Global update of who is moving where and from where - keep track of old colleagues and friends or find lost ones, brought to you by The Boutique Search Firm.
Featuring: December 2008 movements.
THE AMERICASEric Danziger has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of Wyndham. Danziger, who started his career as a bellman at the Fairmont San Francisco, was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of WhiteFence, and prior to that, served as Chief Executive Officer of ZipRealty. His previous hospitality experience includes serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Starwood Lodging and President/Chief Executive Officer of Carlson Hotels Worldwide. Not to mention the "old" Wyndham, where he served as President.
Joie de Vivre has promoted Ingrid Summerfield to President. She recently rejoined the company as Chief Operating Officer after taking on her previous role as Executive Vice President of Housing and Hospitality for Capital Properties.
Dolce Hotels and Resorts has named Steven Rudnitsky President and Chief Executive Officer. Rudnitsky was most recently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Wyndham.
MGM Mirage has promoted Jim Murren to the post of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, taking over from Terry Lanni who has retired. Murren was most recently serving the company in the role of Chief Operating Officer. He joined MGM Mirage in 1998 as Chief Financial Officer after spending fourteen years on Wall Street as an Equity Analyst and Managing Director of Deutsche Bank.
David Kloeppel has been promoted from Executive Vice President to President of Gaylord Entertainment. He will keep his current duties as Chief Financial Officer. Before joining Gaylord seven years ago, he was a Vice President in the mergers and acquisitions department of Deutsche Bank in New York.
Fredrik Korallus has been named Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of a new organizational entity: Radisson Hotels & Resorts Operating Company. He was formerly the Executive Vice President of Revenue Generation for Carlson Hotels Worldwide.
HEI Hotels & Resorts has appointed Brian Mayer Senior Vice President of Operations. Mayer, a Cornell graduate, had previously spent nearly ten years with Starwood, most recently as Vice President of Operation Innovation and Support, North America.
Great Wolf Resorts has promoted Kim Schaefer to Chief Executive Officer, taking over from Randy Churchey, who had served as the company's Interim Chief Executive Officer since May 2008. Schaefer was most recently the company's President and Chief Operating Officer.
Great Wolf Resorts has promoted Tim Black to Executive Vice President of Operations. Black first joined the company in 2004 as General Manager of its Great Wolf Lodge property in Wisconsin Dells. He was most recently the company's Senior Vice President of Operations.
Rebeca Selley has been promoted to General Manager at the Four Seasons Mexico City. She originally joined the company in 1995 in Mexico City. She then moved into a progression of promotions via food and beverage at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago, the Four Seasons Punta Mita and the Four Seasons Prague. She took on the Hotel Manager position at the Four Seasons Buenos Aires then moved into her most recent position in Punta Mita as Resort Manager.
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has promoted Matt Rzonca to Regional Senior Director, Operations. He was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage at the Ritz-Carlton Phoenix. Rzonca had previously served as Director of Catering and Conference Services at the Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island before being promoted to Director of Food and Beverage for the resort.
Wendy Nelson has been named to a new position of Executive Vice President of Brand Strategy for Radisson Hotels & Resorts. She was most recently the Executive Vice President of Carlson Hotels Real Estate Company.
With Ritz-Carton, Allen Highfield leaves his position of General Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown to prepare for the opening of the Lake Tahoe Ritz-Carlton Highlands.
Len Czarnecki is the opening General Manager of the Pittsburgh Fairmont, after serving as Hotel Manager at Boston's Fairmont Copley Plaza. He also was the Rooms Division Director at New York's Regency, and the Director of Front Office at the New York Hilton.
Marcie Lieberman has been promoted to Senior Corporate Director of Operations for Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. She was most recently the Managing Director of the Inn of the Anasazi, A Rosewood Hotel. Lieberman had previously served as Hotel Manager at the Carlyle and as Director of Rooms at the Carénage Bay Resort (now a Raffles property).
Andrea Gates has been named Managing Director of the Inn of the Anasazi. She was previously the Hotel Manager of the Carlyle in New York.
Patrick Birchall has transferred as General Manager to the InterContinental Buckhead. For the past five years, he had been the General Manager of the Presidente InterContinental Mexico City. Birchall had previously been based in Paris, serving as Hotel Manager at Le Grand Hotel Intercontinental, before moving into the position of Resident Manager at the InterContinental Paris. In Mexico City, Birchall's successor is Yvette Thuring.
Julie Weaver has been promoted to General Manager of the Lodge at Pebble Beach, where she takes over from Coni Thornburg. Thornburg is now the General Manager of Calistoga Ranch for Auberge Resorts. Weaver was most recently the General Manager of Casa Palmero, the boutique enclave at Pebble Beach.
Remon Pagels has joined the Palisades Development Group in Los Angeles as Director of Hospitality Operations. For the past three years, he had been at the MGM Grand Las Vegas as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage. He had previously served in various roles at the Standard Downtown Los Angeles and the former Loews Beverly Hills.
Mark Herron has transferred as General Manager to the Four Seasons Whistler. He has been with the company since 1988, most recently as General Manager of the Four Seasons Houston. He had previously managed the Four Seasons Santa Barbara, and the (former) Four Seasons Olympic Seattle.
