Ritz-Carlton New York at Central Park South, Ronan Henaff will be in charge of the hotel's signature restaurant. He was most recently the General Manager of Aqua at the St Regis Monarch Bay. Henaff previously worked as Director of Operations for New York¹s Le Bernardin.

Thomas Zeisel is the new General Manager at the Lodge at Cordillera, a posh boutique property in Vail Valley. He replaces Jean-Marc Jalbert who was the interim General Manager since September. Zeisel joins Cordillera from the Chesterfield in Palm Beach. He had also been the General Manager of the Mayfair House in Coconut Grove and Vail¹s Mountain House. As for Jalbert, he is now the Director of Operations for the soon-to-open (June 2002) Sofitel Chicago. The 400-room property, where Patrick Filatre is the General Manager, also recently hired Olivier Bottois as Director of Food and Beverage Operations. A nine-year veteran of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Bottois was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage at Chicago¹s Ritz-Carlton. Rounding up the team as Executive Chef is yet another Frenchman, Frédéric Castan, who was most recently the Executive Chef at the Big Horn Country Club in the California desert. Castan's previous stints as Executive Chef included the Westin South Coast Plaza and the Ritz-Carlton Huntington.

Scott Mawhinney, former General Manager of the Hotel Bora Bora, is the opening General Manager for the Soho Metropolitan in Toronto. The boutique property will feature two restaurants and a spa, and is due to open at the end of the year.

Johnny So has been moved by KSL Resorts from his position of General Manager at La Quinta to that of General Manager at the Grand Wailea Resort on Maui. So had originally joined KSL in August 2000. He had previously logged five years with Starwood and fourteen with Loews Hotels.

Asia & the Pacific
Pierre Jochem is the General Manager of the Imperial in New Delhi, a
privately owned top luxury hotel. Jochem, a Frenchman, had been the General Manager of the Oberoi New Delhi from 1997 to 1999 prior to joining Four Seasons as Hotel Manager at the aptly named Pierre in New York.
     
Jérome Carrouée is the new Executive Chef at the Sheraton Imperial (soon to be rebranded St Regis) in Kuala Lumpur. He replaces Willie Ruck who was transferred by Starwood to the Phoenix Seagaia Resort on Japan¹s Kyushu Island as Culinary Director, overseeing 56 restaurants.  Ruck follows former Sheraton Imperial Managing Director Neil Palmer to Phoenix Seagaya.
     
Lothar Nessmann, who joined Shangri-La Hotels in 1995, has been promoted to General Manager of the Shangri-La Far Eastern Plaza in Taipei. He was previously the Resident Manager at the property. He also worked as Resident Manager at the Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur, and served with Hilton International in Abu Dhabi.
     
Christine Hodder, former Director of Sales and Marketing at the Four Seasons Singapore has become the Director of Hospitality Management for Hong Kong based Shun Tak Holdings.
     
Philippe Caretti, a nine-year Shangri-La veteran, has been transferred to Shanghai as General Manager of the Pudong Shangri-La. He spent the past two years as General Manager of Shangri-La's Far Eastern Plaza Hotel in Taipei, after over five years with Shangri-La in Hong Kong.  Caretti is a Lausanne Hotel School Graduate.
     
Frenchman Philippe Charraudeau will be opening, as General Manager, the 210-room Hotel Serena in lovely Islamabad, Pakistan. Hans Henk replaced him at the Mumbai Leela Kempinski. Prior to Mumbai, Charraudeau was the opening General Manager of the self-touted "seven-star" Burj Al Arab in Dubai.

Richard Schilling is gone from the  Park Lane Jakarta, replaced as General Manager there by Jon Richards.

Philippe Saunier is the Manager of Justine's, the French restaurant at the Jianguo Hotel in Beijing. He was previously in a similar position at La Rochelle, the French restaurant at the Oberoi in New Delhi, and at Ma Maison, the gourmet venue at the Bangkok Hilton.

Richard Masselin has been named General Manager of the Pan Pacific Manila. He originally joined the company in 1997 and spent four years as Executive Assistant Manager at the Pan Pacific Bangkok.

Okinawa-born Pattie Herman has been appointed Market Director of Sales Asia Pacific for Marriott and Renaissance Hotels in Hawaii. She previously held the positions of Director of Sales and Marketing at the Sheraton Kauai Resort, Director of Sales Asia Pacific for Hyatt Resorts Hawaii and Director of International Sales for Westin Resorts Hawaii. 
     
