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: July 2010.

THE AMERICAS

Isadore Sharp has decided to transition from his role as Chief Executive Officer while keeping his role as Chairman with Four Seasons Hotels and has appointed Kathleen Taylor President and Chief Executive Officer. Taylor joined Four Seasons in 1989 as Legal Counsel and has served as President and Chief Operating Officer since 2007.

Kerzner International has promoted Bonnie Biumi to President. She joined the company in 2007 and most recently served as Chief Financial Officer. She had previously held the position of Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, for Norwegian Cruise Lines.  

SOL Casinos has appointed Cornell graduate Mark Birtha President and Chief Development Officer. Most recently, he was Vice President of Development and Project Manager for Marriott International in Las Vegas.

Mark Stevenson has been named Vice President and Managing Director of the soon-to-open Trump Ocean Club, International Hotel & Tower in Panama City, scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2011.  He had previously overseen the Wyndham Rio Mar Beach Resort and Spa, the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas and the Ritz-Carlton San Juan Hotel, Spa & Casino.

Hilton Worldwide has named Michael Ford Vice President, Global Diversity. Ford was most recently President of the P.O.W.E.R. Foundation in Baltimore. He previously held a number of senior leadership roles at MBNA America Bank, and worked as a senior labor attorney for Marriott International.

Jennifer Silberman has been appointed Vice President, Corporate Responsibility, for Hilton Worldwide. She was most recently a Vice President for APCO.

Bernd Kuhlen has been named General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay. Since 2005, he had been at the Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort, Rose Hall, Jamaica, first as Hotel Manager and then as General Manager. He previously served as Director of Food and Beverage for the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans.

Kathy Faulk has joined the Millennium Biltmore in Los Angeles as General Manager. For the past three years, she had served as General Manager for the Hilton Checkers. At the Biltmore, she replaces Steven Parker.

Catherine Mrowiec has been named General Manager of the JW Marriott Chicago, slated to open in September. Mrowiec had held the position of General Manager of the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel for past eight years.

Mickael Damelincourt is the General Manager of the Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto, which is slated to open in early 2011. Since 2007, he had served as Executive Assistant Manager of the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago.

Chris Harrington has been appointed General Manager of the Lodge at Stillwater, managed by LaTour Hotels and Resorts and General Manager of Tapestry Resorts' owner rental program at Shadow Ridge Resort & Conference Center, both in Park City, Utah. He was previously General Manager of the Kona Reef Resort and Director of Travel Services for Travel Escapes Club.

David Kohlasch has been named General Manager of the Lansdowne Resort. He most recently worked with Flik Conference Center Management and had served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.

The Pyramid Hotel Group has promoted Morty Valldejuli to Area Managing Director. He will remain General Manager of the Maison Dupuy Hotel in New Orleans, a position he has held since April 2008. He had previously served as Chief Operating Officer of River Ranch Hospitality.

Patrick Brophy has moved two miles north to take over as General Manager of the Postcard Inn on St. Pete Beach in Florida. He was most recently with Loews Hotels as Hotel Manager for the Don CeSar Beach Resort.

Tony Mira has been appointed General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort, Rose Hall, Jamaica. He joined the company in 2006 as General Manager of the former Ritz-Carlton Dearborn.
 
Donald Ponniah has been named President and General Manager at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa. He was most recently serving as General Manager at the Hilton Glendale and previously oversaw La Torretta del Lago Resort & Spa in Montgomery, Texas.

The Hilton Pittsburgh has named Jim Sega General Manager. He had previously served as General Manager at the South Seas Resort in Captiva Island.

Joseph Magliarditi has been named Executive Vice President, Gaming, for the Morgans Hotel Group and President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Magliarditi was most recently serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for the M Resort and Marnell Sher Gaming. At the Hard Rock, he succeeds Randy Kwasniewski who passed away in March.

James Franklin has been appointed General Manager for the Marenas Resort in Miami. He was previously the General Manager for the Point Orlando Resort.

Stuart Newmark has been named General Manager of the Westin Lake Mary, Orlando North. Most recently, he was with Obaluxe Hotel Advisors as a Managing Director and previously served as Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Grand Bohemian Hotel.

The Waterford Hotel Group has appointed Brian Guernier Executive Vice President, Development. He had previously served as President for LBG Hospitality Advisors, Regional Vice President with Marriott International, and Senior Vice President with Eagle Hospitality.

The GEM Hotel SoHo has appointed Jaidev Gupte General Manager. He was most recently serving as Front Office Manager at the Holiday Inn Wall Street, formerly the Hotel Reserve.

Joshua Fluhr has moved to Bethesda, joining Marriott Hotels as Senior Director of Operations, Lifestyle Brands. For the past three years, he had been in Los Angeles as Vice President of Operations for SBE Hotels. His previous positions include Director of Operations for aloft Hotels and Director of Operations and Acting General Manager for the W Union Square.