Greg Mendoza has been named General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park. Most recently, he was Vice President Operations/Development at Millennium Partners (who happen to own both Ritz-Carltons in New York). Mendoza spent ten years with Four Seasons in Miami, Punta Mita and Dallas, following an early career with Hilton International.
Mark Mathews has been named General Manager of the soon-to-open Citizen Hotel in Sacramento for Joie de Vivre Hospitality. He previously worked as General Manager of the Sheraton Tacoma and the Hotel Murano Seattle.
Gilles Hervieux transfers as General Manager from the InterContinental Montréal to the InterContinental Toronto. His successor in Montréal is Bernard Chenevert, who comes from the W Montréal. As for Hervieux, he had originally joined InterContinental in Chicago as Resident Manager in 1996.
Ben Timashenka has been appointed General Manager of the Hotel Palomar Arlington at Waterview. Most recently, Timashenka served as General Manager for the Westin Baltimore Washington Airport and previously held the post of General Manager for the Sheraton Crystal City.
Shawn Gracey has been appointed General Manager of the Hotel ICON Houston. He was previously the General Manager of the Shorebreak Hotel. Previously, he had held the General Manager post for the former Graciela Burbank and Le Merigot, a JW Marriott Hotel & Spa in Santa Monica.
HEI Hotels & Resorts has appointed Shaukat Wadiwalla to General Manager of the Renaissance Fort Lauderdale. Most recently, Wadiwalla was Corporate Director of Food and Beverage for HEI. Previously, he had served as Director of Food and Beverage for the Westin Bonaventure Los Angeles, and the Adam's Mark Denver.
Martin Wormull is the new General Manager of the Conrad Miami. He was most recently the Hotel Manager of the Drake Chicago.
Ed Towfighnia has been appointed General Manager of La Posada de Santa Fe Resort & Spa. He was most recently a member of the management task force for the Arrabelle at Vail Square in Colorado.
Brendan Carlin has been named General Manager of Aspen's Hotel Jerome. He was most recently the General Manager of the Mosaic in Beverly Hills.
Kevin Robinson is the General Manager of the Elysian Chicago, scheduled to open in spring 2009. He was most recently the Hotel Manager of the Four Seasons Alexandria in Egypt. Robinson had previously held various rooms management positions at the Four Seasons Nevis and the Four Seasons Dallas.
Maryann White was named General Manager of the Westin New York at Times Square. She was most recently the General Manager of the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel.
Niles Harris has joined the Sheraton Atlanta as General Manager. He had previously served as Area Director of Operations, Southeast, for Wyndham and General Manager of the Crowne Plaza Ravinia.
At the Sagamore longtime Chef Tom Guay has been promoted to General Manager. He joined the resort twelve years ago as Executive Chef before moving up the ranks to Director of Food and Beverage and, most recently, Resident Manager.
The Rivanna Resort & Golf Club in Virginia has named Mark Glickman General Manager. He was most recently the Director of Resort Marketing and Sales at Mauna Lani. Glickman had previously served as in Senior Marketing positions at Pinehurst and Wintergreen.
Mike Case has been promoted to General Manager of the JW Marriott Denver after joining the property in 2004 as Director of Operations. Julio Escobar moves up from his position as Director of Meetings and Special Events at the hotel to take over from Case as Director of Operations.
Christopher Peacock has been promoted to General Manager of the Rosario Resort & Spa on Orcas Island, Washington. He had been the resort's Director of Marketing under previous RockResort and Gemstone management.
Ladera on St. Lucia has named Kevin Sinnett General Manager. Sinnett spent nearly a quarter of a century serving as a pilot in the U.S. Navy and previously served as commander of a naval squadron and a fleet of eight Navy aircrafts.
Nancy Johnson was named Executive Vice President of Business Development for all Carlson Hotel brands in the Americas. She was formerly the Executive Vice President of Franchise Operations for full service hotels and franchise development Carlson Hotels Worldwide.
The Blue in Miami has appointed Stephen Van Hemert General Manager. For the past fifteen years, he had been with Hyatt, most recently as General Manager of the Lago Mar Resort and Club in Fort Lauderdale. Van Hemert had previously held executive positions for the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six and the Doral Golf Resort & Spa Miami.
Las Vegas Sands Corporation has named Kenneth Kay Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He was previously Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at CB Richard Ellis Group.
The Crowne Plaza Orlando Downtown has named Jerry Barnes General Manager. He was most recently the General Manager of the Holiday Inn Orlando North.
Patrick Botwright is named General Manager of Marriott's Crystal Shores on Marco Island, Florida. He was previously the General Manager of Marriott's Villas at Doral in Miami.
Julian Smaldoni has been appointed General Manager of the Capella Bahia Maroma, Mexico. A Cornell graduate, he was most recently the General Manager of the Tides Riviera Maya.
Willie Nagda has been appointed General Manager of Marriott's Custom House, Boston. He was previously the General Manager of the Courtyard Boston Milford.
