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 2009.

THE AMERICAS

Jean-Marc Jalbert has been promoted with Sofitel Americas to the position of Vice-President of Operations, Process and Quality, the Americas. His most recent role with the company was as Corporate Director of Food and Beverage.

Brian Young has been named General Manager of Bermuda's Tucker's Point. For the past two years, Young had served as Vice President-Operations and General Manager for Sea Island Resorts. Prior to that, he was a Vice President Operations for Rosewood Hotels and Resorts. Young is a seasoned Caribbean resort specialist who managed Caneel Bay, Cap Juluca and opened the Four Seasons Nevis as Resort Manager.

James Carroll has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Crestline Hotels & Resorts. He was formerly the Chief Financial Officer for Barceló Crestline Corporation after joining the company in 2004 from various financial positions with Dell, Inc.

RockResorts has appointed Bryan Austin Vice President and Area General Manager for the Arrabelle at Vail Square and the Lodge at Vail. Austin joined RockResorts in January 2008 as General Manager of the Lodge at Vail. He had previously served as President of resort operations for the PGA Village at Coyote Springs and the Resort at Red Hawk.

Clifford Atkinson has joined the Mandarin Oriental San Francisco as General Manager. He was most recently the General Manager at the Chambers Hotel in Minneapolis. This is a return to Mandarin Oriental for Atkinson after serving seven years in San Francisco and New York in revenue and rooms management positions.

Wolfgang Jonas has been promoted to General Manager at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows in Santa Monica.  He was most recently serving as the Director of Operations for the hotel, and takes over for Ellis O'Connor who now holds a corporate position within the hotel ownership group, MSD Capital. In addition to the Fairmont Miramar, MSD Capital is the owner of the Four Seasons Maui Wailea , the Four Seasons Hualalai and Kona Village.

David Kurland has joined the soon-to-open St. Regis Resort Bahia Beach in Puerto Rico as General Manager. For the past two years, he had been in Miami with Fortune International as Vice President of Hospitality. He had previously been the opening General Manager of Acqualina Resort for Rosewood.

Alan Federer has joined the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain in Tucson as General Manager, taking over from Michael McMahon, who has left the company. Federer was previously serving with Ritz-Carlton at Powerscourt in Ireland.

Cornell graduate Phil Baxter has been appointed General Manager at the Hotel Maya in Long Beach for Joie de Vivre Hospitality. Following fourteen years with Tishman, he had most recently served as Chief Operating officer of Hardisty, Baxter and Associates.

Amy Finsilver has returned to XV Beacon in Boston as General Manager. She had previously served at the hotel as Assistant General Manager ten years ago before moving into special events for the Boston Library and Sports Club/LA. At XV Beacon, she replaces William "Chip" Sander, now the General Manager of the newly opened Seagate Hotel & Spa in Delray Beach.

Pablo Migoya has returned to Thompson Hotels to run Gild Hall on Wall Street. He had previously served as the Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for the group before serving as General Manager at the Sheraton Suites on the Hudson and, most recently, the SoHo and Tribeca Grand Hotels in Manhattan.

Andreas Pade has been named General Manager at Mustique's Cotton House. He had previously been at Grace Bay Club as Executive Assistant Manager.

Kevin Schwab has been named Vice President and General Manager of the Aruba Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino as well as Marriott's Aruba Ocean Club and Marriott's Aruba Surf Club, both Marriott Vacation Club properties. He has been with Marriott for more than 25 years including positions as General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton San Juan and the JW Marriott Mexico City.

The Tropicana Las Vegas has appointed Thomas McCartney President. McCartney was most recently serving as President and Chief Executive Officer of Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Previously, he spent twelve years with MGM Mirage in senior leadership roles.

The Magnolia Hotel Omaha has appointed James Finnegan General Manager. Most recently, Finnegan served as Area General Manager for LQ Management in Omaha, overseeing operations of two La Quinta hotels in the Omaha market.

Stephan Nicolas is the new General Manager at the Lodge at Vail. He had previously held the title of General Manager at Keystone Resort and Resident Manager at the Equinox Resort and Spa.

The New Yorker Hotel has promoted Sylvia Lima to General Manager. She has been with the hotel for the past fourteen years as Controller and, most recently, as Chief Financial Officer.

Allan Kronberg has been named General Manager for the Tropicana Express and the River Palms Resort and Casino in Laughlin. He was most recently the General Manager and Director of Hospitality for four years at Treasure Island Resort and Casino in Minnesota.

The Dakota Mountain Lodge & Golden Door Spa in Park City has appointed Steve Lindburg General Manager. He was most recently the General Manager of the Hilton Salt Lake City Center.

David Rijos has joined the Shores Resort & Spa in Daytona as General Manager. He had previously served as General Manager for the Embassy Suites Dallas Park Central, and the Doubletree Guest Suites Hotel Nashville.