Rosewood's Hotel Georgia in Vancouver has named Steve Halliday Managing Director. He had previously served as Vice President and General Manager of the Pan Pacific Vancouver for more than ten years. Altogether, Halliday sent over twenty six years with Pan Pacific.

Pan Pacific Hotels Group has appointed Todd Wynne-Parry Vice-President, Development – North America.  He was most recently the Director of Development for Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific with InterContinental.

Lon Yaeger has joined the Purple Sage Ranch in Banderas, Texas, as General Manager. For the past three years, he had been running the Garrett Creek Ranch. He previously spent eight years with Interstate Hotels & Resorts, serving as General Manager for the Houston Marriott West Loop and the Hilton Arlington Hotel.

John Peart has been named General Manager of the Hotel Minneapolis. He was previously the Director of Operations at the Hilton San Diego Mission Valley and for Le Méridien San Francisco.

Kelly Martin Cuff has been appointed General Manager of the Marriott Fullerton. He was previously the Director of Operations at the Crowne Plaza San Antonio and the Hilton Indianapolis North.

The Renaissance Fort Lauderdale has named Ryan Sistare General Manager. He is the former Hotel Manager at the Embassy Suites Orlando Downtown.  

El Conquistador Resort in Puerto Rico has named Dermot Connolly Managing Director. Connolly was most recently the General Manager at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort & Spa.

Provenance Hotels has named Bashar Wali President. He joined the company in 2006 after serving as Vice President of Grand Heritage Hotels International.

Costas Vafopoulos has joined Libra Hospitality Group as Chief Executive Officer, based in New York City. He had recently retired from Ayala Hotels where he was serving as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. He had previously served five years with Guoman International Hotels & Resorts in Kuala Lumpur as Chief Operating Officer of their hotel group.

Giovanni Beretta has transferred as Hotel Manager to the Four Seasons Miami. The Lausanne graduate was most recently at the Four Seasons San Francisco as Hotel Manager. He had previously spent over thirteen years with InterContinental, most recently as Hotel Manager at the InterContinental San Juan Resort and Casino and as Director of Food and Beverage at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins.

Switching places with Beretta is Tulio Hochkoeppler as Hotel Manager for the Four Seasons San Francisco. He was most recently in Beretta's new position as Hotel Manager of the Four Seasons Miami. The Cornell graduate has been with Four Seasons since 1997 and has held various managerial positions in the Rooms Division at Four Seasons New York, Four Seasons Los Angeles, Four Seasons Buenos Aires and Four Seasons Carmelo.

Richard Sorensen will be transferring from the Peninsula New York to the Peninsula Chicago as Hotel Manager. He had joined Peninsula in March 2007 following fourteen years with Four Seasons. In Chicago, he takes over from Mark Choon who gets promoted to the Peninsula Bangkok as Hotel Manager.

Sonja Vodusek will be the new Hotel Manager at the Peninsula New York. She was most recently serving as Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons Prague. She also served as Director of Rooms at the Four Seasons Washington, D.C. and the Four Seasons Houston.

The Riviera Palm Springs has named John Trudeau Director of Operations. He was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage at the Hotel Viking in Newport, Rhode Island.

Andrés Sanhueza has joined the Hotel Matilda in San Miguel de Allende as Director of Operations. He was previously the Director of Food and Beverage for the Casa de Sierra Nevada in San Miguel and Valle Nevado in Chile, before taking on his most recent role overseeing restaurants for the W Santiago.

Alex Novo has moved to the W Times Square as Director of Operations. He was most recently at the Gramercy Park Hotel as Hotel Manager. He had previously served as pre-opening General Manager of the Sonesta Sole Hotel in Sunny Isles and Executive Assistant Manager at the Loews Regency.

Lars Danneberg has moved to open the JW Marriott Chicago as Director of Operations. He was most recently the Executive Assistant Manager Food and Beverage for the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas.

The Fairmont Chateau Whistler has named Sunny Joseph Director of Operations. He was most recently at the Fairmont Dubai as Director of Food and Beverage.

Hard Rock International has named Nelson Parker Head of Development, Americas. Most recently, Parker served as Vice President of Development for Foxwoods Development Company.

Roxanne Heimlich has transferred as Director of Finance to the Four Seasons Denver, slated to open this fall. She was previously the Director of Finance for the Four Seasons Jackson Hole and the Four Seasons Palo Alto.

Jerome Arribas has moved to join the finance team at the Four Seasons Vail, due to open later this year. He was most recently the Assistant Director of Finance at the Four Seasons Seychelles.

John Greene has been named Director of Residences and Rooms for the Four Seasons Denver. He most recently held a similar role for the Four Seasons Jackson Hole.

Luc Akellino has joined the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa as Director of Food and Beverage, taking over from Kevin McDonough. He was previously serving as Corporate Vice President Food and Beverage for Cannery Casino Resorts in Las Vegas. He had served in food and beverage positions for the Rio Suite Hotel & Casino, Caesar's Palace and the Peninsula Beverly Hills.