Elizabeth Delens has been named General Manager of the Four Points by Sheraton, Washington D.C. Downtown. She was previously the Director of Operations at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel.
RockResorts has named Glenn Parker General Manager at Tempo Miami, opening April 2009. He was recently the opening General Manager for the Renaissance Aktau Hotel in Kazakhstan.
Richard Lyon has been named Managing Director of the Landings St. Lucia. During his more than twenty-seven years with Marriott International, he had served as General Manager of the JW Marriott Mumbai and the Renaissance Chancery Court Hotel in London.
Jale Aksoy has joined the Hilton Singer Island Oceanfront Resort as General Manager. Aksoy transferred from her position as General Manager at the Four Points by Sheraton, Washington D.C.
The Limelight Lodge in Aspen has named Brad Wyatt General Manager. He was most recently a Director for Aspen/Snowmass Hospitality.
The Hilton San Diego Bayfront has named J. Peter Lynn General Manager. Lynn most recently held the position of General Manager at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. He had previously served as General Manager at the Hilton Seattle Airport, Baltimore's Inn at the Colonnade and the Hilton Chicago O'Hare Airport.
Dean Lane takes over from Lynn as General Manager of Palmer House Hilton after serving in his most recent post of Hotel Manager.
The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay has appointed John Evans General Manager. He was previously the General Manager of the Westin Crown Center, Kansas City.
Sue Tan-Graf has been named General Manager of Marriott's Canyon Villas at Desert Ridge, Phoenix. She was most recently the General Manager of Marriott's Custom House, Boston.
Sonesta International Hotels has appointed Philip Silberstein Executive Vice President of Development for the Sonesta Collection. He was most recently the Vice President of Development for Carlson Hotels.
The Sheraton Chicago Northbrook has appointed Stephen McCulley General Manager. He was previously the General Manager of the Sheraton Clayton Plaza St. Louis.
Joseph White has joined the Marriott Detroit Metro Airport as General Manager. He was most recently the Director of Operations for the Westin Southfield in Michigan.
The Carlyle in New York has appointed George Unseld Hotel Manager. He moved from Germany where he was most recently the Hotel Manager at the Hotel Adlon Kempinski. Previous positions include Hotel Services Director for the InterContinental Hotels Group in Brussels, Executive Assistant Manager at the InterContinental San Juan and Operations Analyst at Six Continents Hotels in Atlanta.
Kurt Englund has transferred as Resort Manager to the Four Seasons Punta Mita. Since 2007, he had been the Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons Toronto. He joined the company in 1992 at the Four Seasons Seattle and has since worked for the company in Chicago, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Costa Rica and Whistler.
The Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club has named Rita Healy Hotel Manager. She was most recently the Director of Operations for the Fairmont Olympic in Seattle.
The Fairmont Olympic has appointed Sven-Erik Richter Director of Operations. He was most recently the Director of Operations at the Fairmont Montreux Palace.
Michael Sharlet has been appointed Director of Operations at the Wequassett Resort and Golf Club in Cape Cod. Sharlet spent the past fifteen years with Four Seasons and was most recently the Director of Rooms at the Four Seasons Philadelphia. Previously, he served as Director of Rooms of the Four Seasons Atlanta and the Beverly Wilshire. He also spent time in various management positions at the Four Seasons Los Angeles.
Robert Launch has taken on the role of Vice President of Finance for the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. He was previously the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Sterling Resorts and Sterling Realty.
The Red Hawk Casino has named Joseph Diver Vice President of Food and Beverage. He was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage for the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa. He had previously served as Vice President of Food and Beverage at the Cache Creek Casino Resort and had held senior level positions at the Adam's Mark in St. Louis and the Fairmont Chicago.
In San Francisco, the Left Bank Restaurant Group Founder, Chief Executive Officer and President Ed Levine is stepping down after sixteen years. His replacement is Richard Miyashiro, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Pat Kuleto Restaurants.
The Four Seasons Houston has promoted Sebastian Hinsch to Director of Food and Beverage. Since 2007, he had held the title of Assistant Food and Beverage Director at the Four Seasons Jackson Hole.
Benchmark Hospitality has named Travis Blaney Director of Food and Beverage at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort. He has been with Benchmark for the past five years, most recently as Corporate Food and Beverage Manager. Blaney previously served as Director of Restaurants at the West Baden Springs Hotel and French Lick Resort Casino.
Peter Brattander has been appointed Director of Food and Beverage at the Riviera Resort & Spa in Palm Springs. He was most recently a Director of Food and Beverage at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
The Westin Beach Resort, Fort Lauderdale has named Adam Elmrabti Director of Food and Beverage. Elmrabti was most recently the Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin hotels.
La Costa Resort and Spa has appointed Nicholas Abruscato Food and Beverage Director. He was most recently the Food and Beverage Director at the Hyatt Regency Maui.
Patti Fisher has returned to Los Angeles to take over for Samantha Walder as Director of Human Resources at the Four Seasons Los Angeles. Fisher was previously the Assistant Director of Human Resources for the Beverly Wilshire before taking on her most recent position as Human Resources Director at the Four Seasons Lana'i, handling both the Lodge at Koele and the Manele Bay Resort.
