| Benchmark Hospitality has promoted Sam Haigh to President & Chief
Operating Officer. Haigh, a Cornell graduate, joined the company in 1981
and has served as its COO for the past ten years.
At New York�s Pierre, now a Taj Hotel, Heiko Kuenstle takes over as
General Manager from Four Seasons man Guy Rigby. Kuenstle comes from the
Lowell. Prior to becoming the Lowell�s General Manager, he was the Rooms
Division Manager at the nearby Hotel Plaza-Athénée. As for
Rigby, he will be moving with Four Seasons to Vancouver by the end of the
summer.
Bryan O�Shields is now the President and Chief Operating Officer of
the Barish Group. He joins producer Keith Barish and his son Chris in the
venture. Barish was one of the founders of Planet Hollywood (with Robert
Earl). O�Shields recently completed two years as the Corporate Director
of Food and Beverage for Mandarin-Oriental, following a successful tenure
as Vice President Food and Beverage at Las Vegas� Bellagio.
Chuck Bowling has been promoted to Corporate Vice President Sales and
Marketing at MGM Mirage. Bowling was most recently the Executive Vice President,
Hotel Operations at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, a property he had originally
joined as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Prior to coming to Las
Vegas, Bowling was the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Westin St.
Francis.
Also at MGM Mirage, Kim Ciminni moves from Senior Vice President Hotel
Operations at the MGM Grand to Vice President Operations at Mandalay Bay
Resort.
Gregory Sheets has been named Vice President Hotel Operations at the
Red Rock Station Hotel and Casino being built in the Summerlin area of
Las Vegas. Sheets had been the Director of Hotel Operations at the Palms
Las Vegas for the past four years, following nine years in various positions
with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Palm
Beach. Sheets is a graduate of the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell.
Charles Henning has been named General Director of Operations at the
Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. He was most recently the General
Manager of the landmark Hotel du Pont in Delaware. Henning had already
lived in Napa Valley as the Managing Director of the Sonoma Mission Inn
and its sister property Ventana. This is the not first time this distinguished
Swiss hotelier deals with education: he held similar duties at the Centre
International de Glion in the past.
Janis Clapoff has left Simpson House in Santa Barbara to be the General
Manager at Honolulu�s Halekulani. Clapoff had also been the General Manager
of San Ysidro Ranch for ten years. Nicholas Davaz replaces Clapoff at Simpson
House. He most recently was the General Manager of El Encanto, now an Orient-Express
property.
Alex Alexander has been appointed General Manager of the Rhiga Royal,
a property recently purchased by the Blackstone Group. Alexander is a former
long-time Hyatt executive. At the Rhiga Royal, Alexander replaces Barry
Cregan.
Cornell man John Rolfs has been appointed General Manager (and Regional
Vice President) at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach. Rolfs comes from the same
position at the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans. He joined the company in 1989
and has been posted in various positions for Ritz-Carlton in Boston, Osaka
and Aspen. Myra Degersdorff replaces Rolfs as General Manager in New Orleans,
coming from the same position at the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia.
Michael King has been promoted to General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton
Cleveland. King began with the company at the Ritz-Carlton Atlanta as Assistant
Director of Food & Beverage in 1984 and has held leadership positions
with Ritz-Carlton in Sydney, Aspen, Buckhead, Phoenix and most recently
at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa as Hotel Manager.
InterContinental has appointed Irene Hoek as Vice President, Development,
the Americas. Hoek started her career with Starwood in 1996 and left in
2000 to serve as Senior Associate, Mergers and Acquisitions Group for BNY
Capital Markets. She had recently returned to Starwood as Vice President
Development.
Bill Bagwell has been named Vice President, Development, the Americas,
Southeast region for InterContinental. From 1990 to 1999 he served as Vice
President Development, the Americas for InterContinental. From 1999 to
2004 he served as Senior Vice President, Acquisitions and Development for
Interstate and was most recently with Hospitality Solutions LLC as founder
and principal of the company.
Alfred Wiles has been named General Manager of the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel
in Washington, DC. Wiles has previously held the position of Managing Director
of the Hilton Virginia Beach Oceanfront Resort.
Michael Koffler is moving from the Hyatt Regency Monterey and the Park
Hyatt Highlands Inn in Carmel where he has been the General Manager since
1999, to the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.