Ricardo Mendes has joined the Canyon Ranch Hotel and Spa in Miami as Director of Food and Beverage. He was most recently with Hakkasan Miami (at the Fontainebleau) as Assistant General Manager. He had previously served as Director of Food and Beverage for Little Palm Island and Food and Beverage Manager for the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach.

Maxime de La Grange Sury has been appointed Director of Food and Beverage at the InterContinental Chicago. He had previously served as Director of Food and Beverage for the InterContinental Mark Hopkins and as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the InterContinental Boston.

Puerto Rico's St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort has named Gerry Farrulla Director of Food and Beverage. Farrulla was most recently the Director of Catering and Group Services at El San Juan Hotel & Casino.

Jim Cathcart has been promoted to Director of Human Resources at the Four Seasons Westlake. He joined the hotel in pre-opening as Assistant Director of Human Resources. He had previously served in various roles for the Four Seasons Biltmore Santa Barbara.

Daniel Espino has joined the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas as Vice President People. He had previously held human resource positions for Crunch Fitness and Morgans Hotel Group.

Ellie Dahl has returned to the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills as Director of Human Resources. She started her Four Seasons career at the hotel twenty four years ago as part of the opening team, before moving in 1997 to her current role with the (former) Four Seasons Aviara as Director of Human Resources.

Patti Fisher is moving up the coast to the Four Seasons San Francisco as Director of Human Resources. She was most recently in the same role at the Four Seasons Los Angeles. She had previously served as Assistant Director of Human Resources at the Beverly Wilshire and as Human Resources Director at the Four Seasons Lana'i, handling both the Lodge at Koele and the Manele Bay Resort.

William Thomas has been named Director of Human Resources for the Four Seasons Denver. Previously, he served as Director of Human Resources at the Four Seasons Jackson Hole and for the Four Seasons Westlake Village.

The Inverness Hotel has named Linda McGill Director of Human Resources. She was most recently the Director of Talent Acquisition at Dallas-based Aspen Rain Associates. She had previously served as Vice President of Human Resources at the Stonebridge Companies in Denver and as Corporate Director of Human Resources at RockResorts and Vail Resorts Lodging.

The Preferred Hotel Group has appointed Lindsey Ueberroth President. She was most recently the Executive Vice President for the company. She takes over from Gail Ueberroth, who will continue her role as Chief Marketing Officer and assume the title of Vice Chair.

Benchmark Hospitality has appointed Barry Anderson Regional Vice President Sales and Marketing. Anderson had previously served as Vice President Sales and Marketing for Ginn Hotels and Resorts and, for over a decade, served as Vice President Sales and Marketing for the Peabody Hotel Group.

Lisa Bailey has been named Director of Marketing for the Four Seasons Denver. For the past four years, she had been with the Four Seasons Westlake Village as Director of Sales and Marketing and previously served as Director of Marketing for the Four Seasons Chicago.

Rob Sapp is moving up the coast to join the Beverly Wilshire as Director of Marketing. Sapp joined Four Seasons twenty seven years ago at the then Mandalay Four Seasons Dallas. He spent eleven years as Director of Marketing at the Four Seasons Santa Barbara and the past eleven years as Director of Marketing at the former Four Seasons Aviara .

The Four Seasons Westlake Village has named Stuart Burdette Director of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently the Director of Sales at the former Four Seasons Aviara.

The Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa has named Tim Bugas Director of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently with Primland as opening Director of Sales and Marketing. He previously spent seven years at the Hershey Entertainment and Resort Company, serving as Managing Director of Resort Sales for four years before being promoted to Vice President of Sales.

Tony Aslanian has returned as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hilton Pittsburgh. He had previously served in the same position from 2003 to 2006 before overseeing sales and marketing for the Hilton at Walt Disney World and the Peabody Orlando. 

The Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa has hired Jason Heath as Director of Sales and Marketing. He had previously held sales and marketing positions for the Westin Atlanta North and the Westin Resort Hilton Head Island.

The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort has named Angélica Rodil Director of Sales and Marketing. She was most recently at the Canyon Ranch Hotel and Spa in Miami as Director of Sales and Marketing and Public Relations.

Curt Ewald has joined the Beverly Hilton as Director of Marketing. He had previously served as Senior Vice President - Operations Resources for Wyndham International and Senior Vice President, Asia-Pacific, based in Singapore for Starwood Hotels & Resorts. His first exposure to Hilton was as Director of Sales at the Palmer House Hilton in 1988 and 1989. At the Beverly Hilton, he takes the position left vacant by Dee Doak.

William Parris has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for both the Court New York and the Tuscany New York, two former W hotels recently acquired by the London-based St. Giles Hotel Group. Parris previously served as Director of Sales and Marketing for the Milford Plaza, Le Marquis Hotel (now the Hotel Chandler) and the Avalon New York City.