Jorge Collazo has returned to Four Seasons as Director of Marketing at the Four Seasons Los Angeles. He was previously handling the corporate markets at the Four Seasons Miami before taking on his most recent position as Director of Marketing at the Setai Miami.
Michael Lorenz has joined the Kor Hotel Group as Vice President of Sales. He was most recently the Vice President, Sales and Marketing for IMI Resort Living in Miami. For seven years, he had previously served in various sales and marketing roles for Ritz-Carlton, based in Miami.
The Ritz-Carlton Club has appointed Bruce Rohman Regional Vice President of Sales Operations for the Western region. He was previously the Vice President of Sales for Marriott Vacation Club International.
Mari Garcia has been promoted to the position of Area Director of Sales with LXR Hotels. A Cornell graduate, she was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Conrad Miami.
Jodi Doughty has joined the pre-opening team of the Hotel Sorella in Houston as Director of Sales and Marketing. She was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hotel ICON Houston. Doughty previously served as Director of Sales and Marketing for both the JW Marriott Jakarta and the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta.
Elfa Cleofe has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for the Hotel Palomar Arlington at Waterview. For the past three years, she had held the post of Director of Sales at the Four Seasons Philadelphia. Prior to that, Cleofe held numerous sales and marketing positions at the Four Seasons Tokyo at Chinzan-so, the Four Seasons New York and the (former) Four Seasons Seattle.
Ron Sandvig has been promoted to Vice President of Sales for Terranea. He was the first employee in 2006 for the pre-opening office of the resort serving in the role of Director of Sales.
Brian Jago has been named Director of Marketing and Sales at the Sheraton Universal, now operated by Destination Hotels & Resorts. He was most recently at the Pacific Palms Resort as Director of Sales and Marketing. Jago previously served as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Royal Palm Miami Beach and as Director of Sales at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa.
Dan Sierka has been appointed Director of Sales at the Sheraton Universal. He was previously the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Aspire and had served on the sales teams at the Boulders, Pointe South Mountain in Phoenix and the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort.
Destination Hotels & Resorts has named Raffaella Manetti National Director of Leisure Sales and Director of Leisure Sales for Terranea, slated to open June 2009. She had previously served in regional sales positions for Sofitel, Rosewood, as well as holding the position of Director of International Sales for the Pierre in New York.
Melisa Rodgers has joined Terranea as National Sales Manager. She had previously served in various sales roles at the Sofitel Los Angeles, the Estancia La Jolla and the St. Regis Monarch Beach.
Dan Shaughnessy has joined the Renaissance Hollywood as Director of Sales and Marketing. For the past two years, he had been the Director of Sales for the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa.
Fiona Taylor has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino and Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort & Casino, both in St. Maarten. She was previously the Director of Sales and Marketing for Barcelo Hotels & Resorts.
Sam Zabawsky has joined the Wyndham Nassau Resort & Crystal Palace Casino as Director of Sales and Marketing. He was previously with Boykin Management as Vice President of Sales and Revenue Management and served in marketing roles for the Sand Pearl Resort, the Sea Pines Resort and as Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for Wyndham.
Tim Dupree has left Las Vegas to take on the newly created role of Regional Director of Sales overseeing the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hotel Bel-Air, based in Los Angeles. Most recently, he spent a brief time at Echelon in Las Vegas as Executive Director of Sales. He had previously served in various sales roles at the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Four Seasons Los Angeles, the Beverly Wilshire and the Four Seasons Austin.
The Sheraton Chicago Northbrook Hotel has named Geri Patterson Director of Sales. She was previously the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Illinois Beach Resort.
Laura Crugnale has been named Director of Sales for the Allison Inn & Spa in Newburg, Oregon. She was previously a National Director of Sales for Small Luxury Hotels of the World.
Wendy Worley has been promoted to Director of Sales for the Magnolia Hotel Omaha. She was most recently the Assistant Director of Sales at the Magnolia Hotel Denver.
Mark Ley has been named Director of Sales for Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa. He was most recently a Group Sales Manager at the Solage Calistoga, an Auberge Resorts sister property.
Craig Hopson will be installed as the new Executive Chef at Le Cirque in New York, replacing Christophe Bellanca. He was most recently the Chef at One if By Land, Two if By Sea for just over a year. He was also a Sous Chef at Terrence Brennan's Picholine.
Rafael Gonzalez has transferred as Executive Chef to the Four Seasons Philadelphia. He was most recently the Executive Chef at the Four Seasons Vancouver. He started with the company at the Pierre as Executive Sous Chef before moving to Vancouver. He had previously served in the kitchens at Jean Georges and Le Bernardin in New York.
Jason Franey has moved to Seattle to be the Executive Chef at Canlis. He was most recently the Executive Sous Chef at Eleven Madison Park in New York. Fabien Beaufour, who had been a Sous Chef at Eleven Madison Park for two years, will replace him as Executive Sous Chef.