Patrick Duff is the new Executive Chef of the Hotel Inter-Continental Hong Kong, (formerly known as the Regent of Hong Kong). Duff had barely unpacked as Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Seoul (where he arrived in November 2001 to replace Jean-Paul Naquin) when he accepted the Hong Kong offer.
     
With the aftermath of 9/11 still being felt in Asia, a few positions have been made redundant in a number of properties. At the Oberoi in Lombok, Food and Beverage Manager Benoit Ghesquiere-Dierickx finds himself without a job as a result of a combination of duties. 
     
The Great Wall Sheraton Beijing has named Jesselyn Koh Director of Sales and Marketing. She joins from the Sheraton Subang Hotel & Towers, Malaysia.

Susan Hoddap has been appointed Director of Marketing at the JW Marriott Hong Kong. She previously was responsible for global brand management for Marriott worldwide. The Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon has appointed Julian Wong as Director of Sales and Marketing.
     
At the Four Seasons Shanghai, which opened February 25, 2002 February, General Manager Jean-Pierre Dosse, a twenty-one-year Regent International veteran, called upon former colleague André Craps to be his Executive Chef. A 48-year Belgian, Craps worked under Dosse at Halekulani, then at the Regent of Washington, the Regent Beverly Wilshire and the Regent of Auckland. Craps was, for the past three years, the Executive Chef at the Hotel Conrad Dublin. Also key to the success of the Four Seasons Shanghai is Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage Alain Tsui. Franco-Chinois Tsui is Swiss-educated, and joins the Four Seasons Shanghai after four years at the former Regent of Hong Kong.
     
Philippe Bachman has been named Executive Chef for the soon-to-open (Sheraton) Bora Bora Nui Resort in French Polynesia. He moved to Polynesia from New York City in 1988, where he had been a Sous Chef at what became the Peninsula New York.

Edwin Gotto is the new Executive Chef at Mauna Lani, replacing Ryan Vargas. Gotto, who started his career at Halekulani, gained much acclaim in recent years as the Executive Chef of the Lodge at Koele and of its sister property the Manele Bay Hotel, both on the Hawaiian island of Lanai.

Yusa Aziz has been named Director of Sales of the Sheraton Laguna Nusa Dua. He was previously at the Sheraton Bandara Hotel, Jakarta.

Several announcements came from Accor Asia Pacific: Gilles Cretallaz has been named General Manager of the Sofitel Silom Bangkok. He was previously the General Manager of the Novotel Atlantis Shanghai. The Novotel Heifei has named Roger Mair as General Manager. He was previously Resident Manager of the Novotel Ambassador Kangnam Seoul. Gert Noorzdy has joined the Mercure Hotel & Residence Surabaya as General Manager. He held the same position for the past two years at Novotel Soechi Medan, North Sumatra. Lionel Moinard has been named General Manager of the Novotel Garden Plaza Saigon. He joins from the Ibis Arcadia Jakarta. Robert Rippon has transferred from the Sofitel Zhengzhou to the Novotel Atlantis Shanghai as General Manager. He has been with Accor for 10 years.

The JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa has named Fitz Aguilar Director of Operations, Jeff Crowe Director of Marketing, Lee Sutton Director of Sales and Anthony Tuttle Executive Chef. 

Bob Rogers has been named Executive Chef at the Empire Hotel and Country Club, in the Sultanate of Brunei. Rogers is not new to Asia where he has been the Director of Food and Beverage at the Century Park in Bangkok, Executive Chef at Shangri-La¹s China World Hotel in Beijing and at Jakarta¹s Hotel Mulia. 

Wolfgang Krueger is now the Hotel Manager at Makati Shangri-La in Manila, after a stint as Resident Manager at the Kahala Mandarin-Oriental in Honolulu.

Africa & the Middle East
Pascal Prigent has been promoted to General Manager of the Beau Rivage in Mauritius, part of Naiades Hotels. He replaces Lionel Alvarez who left to become the General Manager of Amanresorts' Hotel Bora Bora in French Polynesia. Prigent originally joined the Beau Rivage last year as Resident Manager.
     
Rudolf (Rudy) Mack is the opening Resort Manager at the Four Seasons Resort Sharm El Sheik. Mack was previously at the Four Seasons Aviara for a number of  years, and had also previously been the Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara.
     
Marc Dardenne, the General Manager of the wonderful Ritz-Carlton Bali is transferring to the Ritz-Carlton Dubai in the same capacity. His replacement in Bali has yet to be announced. Dardenne has previous experience of the Middle East, acquired while toiling for Hilton International in Kuwait in the eighties.
     