Donald Anderson has been hired as General Manager of the Henley Park
and Morrison Clark Inn. He comes from the Park Hyatt Washington, where
he was the Director of Rooms.
Signature Destinations Club has appointed Jay Harbison as Vice President
of Hospitality and Membership Operations. Harbison, a Cornell graduate,
was formerly the Vice President of Hospitality at Abercrombie & Kent
Destination Clubs.
Steven Kalczynski was transferred by Starwood to General Manager of
the Ballantyne Resort & Spa in North Carolina. Kalczynski, who has
worked internationally with Peninsula and Shangri La, was most recently
the General Manager of Starwood�s now shuttered St. Regis Los Angeles.
Jan Chovanec has been named General Manager of the Conrad Indianapolis
scheduled to open in March 2006. Chovanec had been with Swissôtel
since 1998 in Washington, DC, Chicago and most recently as General Manager
of Swissôtel The Bosphorus and Area Manager responsible for Turkey
and the Middle East.
Bruce Fery has been promoted to a newly created position of Executive
Vice President of Hotels for Earl Holdings Grand America Hotels and Resorts
and will remain as the General Manager of the Grand America Hotel in Salt
Lake City.
Colin Ankersen is the new General Manager of the Harrison Conference
Center and Hotel, Princeton Forrestal Center. Ankersen was previously a
consultant to the nearby Crystal Springs Resort and has held various positions
at Dolce International and Omni Hotels.
Gianluca Sparacino has been promoted to Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons
Houston. Sparacino was previously the Director of Food and Beverage at
the Ritz-Carlton Chicago. He originally joined Four Seasons in Chicago
from the position of Director of Food and Beverage at the Grand Hyatt Jakarta.
Bernd Kuhlen has been promoted to Hotel Manager at the Ritz-Carlton
Rose Hall. Kuhlen joined Ritz-Carlton in 1993 spending time in Berlin,
Wolfsburg, Palm Beach, Puerto Rico, Barcelona, Cancun and most recently
as Executive Assistant Manager/Director of Food and Beverage at the Ritz-Carlton
New Orleans.
Julien Debarle has been named Hotel Manager at the InterContinental
Miami. Debarle, a graduate of the Paul Bocuse Institute in Lyon, was previously
in the same position at the InterContinental Cleveland.
Tulio Hochkoeppler has transferred to the Four Seasons Resort Carmelo,
in Uruguay as Manager in Residence. Hochkoeppler, a Cornell graduate, is
a long time Four Seasons employee having spent time in various positions
at the Four Seasons Buenos Aires, Four Seasons Caracas and Four Seasons
at Beverly Hills.
Gregory Day has been named Director of Operations at the Fairmont Royal
York in Toronto. Day has been with the company since 1994 holding various
positions at the Fairmont San Francisco and then transferred to the Fairmont
New Orleans when he was promoted to his most recent position as Director
of Operations.
George Sotelo has been promoted to Resident Manager at the One&Only
Palmilla in Los Cabos. He was previously the resort's Director of Food
and Beverage. Prior to joining Palmilla two years ago, he held executive
positions at the Sonesta Beach Resort in Key Biscayne, the InterContinental
New York and the Grand Bay in Miami.
Walter and Beverly Plachta will be managing Nisbet Plantation in Nevis.
The Plachtas come from the Meridian Club on Pine Cay, Turks & Caicos,
where they were the Island Managers.
Thomas Narozonick will be filling the recently created post of Resident
Manager at Los Angeles� prestigious Jonathan Club. Narozonick is finishing
a five-year tenure as General Manager of the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet
Club. He had also been the General Manager of Santa Barbara�s El Encanto
for several years.
Rick Swig of RSBA & Associates has been installed as Chairman of
the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau. Swig has served on
the SFCVB executive committee since 2000 and also served on the board of
directors from 1992 to 1995. Swig�s father, Richard Swig, the original
owner of Fairmont Hotels, was SFCVB chairman in 1968-1969.
Luc Van Wambeke, a Cornell Hotelman, has left the Sports Club Company
where he was Regional Controller in New York for five years, following
a career with Ritz-Carlton. He will be developing real estate projects
in St. Croix as Chief Financial Officer and Managing Partner.