The Me Cabo has appointed Juan Carlos González as Director of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently the Director of Travel Industry Sales at the Regent Palms Turks & Caicos.

Sarah Kiepe has joined Seattle's Edgewater Hotel as Director of Sales and Marketing. She was most recently the Director of Sales for the Salish Lodge & Spa.

The JW Marriott Chicago has named Steve Conklin Director of Sales and Marketing. This is a return to Chicago for Conklin who previously served as Sales Manager for the Marriott Chicago Downtown. More recently, he had held sales positions for the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa and the JW Marriott Camelback Inn Resort and Spa.

Rosie Bailey Stevens has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for the Crowne Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia. She was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Holiday Inn Select Capitol Atlanta.

Antoinette Van den Berg has been promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing for the Aruba Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino. Van den Berg joined the resort in 2005 as a Senior Sales Manager and was most recently the Director of Sales.

The Westin Lake Mary, Orlando North has appointed Fiona O'Connor Director of Sales and Marketing. She was previously with the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport as Associate Director of Sales.

James Keaveny has been named Director of Sales and Marketing of the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, Texas. He was most recently the Vice President of Sales with the Hunt Conference Group.

AMResorts has appointed Violeta Sales as Corporate Director of Groups. Most recently, she was Corporate Director of Groups for Sol Melia Hotels & Resorts.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts has promoted Sean McCurdy to Vice President-Strategic Accounts and Global Sales. He joined the company in 2003 as Director of Global Travel Industry Sales for the company's corporate housing division and most recently served as Global Director of Worldwide Sales.

Christina Crowley has been named Associate Director of Sales for the Westin Lake Mary, Orlando North. Most recently, she was the Director of Sales for the Hilton Garden Inn Lake Mary. 

Joe Vanden Heuvel has been appointed Associate Director of Sales for the Hyatt Regency Houston. Previously, he had served as National Sales Manager for the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville.

Marissa Duffy has been named Entertainment Account Director for the W Hotels of New York. She was most recently in a similar role for the Ritz-Carlton Boston Common and the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia.

Carey Shindler has joined the Enchantment Resort in Sedona, as Sales Manager. Previously she served as Sales Manager for the Boulders Resort and the Hermosa Inn, both in Arizona.

Dana Berry has been named Director of Public Relations at the Four Seasons Denver. She had previously served as Director of Public Relations for Magnolia Hotels.

Aqua Hotels & Resorts has appointed Angela Byun Reservations Manager. She was most recently with the Four Seasons L?na'i at Manele Bay as Front Office Manager and Director of Housekeeping.

The Four Seasons Vail has named Jason Harrison Executive Chef. He was most recently Executive Banquet Chef with the Bellagio in Las Vegas and had held similar roles for the Jasper Park Lodge and the Ritz-Carlton Atlanta.

Didier Pouzier has been promoted to Executive Chef at the Mandarin Oriental Miami. He joined the resort in 2000 as opening Executive Sous Chef.

The Fiesta Americana Grand Chapultepec in Mexico City has appointed Jose Bossuet Martinez Executive Chef. He was most recently the Executive Chef for Karisma Hotels and previously served as Head Chef to former Mexican President Vicente Fox.

Maurizio Ferrarese has been appointed Executive Chef at the Four Seasons Houston. He joined the company in 2000 at the Four Seasons Canary Wharf and had served in culinary positions for the (former) Four Seasons Aviara, the Four Seasons Hualalai and the Four Seasons Budapest. He was most recently the Executive Sous Chef at the Four Seasons Firenze.

Stephen Marshall has moved to Oregon to join the Allison Inn and Spa as Executive Chef for Jory. He was most recently serving as Executive Chef for the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas.

Simon Purvis has transferred as Executive Chef to the Four Seasons Denver. He has been with Four Seasons for over two decades and had recently held culinary positions for the Four Seasons Jackson Hole, the Four Seasons Scottsdale, and the Four Seasons Singapore.

The Hard Rock Hotel San Diego has named Jon Eyer Executive Chef. He was most recently the Executive Sous Chef for the Westin La Paloma Resort and Spa in Tucson. He previously served in culinary roles for the Westin Resort Hilton Head Island and the Hyatt Regency Monterey.

The Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club has named Jesse Souza Executive Chef. He was most recently the Executive Chef for La Playa Beach & Golf Resort in Naples. He had previously overseen the kitchens for the Grove Isle Hotel & Spa in Coconut Grove and Little Palm Island Resort & Spa in the Florida Keys. 
 
Ewart Wardhaugh has been named Executive Chef for the Clift San Francisco. He was most recently with Sandy Lane in Barbados as Assistant Executive Chef. He had previously served as Executive Sous Chef for Wynn Las Vegas and Executive Chef for the Blue Zoo Restaurant in the Walt Disney Dolphin Hotel.