Millennium Hotels and Resorts have appointed Franz Zeller as the General Manager of the Millennium Hotel Abu Dhabi. Zeller was previously General Manager of the five-star Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel in Singapore and Senior Vice President of Operations for Asia Pacific at Millennium & Copthorne International.     
Europe
Nicolas Béliard is the new General Manager at the very unique Chateau de Bagnols, outside Lyon, France, after a mere three months at the helm of the Montalembert in Paris. Prior to joining Montalembert in November 2001, Béliard had been the Director of Rooms at the Four Seasons George Cinq in Paris. A Cornell Hotel School graduate, he had transferred to Paris from the Pierre in New York. In Bagnols, he takes over from Karl Heinz Zimmermann, who is retiring.

At the Four Seasons George Cinq in Paris, Leah Marshall has taken the position of Rooms Director, to replace Nicolas Béliard who left to become the General Manager of the Hotel Montalembert. Leah Marshall was part of the pre-opening team at Four Seasons George Cinq, as its Director of Housekeeping. Lucas Johansson was promoted to the position of Assistant Rooms Director. He had joined the George Cinq from the Savoy in London in November 2000 as Front Office Manager.

At Monaco¹s Société des Bains de Mer, the operator of the principality¹s casinos and luxury hotels, former Méridien Chief Bernard Lambert just took over as President from Michel Novatin, another former Méridien honcho.

Orient-Express Hotels has appointed Patrice Glogg General Manager of the Hotel Quinta do Lago. Glogg replaces Sandro Fabris, who has moved to Quinta do Lago¹s sister property, the Lapa Palace in Lisbon.  Glogg joins Orient-Express from his position of Managing Director of Bürgenstock Hotels & Resorts. He previously ran the Cape Sun Inter-Continental Hotel in Cape Town and the Vista Palace Hotel near Monaco.
     
Jacques Favre has been appointed General Manager of the Hotel d¹Angleterre in Geneva. He had been the General Manager of the Beaufort Sentosa Island Resort in Singapore.
     
Kristof Mares has been promoted by Mandarin-Oriental to General Manager of the Mandarin-Oriental Munich. Formerly known as the Hotel Rafael, the property features 73 rooms and suites. Mares was previously the Resident Manager at the Mandarin-Oriental London, the former Hyde Park Hotel. Prior to joining Mandarin-Oriental, he was the Resident Manager at the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel in Bali.

Silvio Bianchi has left his position of International Culinary Development Manager with Hyatt International (based in Lausanne) to join Movenpick in a similar position.
     
Michel Blanchi is gone as General Manager of the just-opened Ritz-Carlton Istanbul. Blanchi, a Frenchman, had started in that position in July 2000.
     
Christian Karaoglanian has been named Vice President of Global Development by Accor Hotels, taking over from André Martinez (who was moved to heading the budget division of Accor) He has been with the company since 1976. As for Martinez, who holds an MBA from France¹s prestigious HEC, he had joined Accor in 1997, after a successful tenure with Méridien. He was the President of Méridien Hotels of the Americas.

At Paris' Hotel de Crillon, Philippe Krenzer has been named General Manager, taking over from Philippe Leboeuf, who becomes Group Director of Operations for Concorde Hotels. Krenzer was previously the Hotel Manager at the Savoy in London. Laurent Van Hoegaerden, who was until now the Director of Food and Beverage at the Crillon, becomes the Hotel Manager. 

Julien Carralero has been promoted to General Manager at the upcoming Four Seasons Budapest, in Hungary. His successor as Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons George Cinq has yet to be announced.

Jean-Luc Deguines is moving on with Mandarin-Oriental, from Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage at the Mark in New York (a position he held since 1996) to Hotel Manager at Mandarin-Oriental Hotel du Rhône in Geneva, Switzerland.

At the Ritz in London, Steven Boxall has been promoted from Restaurant Manager to General Manager. He reports to Managing Director Luc Delafosse.

In Brussels Philippe Got has been appointed Executive Chef of the Inter-Continental Europa, taking over from Laurent Dauvergne.  Dauvergne was there fleetingly before returning to Restaurant Bruno in Monte Carlo, where he had worked previously.

Edited by 
Benoit Gateau-Cumin
President
The Boutique Search Firm
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Also See:
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / December 2001
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / November 2001
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / June 2001
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / May 2001
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / April 2001
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What  / February 2001
Global Update: Who�s Where and Doing What / The Boutique Search Firm / Nov 2000

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