Tropicana Entertainment has named Tim Maland General Manager of the Mont Bleu Resort, Spa and Casino in Lake Tahoe. He comes from the Reno Hilton, where he served as President. Previously, he had served as General Manager of the Santa Fe Casino and Hotel and Chief Financial Officer of Caesar's Palace, both in Las Vegas.

Dallas-based Prism Hotels & Resorts has named David Martin Senior Vice President of Operations. Martin most recently headed the hotel and franchised operations for Wyndham Hotel and Resorts. He had previously served as Vice President of Operations at Kimpton.

Miguel Andres Hernandez, who had been the General Manager of Isabel Goldsmith's exclusive Las Alamandas resort in Costalagre, is now the General Manager of the Garza Blanca Preserve, Resort and Spa near Puerto Vallarta.

Nicolas Pesty has transferred to Chicago as General Manager for the Sofitel Water Tower replacing Patrick Filatre. He had most recently been with the Sofitel Philadelphia as General Manager.

Zack Zahran has been promoted to General Manager for the New York Helmsley Hotel. For the past three years he had been the Hotel Manager at the Helmsley Park Lane. He had previously overseen the operations at Gordon Ramsay at the London and the Peninsula, both in New York.

David Curell has returned to San Francisco to join the Clift as General Manager. He had previously been with Joie de Vivre Hotels, where he was Regional Vice President for Hotel Operations and served as Managing Director for the opening of the Hotel Vitale in 2005. He was most recently the General Manager of the Viceroy Santa Monica. At the Clift, Curell replaces Simon Mais.

Cornell man Christopher Bates has joined the Hotel Fauchère in Pennsylvania as General Manager. For the past three years he had been at the Inn at Dos Brisas, most recently as General Manager.

Walid Sfeir has moved back on property to take over as General Manager for the Raleigh in Miami. He was most recently the Vice President/Development-Lodging for the Setai Group. He had previously served as Vice President of Food and Beverage and General Manager for the Shore Club.

Ricardo Ramirez has joined Starwood Capital's Hacienda in Cabo San Lucas as General Manager. He was previously with Four Seasons for 13 years, serving in rooms management positions at the Four Seasons Las Vegas, the Four Seasons Westlake Village and the Four Seasons Costa Rica.

At the Walt Disney Company, Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs will be switching jobs with Jay Rasulo, Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman. Staggs had been in his job for the past eleven years while Rasulo had been in his current job since 2005. Both men have been with Disney twenty years or more.

Julian Leon-Velarde has been named General Manager for the Casa Andina Private Collection Miraflores, formerly the Cesar's Hotel in Lima. For the past year and a half, he was opening the Millennium Tower San Francisco and previously spent five years with Four Seasons Miami as Director of Residences.

Michael McGilligan has been named General Manager of the Hilton Lincoln Centre in Dallas. For the past three years, he had been General Manager of the Embassy Suites La Jolla.

David Lopez has been named General Manager of the Cassa NYC Hotel and Residences. He was most recently the General Manager at the San Juan Water and Beach Club. He had previously served as General Manager of Hotel Mela and the Rogers Williams Hotel, both in New York City.

The Radisson Plaza Hotel Minneapolis has appointed Tom Mason General Manager. He had previously served as General Manager for the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis and the Hyatt Whitney before joining the Turnstone Group in Minneapolis.

Rolando Miravete has been named Managing Director of the Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit. He was most recently managing the Grand Bay Hotel in Manzanillo.
 
Pierre Yves Bonin Floret has been appointed General Manager of Casa Velas Hotel Boutique in Puerto Vallarta. He joins the resort from Dreams Villa Magna in Riviera Nayarit where he was Manager. Previously, he was General Manager of the Hacienda Hotel, Spa and Beach Club and Resident Manager of Summit Hotel's Buenaventura Grand Hotel & Spa, both in Puerto Vallarta.

Vanessa Williams has been named Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Sales, Marketing and Hotel Operations at Sandy Lane. She previously held a very similar post at Raffles L'Ermitage Beverly Hills. Williams also was the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong as well as, more briefly, the InterContinental Hong Kong.

Jonathan Brownlee has been promoted to Hotel Manager at the Arrabelle at Vail Square. He was most recently down the street as Director of Rooms at the Lodge at Vail.

Michaël Chiche has joined Las Alcobas in Mexico City as Hotel Manager. For the past two years he had been in Portugal at the Aquapura Douro Valley, a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World. He had previously served in various rooms positions for the Hilton Tel Aviv, and Paraiso de la Bonita.

Sean Dell'Orto has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer for Crestline Hotels & Resorts. Dell'Orto was previously the Vice President and Treasurer of Barcelo Crestline Corporation. He joined Barcelo Crestline Corporation in 1998 as a financial analyst for Crestline Capital Corporation.

Dolce Hotels and Resorts has appointed Barry Goldstein Chief Revenue Officer succeeding Peter Strebel. For the last five years, Goldstein was with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as Vice President, Global Sales Strategy, Technology and Operations.