Franck Steigerwald is the new Executive Chef at the St. Regis New York. He comes form the Taj Boston and was previously with Ritz-Carlton.

Christopher Eagle has joined the Chatham Bars Inn on Cape Cod as Chef de Cuisine. He had previously served as Executive Chef for Cielo by Angela Hartnett in the Boca Raton Resort and for the Raffles L'Ermitage Beverly Hills.

The Four Seasons San Francisco has named Alexander Le Motte Executive Sous Chef at Seasons restaurant. He had previously served as Sous Chef in Las Vegas for Daniel Boulud Brasserie and had worked in the kitchens of Restaurant Daniel, the French Laundry, and Café Boulud.

Bryan Fyer has moved to Las Vegas to join the Cosmopolitan as Executive Sous Chef. For the past two years, he had been at the Mondrian Miami as Executive Chef for Asia de Cuba. He had previously served in culinary positions at the Ridges Resort and Club and the Boca Raton Resort and Club.

Chuck Kazmer has transferred as Executive Sous Chef to the Ritz-Carlton Chicago. He was most recently in a similar role for sister property the Four Seasons Houston.

Jeffrey Wurtz has been named Pastry Chef at Seasons restaurant in the Four Seasons San Francisco. He was previously at Adour Alain Ducasse, where he held the position as Pastry Sous Chef for three years.

Jeffrey Moon has joined the Chatham Bars Inn as Sushi Chef.  He was most recently with Sysco Metro after serving as Executive Chef with Todai Japanese Seafood Restaurant in New York.

Bryan Feigenbaum has joined the Four Seasons Scottsdale as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage. He was most recently with the Four Seasons San Francisco as Director of Banquets.

Daniel Hescheles has joined the Richard Sandoval Restaurant Group as General Manager for Zengo in Santa Monica due to open in August in the new Santa Monica Place mall. He was most recently running Akasha in Culver City. He had previously held the position of General Manager at Dolce Enoteca e Ristorante in Reno, and N9NE Steakhouse outside of Palm Springs.

Alice Bouman has transferred as Director of Rooms to the Four Seasons St. Louis. She was most recently in the same position at the Four Seasons Santa Barbara. She had previously served in housekeeping positions for the Four Seasons London and at the Four Seasons Houston.  

Sara Jones has been named Spa Director of Sense at the Rosewood Mayakoba.  She was most recently the Director of Spas for the Chill Spa brand in Dubai.

The Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa has named Damien Craft Spa Director for their Spa at Sawgrass. He held various positions with Bacara Resort and Spa and the Spa Grande at the Grand Wailea Resort.

EUROPE

Marco Nijhof has been named Chief Operating Officer for Malta-based Corinthia Hotels International. He was most recently the Senior Vice President Asset Management for Al-Aziziah United General Trading.

Daniel Steinke, who, among other assignments, was the Executive Assistant Manager Food and Beverage at the Conrad Singapore, is now the Vice President of Operations, Russia, for InterContinental.

Laurent Garrido has joined the Hotel Royal Evian as General Manager. For the past three years, he had been the General Manager for the Sheraton Hotel Tahiti Resort & Spa - now the Hilton Tahiti. His previous resort management experience includes overseeing the Dinarobin Hotel Golf & Spa and Les Pavillons Hotel, both on Mauritius.

The Romeo Hotel, in the Gulf of Naples, has promoted Antonio Deperte to General Manager. He was previously the hotel's Marketing Manager.

Sandeep Walia has been promoted to General Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Moscow, where he had been the Hotel Manager since 2007. Walia had originally joined Ritz-Carlton as Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage at the Ritz-Carlton Sharm El Sheik. In Moscow, he replaces Oliver Eller.

Oliver Eller is the new General Manager of the Hotel Adlon Kempinksi in Berlin. He sent the past five years as General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Moscow, following a stint as General manager of the Ritz-Carlton Wolfsburg.

Carla Milos has been promoted to General Manager of the Terme di Saturnia Spa & Golf Resort in Saturnia, Italy. She was most recently serving as Hotel Director. She had previously held the title of General Manager at Rome's Grand Hotel Via Veneto, Rome's Hotel Majestic and the Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi. 

The Dorchester Collection has appointed Marie-Laure Akdag Hotel Manager of its new London hotel, 45 Park Lane, slated to open January 2011. Akdag was most recently the Director of Business Development and Marketing for Jumeirah's Burj Al Arab in Dubai. She had previously served as Director of Sales and Marketing for the Amstel InterContinental, the Grand Sofitel Demeure and the Hotel de Crillon in Paris.

Jason Adams has been appointed General Manager of the recently refurbished Arden Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon, which is due to reopen in August. He was most recently with the Atlantic Hotel and Ocean Restaurant in Jersey and had previously held positions at the Royal Crescent Hotel in Bath, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons and Seaham Hall.