Scott Mills has been promoted to Director of Food and Beverage at the
soon-to-open Four Seasons Palo Alto. Mills has been with the company since
1996 in various food and beverage positions at the Four Seasons Dallas
and the Four Seasons at Beverly Hills. He had been the Assistant Director
of Food and Beverage at the Regent Beverly Wilshire since 2003.
Chris Fava has been appointed Vice President of Food and Beverage at
the New York New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Fava was previously
the Director of Catering and Convention Services at the Flamingo Hotel
and Casino. Prior experience includes twelve years with Caesar�s Entertainment.
Ronan Hénaff has been named Director of Food and Beverage at
New York�s Carlyle replacing Eric Dupaix. Hénaff comes from the
Ritz-Carlton Central Park South where he had a dual role as Restaurant
General Manager for Atelier and Senior Food and Beverage Manager. Hénaff
also launched Aqua at the St. Regis Monarch Beach following several years
at Le Bernardin in New York. He is a graduate of the Ecole Hoteliere de
Lausanne.
As for Eric Dupaix, he leaves his post of Director of Food and Beverage
at the Carlyle to assume the same post at the Westin Essex House.
Schack Von Rumohr has been appointed Director of Food and Beverage at
the Hilton Oceanfront Resort in Hilton Head. Von Rumohr was previously
in the same position at the Marriott Frenchman�s Reef and Morning Star
in St. Thomas. He had also been the Director of Food and Beverage at the
Wyndham El Conquistador in Puerto Rico.
The Grand Hyatt New York has appointed Ward Childs as Senior Food and
Beverage Director, Executive Assistant Manager. Childs, a Cornell graduate,
was previously the Senior Regional Food and Beverage Director at the Hyatt
Regency San Francisco Embarcadero Center and Food and Beverage Director
at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis and Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.
Tom Manno has been named Senior Director of Sales and Operations for
Regent International Hotels. Manno has served as Vice President/General
Manager for the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami and the Westin Innisbrook
Resort in Tampa. He was also the General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton St.
Louis for six years.
Pete Zudyk has been appointed Director of Brand Marketing at Hard Rock
International. Zudyk was previously the Chicago-based Area Director of
Sales and Marketing for the Kor Group. He was also the opening Director
of Sales and Marketing at the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago.
Roberta Rinker-Ludloff has been named Vice President of Sales and Marketing
for Conrad Hotels North America. She most recently served as Regional Vice
President Marketing for Hilton Hawaii.
Doug Gennardo has been appointed Area Director of Sales and Marketing
for Grande Lakes Orlando, a complex including the Ritz-Carlton Orlando
and the JW Marriott Hotel. He has been with Marriott International for
fifteen years and was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing
at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Arizona.
The Kor Hotel Group has appointed Brad Barnett as Area Director of Sales,
Los Angeles. Barnett has previous hospitality sales and marketing experience
with Wyndham, Starwood and Kimpton. He was most recently a District Director
at ZipRealty.
Sharon Telesca has joined Ian Schrager�s soon-to-open Gramercy Park
Hotel as Director of Sales and Marketing. Since 2001, Telesca had been
the Director of Sales and Marketing at Furnished Quarters, following a
tenure in the same capacity at the St. Regis New York.
Martin Finch has joined Ty Warner Resorts. Based in Los Angeles, he
will handle sales for San Ysidro Ranch and Kona Village. Finch was previously
a Regional Sales Director with Fiesta Americana and Caesar Park Hotels.
Luis Lamar is the new Vice President of Hotel Sales at the MGM Grand
Las Vegas. He was previously the Director of Sales and Marketing at the
Ritz-Carlton Huntington. Ed Curry will be replacing him, transferring from
the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey where he held the same position.
Nina Santellanes has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing
at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya. She was previously the Director of Sales and
Marketing at the Hyatt Regency Coral Gables.
Meri Greene has been appointed Director of Business Development at Allimar
Marketing. She was previously Corporate Sales Manager then Marketing Manager
for W Hotels of New York.
Peter Regan has been appointed Director of Sales & Marketing for
the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel. Regan comes from the Peabody Hotel Group where
he served as the Regional Director of Sales & Marketing.