Christopher Lee is moving to Aureole in New York as Executive Chef, taking over from long time Charlie Palmer lieutenant Tony Aiazzi. For the past two years, Lee had been overseeing Gilt at the New York Palace. He had previously been at Striped Bass in Philadelphia as Executive Chef and Oceana in New York as Chef de Cuisine.
Neil Ferguson is now the Chef at SoHo House New York. He was most recently in the kitchen at Allen & Delancey.
Willis Loughhead has been named Executive Chef of the Cooper Square Hotel and Chef de Cuisine at Table 8. He was most recently at Country Restaurant in New York as Executive Chef. He had previously served as Executive Chef for Hotels AB and Chef de Cuisine at The Modern at MoMA New York.
Joel Dennis has taken over for Tony Esnault as Executive Chef at Alain Ducasse's Adour at the St. Regis New York. He previously served as Executive Sous Chef for the restaurant and served on the culinary teams at TRU in Chicago, Aureole in New York and the Blue Water Grill in Chicago.
Thorsten Leighty has joined the Eden Roc Renaissance Beach Resort and Spa in Miami as Executive Chef. He was most recently serving in the same position at the JW Marriott Ihilani. He had previously served as Executive Sous Chef for the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa, the Renaissance Hollywood, and Patina in Los Angeles.
John Geschrei has joined Belterra as Executive Chef. He was previously with the Omni Houston as Executive Chef.
Marc Boussarie has returned to Los Angeles to join the Hotel Angeleno as Chef de Cuisine. He was most recently briefly in San Diego as Executive Chef at Anthology Downtown. He had previously served as Executive Chef at Vibrato in Los Angeles and Chef de Cuisine at Maximilian's in Toluca Lake. At the Angeleno, Boussarie replaces Mark Mittleman.
David Mullen has joined Michael Mina's Bourbon Steak at the Fairmont Turnberry Isle as Chef de Cuisine. For the past two years, he had been the Chef de Cuisine at Angle at the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach. He had previously served on the culinary team at Daniel in New York and the Fifth Floor in San Francisco.
Adour at the St. Regis New York has moved up Laurent Kalkotour from his previous position as Sous Chef to Executive Sous Chef. He previously already worked for the Alain Ducasse Group, including at Le Louis XV in Monaco as well as Mix in New York.
Edward Higgins has joined Quattro Restaurant at the Four Seasons Silicon Valley as Executive Sous Chef. He was previously with the Four Seasons Tokyo at Marunouchi. Most recently, Higgins was part of the opening team as Chef de Cuisine for Insieme and had previously been a part of the culinary team at Tom Collicchio's Craft, and at Hearth.
Laurent Chevalier has been named General Manager of Café Boulud, Daniel Boulud's Palm Beach outpost at the Brazilian Court. He succeeds Theresa Valiante, who relocated to Beijing to help open a new Daniel Boulud restaurant, Maison Boulud. Chevalier had previously held various positions with Groupe Flo, in France, the French Consulate in New York, Payard in Manhasset, and Payard on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
Fabrice Warin has joined Alain Ducasse at Benoit in New York as Maitre d'Hotel. For the past two years, he had served in the same position at Payard Bistro. He had previously overseen restaurants in New York including Balthazar, Cercle Rouge and Orsay.
Pascal Desvaux has moved over to Mix in Las Vegas as Restaurant Manager. He was most recently at Guy Savoy at Caesar's Palace as Stagiaire, following over two years at Joel Robuchon at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Fabien Rivière moves up from his former position of Restaurant Manager to that of Director of Restaurant Operations for Mix.
Aidan Field has moved over as Assistant Food and Beverage Director to the Four Seasons Jackson Hole. He was most recently the Assistant Food and Beverage Director at the Four Seasons Houston.
Neal Wavra has been named Food and Beverage Manager at the Goodstone Inn & Estate. He had previously served in various food and beverage roles at Charlie Trotter's Chicago and Blackberry Farm in Tennessee.
The Westin Beach Resort Fort Lauderdale has named Joanie Bowden Spa Director. She joins the resort from the Spa St. Regis at the St. Regis Fort Lauderdale. She had previously served as opening Director of Spa for the Atlantic Hotel and Assistant Director of Spa for the Diplomat Country Club.
EUROPEMarie Béatrice Lallemand has left Barry Sternlicht's Louvre Hotels to become the President of Kerzner International's large-scale project in Morocco. Prior to joining Louvre/Concorde Hotels, Lallemand had been the General Manager of the Le Grand Hotel InterContinental in Paris.
At Kempinski, Gianni Van Daalen has been promoted to President, Europe, from General Manager of the Baltschug Kempinski in Moscow. Prior to that, he also served eight years as General Manager of the Hotel Adlon Kempinski in Berlin.
Also at Kempinski, Michael Hessler, who was appointed Managing Director of the Kempinski Grand Hotel in Geneva, is promoted to Regional Vice President, Western Europe and Morocco.
Hilton Hotels has promoted Mark Walker to Area General Manager for Northern Ireland. He was most recently the General Manager of the Cardiff Hilton.
The Scandic hotel chain has appointed Michel Schutzbach Vice President, Europe. He was most recently a Regional Director for the Rezidor Hotel Group.