Anton Kilayko has joined Barcelona-based Franklyn Hotels and Resorts (formerly the Stein Group) as Vice President, Marketing and Development. He joins from Eastern & Oriental Express and the Road to Mandalay, where he was the Director of Sales and Marketing since early 2007, following a stint as Public Relations Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Millennia.

The Lainston House Hotel has named David Connell General Manager. For the past eight years, he was at sister property Pennyhill Park Hotel & Spa as Deputy General Manager.

Asaad Farag has moved to Istanbul as Corporate Director of Operations for Dedeman Hotels & Resorts. He was most recently in Russia at the Corinthia Nevskij Palace in St. Petersburg as General Manager.

Ivan Drinkwater has been promoted to the position of Director or Finance at the Four Seasons Hampshire. He joined the property in 2006 as Assistant Director of Finance.

Lee Kelly has moved to the Four Seasons Canary Wharf as Director of Food and Beverage. He was most recently with the Four Seasons Hampshire as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage.

Gerrie Pitt will be rejoining Four Seasons to oversee public relations for the soon-to-reopen Four Seasons London. For the past eight years, she was the Director of Public Relations and Communications for the Ritz London. She had previously spent eight years with Four Seasons as Director of Public Relations with the Four Seasons Dublin and the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. In addition, Pitt spent ten years as Director of Public Relations for the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong.

Guoman and Thistle Hotels has promoted Edward Pinchard to the role of Sales Director. He was most recently serving as Thistle Hotels' Head of Sales UK. He had previously been the Director of Sales and Marketing for the InterContinental Barclay New York.

The Four Seasons Canary Wharf has promoted Nicolas Westen to Director of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently the Director of Sales for the hotel, after joining the property in 2002.

The Sofitel London St. James hotel has appointed Vincent Ménager as Executive Chef. He was most recently part of the pre-opening team for the Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit and previously served as Sous Chef with Gaby Restaurant at the Sofitel New York.

Kevin Chambenoit has moved to Le Bristol Paris as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage. He was most recently in the same role for the yet-to-open Shangri-La Paris.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Octavio Gamarra has left Dusit Hotels and Resorts to become a Consultant and Asset Manager for Citibank in Asia. He had joined Dusit in 2007 as Senior Vice President, following seventeen years with Ritz-Carlton. He is a graduate of the Ecole Hotelière de Lausanne.

Gerhard Kropp takes over from Octavio Gamarra as Vice President Operations for Dusit Hotels and Resorts. He was previously the General Manager and Regional Vice President for the Dusit Hotel Nikko Manila.

Still with Dusit, Sam-Erik Ruttman has been promoted to Vice President Development. Ruttmam originally joined Dusit in 2000 as General Manager of the Dusit Laguna Phuket.

Cornell graduate John Berndt has moved to Indonesia to join the Bali Nirwana Pan Pacific Resort as General Manager. He had previously served as President of the Cipriani Hotel Resort and Residences in Las Vegas (which never opened), General Manager and Area Director for Marco Polo Hotels of Hong Kong, Vice President of Operations for Harrah's Hotel and Casino in Chicago. Berdnt also spent nine years with Ritz-Carlton, notably as General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay and the Ritz-Carlton Seoul.

Keith Allardice has been named General Manager of the Conrad Hong Kong, a property where he had been the Director of Sales and Marketing and Resident Manager, prior to becoming the General Manager of the Conrad London and the Conrad Tokyo.

Daniel Arbenz has been promoted from the position of General Manager at the Crowne Plaza Sun Palace, in Beijing, to that of General Manager of the InterContinental Beichen in Beijing.

The Pan Pacific Hotels Group has announced the appointment of Dean Schreiber as Senior Vice President of Operations, based in Singapore. He was previously serving with the company as Group Operations Leader from 2004 to 2007, before moving to Dubai as Vice President Operations with hospitality group Essque.

Titiya Chooto is the new General Manager of the Four Seasons Chiang Mai and the Tented Camp, Golden Triangle, taking over from Jim Kostecky. She was most recently the Hotel Manager with the Four Seasons Bangkok and previously served as Resort Manager for the Chiang Mai resort.

John Webb, a former General Manager of the JW Marriott Shanghai, has been appointed General Manager of the Langham Shanghai.

Charles Morris, the former General Manager of the Peninsula Bangkok, is the new General Manager of the Leela Palace Kempinski in Delhi.

Robert McConnell has been named General Manager of the Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach. He was most recently the General Manager of two Outrigger affiliate properties, the Ohana Honolulu Airport Hotel and Best Western The Plaza Hotel.

Achim Brueckner, who had been the General Manager of the Kempinski Suzhou, in China, has been transferred to the Kempinski Guiyang, also in China.

Harald Feurstein has been appointed General Manager of the Hilton Pattaya. He comes from the Hilton Cebu Resort and Spa, in the Philippines. Feurstein also served as Director of Business Development at the Beijing Hilton.