Gene Harbeck has been appointed Director of Facilities for the Jonathan
Club in Los Angeles. Harbeck was most recently the Director of Engineering
at the Regent Beverly Wilshire. He had also held similar positions for
over five years at the Los Angeles Biltmore.
Kerry Shorr has been promoted to Public Relations Director from Public
Relations Coordinator after three years in the position at the Four Seasons
Palm Beach.
Yoshinori Kojima has been named Executive Chef at Okura in Palm Springs,
due to open in the fall. Kojima joins from Latitude in Sonoma. He has also
been the Chef of MC2 and the Pan Pacific San Francisco.
Robert Sulatycky will be joining the Beverly Hills Hotel as Executive
Chef replacing Eric Scuiller who has left the company. Sulatycky comes
from the Four Seasons Chicago where he was the Executive Chef following
many other similar postings with Four Seasons.
Frank Palmer has joined Di Maggio�s in San Francisco as Executive Chef.
Palmer was most recently in the kitchen at the Bing Crosby Restaurant and
Piano Bar in Walnut Creek and following a stint as Executive Chef at the
Lafayette Park Hotel.
Barnaby Jones is the new Executive Chef at Carlisle Bay in Antigua.
Jones was previously the Executive Chef at Nick Jones� Babington House
in England, following five years with Amanresorts, first at Amandari in
Bali, later at Amanjena in Marrakech.
Eric Cousin has joined the Sheraton National outside Washington DC,
as Executive Chef. Cousin was previously the Executive Chef at New York�s
Essex House and the Executive Sous Chef at the Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino
in Mississippi.
Chef and Culinary Director Paul Wade of the Little Nell in Aspen is
taking over at Quattro and the Four Seasons Houston, replacing Tim Keating.
Wade was the founding chef of the new Montagna restaurant concept at the
Little Nell. He spent three years with Four Seasons in the past, as the
Chef de Cuisine of Seasons at the Four Seasons Wailea.
Carol Daniel has rejoined Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants as Vice President,
Restaurants. Daniel had been Kimpton�s Director of Restaurant Operations,
East Coast when she left to join Wolfgang Puck Catering and Events as Senior
Vice President Operations.
Richard Hollocou has joined Gray Kunz�s Café Gray in New York
as General Manager. Hollocou comes from Gotham Bar and Grill and has also
worked as General Manager at Typhoon, Le Bernardin, La Récolte,
La Réserve and Le Plaisir.
John Higgins is the new General Manager at the Rainbow Room-Cipriani
Group. He comes from the Waldorf=Astoria where he was the Director of Food
and Beverage Operations since 2003.
Bernard Collin has been named Managing Director/Partner at Jean Denoyer�s
upcoming Brasserie at Rockefeller Center. For the past five years, Collin
had been the Director of Food and Beverage at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa
where he spearheaded a two-year renovation of all outlets. He also served
as Director of Restaurants at the Phoenician.
Wine consultant Rebecca Chapa has joined Niebaum Coppola with the title
of Estate Ambassador. Chapa is well known in Northern California where
she has been teaching wine appreciation and training sommeliers for several
years. Chapa is a Cornell Hotel School graduate.
Andy Hoyle joins Washington DC�s Sea Catch Restaurant as General Manager.
Hoyle has worked in various positions with Morton�s in Boston, Philadelphia,
Hartford, Charlotte, Baltimore, Washington DC. After leaving Morton�s,
he worked for the Prime Rib Restaurant and the Crystal City Sports Pub.
Carl Meyer returns to the Salish Lodge and Spa in Washington as its
Rooms Division Manager. Meyer comes from the Statler Hotel at Cornell University
where he was Director of Operations for two years. He has also held various
rooms management positions at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, the Lodge at
Pebble Beach and the Highlands Inn, following seven years with Four Seasons.
Alberto Pirozzini will be the opening Director of Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton
Grand Cayman. Pirozzini was briefly the General Manager at Boscolo�s Aleph
Hotel in Rome. He previously held various positions at the W Los Angeles,
the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel and the St. Regis Los Angeles.
At Le Méridien Chicago, Jeroen Elmendorp has been promoted to
Director of Rooms from Director of Front Office.
Alfredo Madero is the new Spa Director at Palmilla. He was most recently
in the same position at the Pala Casino Resort & Spa in northern San
Diego. |