Lausanne graduate Alain Borgers has transferred to the Shangri-La Paris Palais d'Iena as General Manager. He was most recently the General Manager at the Shangri-La Rasa Ria in Malaysia. Borgers had previously held the title of General Manager for the Shangri-La Surabaya, the Edsa Shangri-La Manila, and the Shangri-La Golden Sands. The Shangri-La Paris Palais d'Iena is due to open next year.
Alvaro Rey has transferred to the InterContinental London Park Lane as General Manager, following the departure of Roland Fasel earlier this year. Since 2006, Rey had been the General Manager of the InterContinental Sydney. He started his career with IHG twenty five years ago as Assistant Food and Beverage Manager at the InterContinental Medellín in Colombia.
Marco Novella takes over from Luca Virgilio as General Manager of London's Baglioni. He is a former General Manager of Venice's Gritti Palace and Rome's Grand Hotel for Starwood. He also previously worked at Monaco's Hôtel de Paris and at the Four Seasons Milano. As for Luca Virgilio, he is now the General Manager of the Hotel Métropole in Monte Carlo.
Sandro Bohrmann has joined Le Méridien London as General Manager. He had previously held various positions at the Westin Warsaw and London's Park Lane.
Andrew Swindells has been named General Manager of the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London. He was previously the General Manager of the Hilton Birmingham Metropole.
Alberto Pirozzini has joined the Salvatore Ferragamo Lungarno Hotel in Florence as General Manager. He was most recently the Hotel Manager at the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas. He had previously served as Managing Director for the Ritz-Carlton-run Abaco Club, and as Executive Assistant Manager, Director of Rooms with the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman.
Lina Stahl has been named General Manager of the London Pelham Hotel, now owned by Edward Bracken and Con Ring. She was most recently the General Manager for the Ashburn Hotel, also in London.
Marie Fagan has been named General Manager at the St. David's Hotel and Spa, Cardiff. She was most recently the General Manager of the Hilton Milan. Fagan had previously served as Director of Business Development at the Rome Cavalieri Hilton and various positions for the Grosvenor House and the Waldorf London.
Carina Williamson has been named General Manager of the Hotel Missoni Edinburgh, slated to open in May 2009. She was most recently the General Manager of the Radisson SAS Hotel Belfast.
Riddian Davies has relocated to London as General Manager of the Charing Cross Hotel. He was previously the Area General Manager for Asia for Guoman Hotels.
Michiel Laterveer has been appointed Cluster Director of Sales and Marketing for the Amsterdam Marriott and Renaissance Amsterdam. He was previously Marriott International's Area Director of Revenue Strategy for Eastern Europe.
ASIA AND THE PACIFICOur most sincere condolences go to Karambir Kang, the General Manager of the Taj Mahal Mumbai, whose wife and children perished on the first night of the terrorist attack on the hotel.
After six years as General Manager of the Imperial in Delhi, Pierre Jochem becomes Regional Vice President, Operations, for Raffles Asia Pacific, as well as General Manager of Raffles Singapore.
Also at Raffles International, Thomas Meier moves from Vice President Operations to Vice President Development.
The Minor Hotel Group has promoted Dillip Rajakarier to Chief Operating Officer of the hospitality and leisure division. He was previously the Chief Finance and Investment Officer for the company. He takes over from Michael Sagild who left the company to head the Stein Group.
Armando Kraenzlin has returned to the Maldives to the Four Seasons at Landaa Giraavaru as Regional Vice President and General Manager responsible for both resorts. He steps in to cover the sabbatical leave that Royal Rowe will start in February. Kraenzlin was previously the pre-opening General Manager in Landaa Giraavaru after serving as the General Manager at the Four Seasons Maldives at Kuda Huraa. He was most recently at the Four Seasons Mumbai, which he opened in May.
Vincent Hoogewijs has transferred as General Manager to the Four Seasons Mumbai. He was most recently the General Manager at the Four Seasons Mexico City. He joined the company as Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons Bangkok in 2004.
Gerald Glennon has been promoted at the Halekulani to the position of General Manager, succeeding Janis Clapoff. Glennon joined the hotel in 2001 as Executive Assistant Manager. He had previously been with the Sofitel Miami where he spent two years as Director of Food and Beverage before being appointed as the hotel's General Manager.
Francis Zimmerman has been appointed General Manager at the Bangkok Marriott Resort. He was previously the General Manager at Le Méridien Jakarta. He had previously served as Resident Manager at Le Royal Méridien, Le Méridien President in Bangkok and the Shangri-La Golden Flower Hotel in Xian.
The Shangri-La Guangzhou has named Sunny Paw General Manager. Paw was most recently serving as Vice President Sales and Marketing at Shangri-La Hotel and Resorts.
The Manava Suite Resort Tahiti has appointed Jean-Pierre Challeau General Manager. He was most recently with the Moorea Pearl Resort & Spa as General Manager. Alain Druet steps in to take over as General Manager at the Moorea Pearl Resort & Spa.