Brice Péan, who has served with Hilton in Cairo as Director of Operations, in Adelaide as Director of Development and in Fiji as General Manager, has been appointed General Manager of the Hilton Hongqioa in Shanghai.

Aqua Hotels & Resorts has named Scott Pauli Area General Manager with primary oversight of the Park Shore Waikiki. He has been in Hawaii's lodging industry since 1991, working in various management positions at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, the Four Seasons Hualalai and, most recently, as General Manager of the Maui Lu Resort in Kihei.

Benedict Ng has been named General Manager of the M Hotel Singapore. He was most recently at the Copthorne King's Hotel Singapore as General Manager.

Gilberto Mayen has transferred as General Manager to the InterContinenal Huizhou Resort. He was most recently with the Crowne Plaza Shenyang Parkview as General Manager.

Louis Maged has been appointed General Manager of the Sheraton Xiamen Hotel. He had previously served as Director of Rooms for the Cairo Sheraton and General Manager of the Sheraton Urumqi and Le Méridien She Shan Shanghai.

Alexander Chapman has been named General Manager of Australia's Outrigger Little Hastings Street Resort & Spa, set to open in August. He was most recently in Canberra where he held the position of General Manager at the Saville Park Suites, later rebranded to Mantra on Northbourne.

Godwin Cheng has been appointed General Manager of the Wyndham Grand Plaza Royale Palace Chengdu. He had previously served as General Manager of the Beijing Marriott City Wall Hotel, the Everly Resort Hotel Malacca and the Holiday Inn Changzhou Wujin.

Indra Budiman has been named opening General Manager of the Hansar Samui. Budiman was most recently the Resident Manager at the Hotel de la Paix in Cambodia.

The Anantara Si Kao Resort & Spa has named Morten Junior General Manager. He was most recently the General Manager of the Holiday Inn Resort Batam. Previous roles include Resort Manager for the Kuredu Island Resort and the One&Only Kanuhura, both in the Maldives.

Lee Weng Wai has been appointed General Manager of the Marco Polo Xiamen. He was most recently the General Manager of the Harbour Plaza Kunming and Harbour Plaza Chongqing.

Nigel Edwards has been appointed General Manager of the Hotel Equatorial Shanghai. Most recently, he supervised the refurbishment and re-branding of the Copthorne Hotel Qingdao.

Cornell graduate Marc Handl has moved to the Peninsula Tokyo as Hotel Manager. For the past ten years, he had been with Hyatt, serving in food and beverage and marketing management roles for a variety of hotels such as the Grand Hyatt Seoul, the Park Hyatt Chicago, the Park Hyatt Paris and the Grand Hyatt Sao Paulo.

Berinder Thind has been named Director of Finance at the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo. He had spent the past eleven years with Hyatt Hotels, most recently as Director of Finance at the Hyatt Regency Kyoto.

Warren Hochreiter has been named Area Director of Finance at the Four Seasons Sydney.  He has been with the company for eleven years, most recently in a similar role for the Four Seasons Resorts Maldives.

David Collas is moving to join the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong as Executive Assistant Manager Food and Beverage. He was until now the Executive Assistant Manager for the Ritz London. He had previously served as Director of Food and Beverage for the Hotel Martinez in Cannes.

Hildegard Anzenberger, a former Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Macau, is now in a similar position at Fairmont's Peace Hotel in Shanghai. In addition to Macau, her stints with Four Seasons included Berlin, Bangkok and Sydney.

Joseph Matar has transferred to the Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa Resort in Singapore as Director of Food and Beverage. He was most recently at the Shangri-La Abu Dhabi in the same position.

Jerome Colson has joined the Ayana Resort and Spa in Bali as Executive Assistant Manager, Food and Beverage. He was most recently in the same position for the Ritz-Carlton Shanghai.

Aqua Hotels & Resorts has appointed Sanford Nojima as Human Resources Director. He was most recently the Regional Director of Human Resources, Asia/Pacific, at Hilton Grand Vacations Company in Waikiki.

The Keauhou Beach Resort has appointed Deaner Snively to the newly created position of Sales Manager, Culture and Education. He had previously held sales positions with Apple Vacations, Pleasant Holidays, Aloha Airlines and helped open the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau's regional office in San Francisco.

Jørgen Christensen has returned to Asia to serve as pre-opening Executive Assistant Manager Sales and Marketing for the Langham Xintiandi, slated to open in Shanghai later this year. He was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, after overseeing sales and marketing at the Langham Place in Beijing and the Langham Hong Kong.

Clement Koh has joined GHM as Vice President, Sales & Marketing. He is a former Director of Marketing of the Marriott Singapore.

The Conrad Bali has appointed Samuel Gacos Director of Sales and Marketing. He previously spent ten years with Shangri-La before joining the Hilton Cebu Resort & Spa as Director of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently Cluster Director of Sales and Marketing for GHM, responsible for the Legian Bali, the Club at the Legian in Seminyak and the Chedi Club at Tanah Gajah Ubud.