Stéphane Delamotte has been named General Manager of the St. Regis Bora Bora. He was most recently the General Manager of the Sunset Beach Resort in Saudi Arabia. He had previously held the positions of Resident Manager at the Belle Mare Plage and Beau Rivage in Mauritius and Director of Food and Beverage at the Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort & Spa in the Philippines.
Peter Gan has been appointed General Manager of the Sheraton Haikou Resort in China. He had previously served as General Manager for the Berjaya Times Square Hotel and Convention Center, the Berjaya Le Morne Beach Resort & Casino Mauritius and the Cinta Sayang Hotel and Golf Country Resort.
Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has appointed Frank Wen Area Manager and General Manager of the Shangri-La Dalian. He was most recently the General Manager of the Shangri-La Qingdao.
The Sofitel Wanda Ningbo has named Pat Phanekham General Manager. He was most recently with the Stamford Plaza Brisbane as General Manager.
The JW Marriott Medan Indonesia has appointed Joe Masi General Manager. He was most recently the Resident Manager at the JW Marriott Hong Kong.
Robin Edwards has been named Vice President of Operations for OCT Hotels and General Manager for the Seaview O·City Hotel Shenzhen. Since 2006, he had been the General Manager of the Crowne Plaza Sanya.
Clement Teo has been named General Manager of the M Hotel Singapore. He was most recently the General Manager of the Millennium Hongqiao Shanghai and previously the Hotel Manager of Grand Copthorne Waterfront Singapore.
Frank Grassmann has been named General Manager of the Evason Phuket & Six Senses Spa . He was most recently the Hotel Manager at the Dusit Thani Manila. He had previously managed the Dusit Thani, Bangkok and served as Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage at the Sheraton Maria Isabel in Mexico City.
David Ashworth has been named General Manager of the Six Senses Hideaway Samui. He was most recently the General Manager of the Imperial Samui.
Stephen Fewell is the new General Manager of the Swissôtel Kunshan. He was most recently at the Sofitel Suzhou as General Manager. He had previously served as General Manager at the Hotel Enterprize Melbourne, the Rendezvous International Hotel in Adelaide and at the Argyle International Hotel, in Shanghai.
Jérome Auvity is the new General Manager at the Colombo Hilton in Sri Lanka. He was most recently in the same role for the Sydney Hilton.
Paul-Pierre Hutton takes over from Auvity as General Manager of the Sydney Hilton. He was most recently serving as General Manager at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur.
Wibo Wilmink takes over from Hutton as General Manager of the Hilton Kuala Lumpur. He has been with Hilton since 1981, most recently serving as General Manager at the Hilton Curacao.
Cynthia O'Connell has joined the Komandoo Maldives Island Resort and Spa as Resort Manager. She had previously served as General Manager at the Tuscany Resort on Turks & Caicos.
The Novotel Citygate Hong Kong has appointed Peter Stolley Resident Manager. Stolley joined Accor in 2003 as Food and Beverage Director before being promoted to Executive Assistant Manager at the Novotel Atlantis Shanghai. He had previously served as Executive Assistant Manager of the Grand Mercure Hongqiao Shanghai.
Reto Klauser has transferred to the Shangri-La Manila Makati. He was most recently the General Manager at the Shangri-La Guangzhou.
Michael Hendler has joined the Shangri-La Hangzhou as General Manager. He was most recently in the same position at the Shangri-La Dalian. He had held previous management positions at the Shangri-La Bangkok, the Shangri-La Beijing and Shangri-La's Far Eastern Plaza Taipei and the Shangri-La Surabaya.
Rodolphe Gay has been named General Manager for the Palm Beach Club in Phuket. He was most recently the Resident Manager for the Alila Phuket and had previously served as Director of Food and Beverage at the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi in Chiang Mai.
Torsten Richter has been named General Manager of Le Méridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort in Thailand. He was previously the Hotel Manager for the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket.
Ivan Casadevall has been named General Manager of the Anantara Seminyak Resort & Spa, Bali . He was previously the General Manager of the Anantara Resort Hua Hin.
John Rice has been appointed General Manager of the China World Hotel, Beijing. He was previously the General Manager of the Pudong Shangri-La, Shanghai.
Peer Norsell has transferred as General Manager to the Hilton Bandung. He was most recently the Director of Operations at the Jeddah Hilton. He had previously overseen operations for the Hilton Al Ain and the Hilton Hua Hin Resort & Spa.
Puneet Singh has been appointed General Manager of the Kempinski Hotel Sanya. He was most recently the General Manager of the Zamani Zanzibar Kempinski in Tanzania.
William Schillinger has been appointed opening General Manager of the Rixos Premium Khao Lak, slated for a soft opening this month. He was most recently with the Royal Phuket Yacht Club, where he served as General Manager. Schillinger had previously held the General Manager's post at the World Trade Plaza Hotel Shijiazhuang.
Benjamin Rafter has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of Waikiki-based Aqua Hotels & Resorts. He began his career in the marketing and distribution department of Westin Hotels & Resorts and had previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of JetAway/Travelworm, and Chief Executive Officer of Get2Hawaii.
Stefan Tornau has relocated to Beijing as Resident Manager for the Grand Millennium. He was most recently the Executive Assistant Manager for the Mandarin Oriental in Singapore. Tornau had previously served as Regional Director, Food and Beverage, North Asia, for InterContinental Hotels Group and Director of Food and Beverage at the InterContinental Dubai.
Panorama Hospitality in Tokyo has appointed Miyuki Tani Chief Financial Officer, Asia Pacific. Tani was most recently the Chief Operating Officer for Unified Capital Japan.
The Conrad Shanghai has appointed Boris Blobel Director of Operations. He was previously the Director of Rooms at the Grand Hyatt Beijing.
The Swissôtel Kunshan has appointed Daniel Chen Director of Operations. Most recently, Chen was with the Mayfair Hotel in Shanghai as Director of Food and Beverage. He had previously served as Director of Food and Beverage at the Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport Hotel.
René van Camp has transferred to the InterContinental Shanghai as Executive Assistant Manager. He was most recently the Corporate Food and Beverage Director for InterContinental, Americas.
Sandra Watermann has moved to Phuket to join Amanpuri as Director of Food and Beverage. For the past year, she had been the Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the InterContinental Hong Kong. Watermann previously served in various food and beverage roles at the One&Only Reethi Rah, the Mandarin Oriental London, and the Peninsula Chicago.
Hunter Reynolds has been appointed Director of Food and Beverage at the Six Senses Destination Spa in Phuket. He was most recently at the Chiva Som Spa in Hua Hin in the same role.
The Four Seasons Koh Samui has appointed Pavana Kumcharean Director of Human Resources. She had previously served as Learning Manager at the Four Seasons Chiang Mai for five years.
The Radisson Plaza Hotel Sydney has promoted David Bayly to Director of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently serving as Associate Director of Sales and Marketing for the hotel.
Michelle Lee has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for the upcoming Capella Singapore. She was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Métropole Hanoi.
The Sofitel Wanda Ningbo has appointed Lily Zhou Executive Assistant Manager, Sales and Marketing. Zhou was most recently the Director of the International Sales Office, Greater China, for Accor Hospitality.
The Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket has appointed Edwardo Iswandi Director of Sales and Marketing. Iswandi was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Sofitel Krabi Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort.
Rose Kemna has been named Director of Sales for the Park Shore Waikiki. She was most recently a Senior Sales Manager at the Kahala Hotel & Resort.
The Regent Singapore has appointed Giovanni Speciale Executive Chef, replacing Claudio Rossi who moves to the Four Seasons Toronto. Speciale was most recently the Executive Sous Chef at the Four Seasons Shanghai after serving as Italian Chef for five years at the Four Seasons Bangkok.
Ashley Goddard has been named Executive Chef at the Hilton Singapore. He was most recently the Executive Chef of the Anassa Hotel Cyprus.
Milan Drager has left San Francisco to take on the role of Assistant Food and Beverage Director at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. He was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage at the Mandarin Oriental San Francisco. Drager previously held various culinary positions with the (former) Kahala Mandarin Oriental, the Ritz- Carlton Coconut Grove and the (former) Four Seasons Newport Beach.
David Laval has moved to the Conrad Maldives as Executive Chef. He was most recently the Executive Chef at the Mayfair London.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICANaim Maadad has been named Managing Director of Minor Spas Global & Hotels Middle East. He was most recently the Area Director for the Middle East Region for Six Senses Resorts And Spa.
Franck Sibille has been appointed General Manager of the soon to open Mandarin Oriental Jnan Rahma in Marrakech. He was previously the General Manager of the Park Hyatt Villa Magna in Madrid.
Pascal Gadet has been named General Manager of the Hotel Missoni Kuwait, scheduled to open late spring 2009. He was most recently the General Manager of the Radisson SAS Resort in El Quseir.
Silke Macke has been named General Manager at the Zamani Zanzibar Kempinski. Macke was most recently serving as Executive Assistant Manager at the Kempinski Ishtar Dead Sea.
Galal Hamdy is named General Manager of the Hilton Sharm Waterfalls Resort in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. He was previously the General Manager of the Hilton Borg El-Arab.
Costas Christou is Area Director of Engineering, Egypt for the Four Seasons Egypt. He was most recently in the same position overseeing the Four Seasons Nile Plaza after a stint with the Four Seasons Sharm El Sheikh.
Amanda Drummond has been named Regional Director of Marketing for the Middle East and Africa for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. She was previously the Marketing Communications Manager at the Sheraton Auckland Hotel & Towers.
The Grand Millennium Dubai has named Bernard Mehawech Director of Sales and Marketing. He was previously the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Holiday Inn Dubai Barsha.
Roger Kai is the new Rooms Division Manager at the Grand Millennium Dubai. Previously, he was the Front Office Manager for the Crowne Plaza Dubai.
Do you have news for us? Please do not hesitate to send us an e-mail at benoit@boutiquesearchfirm.comEdited by Susana Parks, Benoit Gateau-Cumin & Lisa LeroyThe Boutique Search Firmsusana@boutiquesearchfirm.combenoit@boutiquesearchfirm.comlisa@boutiquesearchfirm.com www.boutiquesearchfirm.com 