Michele Brumblay has moved to the position of Director of Catering and Conference Services at the Makena Beach & Golf Resort, Maui. She was most recently the Director of Sales for the resort. She had previously served as Director of Catering for the Stanford Court Renaissance Hotel and as Director of Catering and Conference Services at the Renaissance Wailea Beach Resort.

Geri Marino is the new Director of Event Management for the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa at Ko Olina. Marino most recently worked at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa for nearly nine years, serving as both Director of Event Planning and Senior Event Manager.

Nicolas Boutin has joined the Conrad Maldives as Executive Chef. For the past five years, he had been with the Mandarin Oriental Group as Executive Sous Chef of the Mandarin Oriental Landmark in Hong Kong, before taking on his most recent role as Executive Chef for the Mandarin Oriental Boston.

Thomas Baehner transfers as Executive Chef from the Grand Hyatt Seoul to the Grand Hyatt Tokyo, where he replaces Josef Budde.

Cyril Arrouard has been appointed Executive Chef of the Ritz-Carlton Beijing, Financial Street. He had previously served as Executive Chef at Le Royal Méridien Abu Dhabi and Executive Sous Chef at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel Oman and the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta.

Hervé Pennequin has joined the Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong as Head Sommelier. He had previously served as Lead Sommelier for Lucas Carton in Paris, Amphycles Paris, and Hostellerie de Levernois in Beaune, France. In the United States, Pennequin was the Wine Director at Nikolai's Roof at the Atlanta Hilton and Tower.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

Christopher Knable has been named Vice President, Asset Management, for Kingdom Hotel Investments in Dubai. Previous positions include Managing Director for the Regent Wall Street, General Manager at the Regency and Executive Assistant Manager at the Peninsula New York.

Thomas Tapken has been named Managing Director of Dubai's City Seasons Group of Hotels. He comes from Mövenpick, where he served as General Manager in Dubai and Doha.

Siegfried Nierhaus has been appointed Managing Director for Atlas Hospitality, based in Dubai. Nierhaus was most recently with the Rezidor Hotel Group, where he had spent the last two years as the region's Director of Future Openings.

Mark Deere has been named General Manager of the Arjaan by Rotana in Dubai. He was most recently with the Hilton Hanoi Opera as General Manager.

Stephan Kaminski, a former General Manager of Kempinski's Grand Hotel Europe, Emirates Palace and Vierjahreszeiten, is now the General Manager of the Kempinski City Center in Manama, Bahrain.

Orient-Express has named Warren Stone General Manager of their three safari camps -- Khwai River Lodge, Savute Elephant Camp and Eagle Island Camp. Stone was most recently the Operations Manager for All Terrain Services in Ghana.

Wayne Duberly has been named General Manager of the Desert Palm, Dubai. He had previously served as General Manager at the Duxton Hotel in Vietnam, the Nam Hai and the Montpelier Plantation Inn in the West Indies.

Shaun Wheeler is the new General Manager of the Table Bay hotel in Cape Town. He was previously the General Manager of the InterContinental Johannesburg and InterContinental Taba Heights Resort in Egypt.

Antony Treston was named General Manager of The Address Dubai Marina. He was most recently the General Manager for the Aman New Delhi. He had previously served as General Manager of the Mount Juliet Conrad in Ireland and the Conrad Centennial in Singapore.

Frédéric Perrin has been named Resident Manager of the One&Only The Palm slated to open in October. The Lausanne graduate was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Maldives at Kuda Huraa. 

The Bonnington Jumeirah Lakes Towers has promoted Martin Kubler to Hotel Manager. He had joined the hotel in 2007 as Director of Operations. He had previously worked with Accor Hotels at the Dubai World Trade Centre and served as Rooms Division Manager for the Ramada Plaza Qatar.

The Radisson Blu Hotel Muscat has appointed Michael Kuhn Director of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently in the same position for the Radisson Blu Hotel, Amsterdam.

Hans Lentz has been named Executive Chef for the Sheraton Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. For the past ten years, he had been with InterContinental as Executive Chef with the InterContinental Chicago and Executive Sous Chef for the InterContinental Miami.

The Four Seasons Beirut has named Giancarlo Gottardo Executive Chef. He had previously served in the kitchens at the Four Seasons Istanbul at Sultanahmet, the Four Seasons Damascus and the Four Seasons Cairo at The First Residence.

Romain Arnaud is now at the Kasbah Tamadot, Richard Branson's Moroccon retreat, as Food and Beverage Manager. He was most recently with Tastings, the full service-catering arm of Payard in New York. He had previously served as Assistant Culinary Attaché for the New York Consulat Général de France.

Do you have news for us? Please do not hesitate to send us an e-mail at benoit@boutiquesearchfirm.com. Edited by Susana Parks, Benoit Gateau-Cumin & Lisa Leroy

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