Carlson Hotels Worldwide has named Michael Hutchins Vice President of Development for Radisson Hotels & Resorts for the Eastern United States and Canada. His previous positions include Regional Director of Hotel Growth for Hilton Hotel, Vice President of Franchise Sales and Development at Wyndham Hotel Group and Director of Franchise Sales and Hotel Development at Cendant.

Wolfgang Von Wieser has joined Beyond Hospitality in Las Vegas as Director of Culinary. Until recently, he spent five years at the Bellagio as Executive Chef. Previously, he had spent seventeen years with Four Seasons as Executive Chef at the Four Seasons Las Vegas, the Four Seasons Berlin, the Regent Melbourne and the Four Seasons Vancouver.

Oliver Wharton has joined Beyond Hospitality in Las Vegas as Affiliate. He was most recently a Partner at Society in the Wynn Las Vegas. He had previously served in management positions at Fix in the Bellagio, Michael Mina Restaurant Group and Jean-Georges Restaurant Group.

Winfred Van Workum has joined the Jumeirah Essex House as Director of Food and Beverage, taking over from Marco Burlimann . For the past year, Van Workum had been overseeing food and beverage at Sandy Lane on Barbados.

Albert Charbonneau has moved to the Capital with the Ritz-Carlton Washington, D.C. in charge of the WestEnd Bistro by Eric Ripert. He was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage for Raffles L'Ermitage in Beverly Hills. He had previously overseen food and beverage at the Hollywood Roosevelt and Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica.

Martin Lowery has joined the Apollo Group in Scottsdale as Chief Learning Officer. For the past fourteen years, he had been with Hilton Hotels, most recently as Senior Vice President Organizational Development and Chief Learning Officer.

Nichole DiBenedetto has been promoted to Director, Global Public Relations, for Preferred Hotel Group, based in New York. She joined the group last year as Director, Public Relations for their brand, Historic Hotels of America. She had previously served as Account Director for Middleton & Gendron Brand Communications.

Kim Kessler steps in as Director of Public Relations for the Four Seasons Los Angeles, taking over for Sarah Cairns who has moved to Singapore. Kessler was most recently the Director of Public Relations at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua. She had previously served as Director of Public Relations at the former Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel and as Account Supervisor for public relations firm Murphy O'Brien.

John Egelhoff has joined the Viceroy Hotel Group as Director of Sales and Marketing for the new Viceroy Snowmass. He was previously the Director of Sales and Marketing for Twin Farms in Vermont, the Little Nell in Aspen and Auberge du Soleil in Napa Valley.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts has named Jim Curtis Area Director of Sales and Marketing, Caribbean. He will concurrently manage sales and marketing for the Westin St. John Resort & Villas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Curtis was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa and the Diplomat Country Club in Hollywood, Florida.

Rob Henderson has returned as head of sales and marketing for the Vail Cascade Resort. He had previously served in various sales positions at the resort thirteen years ago. His most recent sales position was for the Viceroy in Snowmass Village.

Samantha Steckbeck has been appointed Vice President – Leisure Sales, The Americas, by Oberoi. She joined following close to seven years as Director of Sales, the Americas, for Orient Express. She also spent four years with Four Seasons.

Alisha Waid has joined Associated Luxury Hotels International as Vice President of Sales, Mid-Atlantic Region in Washington, D.C. Waid was most recently the Director of Sales in the Mid-Atlantic region for Hilton's Luxury Brands.

Leah Corradino has been appointed Director of Marketing at Joie de Vivre's Hotel Maya in Long Beach. She was previously with Hilton Hotels as global brand marketing manager for Waldorf Astoria and the Waldorf Astoria Collection.

Wyndham has named Jennifer Marchetti Vice President, Marketing and Innovation. She has been with the company for the past eight years most recently serving as Senior Director of Strategy, Loyalty and Direct Marketing.

Cristina Romero-Peri has been named Director of Sales for the Americas of Vila Vita Parc and Herdade dos Grous in Portugal, based in Southern California. She was most recently at the newly opened Capella Pedregal Resort in Cabo San Lucas as Director of Sales and Marketing. She had previously served as Director of Sales and Marketing for Las Ventanas al Paraíso, the One&Only Palmilla and as Area Director of Sales, Mexico for the Kor Group.

Tracey Anne Latkovic has been appointed Vice President of Sales and Marketing and Revenue Development at the PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens. She was most recently Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Miraval Holding.

Diane Wesley has been named Director of Marketing at the Clift in San Francisco. She was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at Joie de Vivre's Hotel Vitale in San Francisco.

Cheri Fairchild has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for the Sheraton Annapolis. She was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Asheville, North Carolina.

Linda Clark has joined the Sorrel River Ranch in Colorado as Director of Sales. She was previously with the Resort at Paws Up in Montana as Director of Leisure Sales. She had previously served in various sales positions for the Bernardus Lodge and Quail Lodge in Carmel Valley.

Robb Rybicki has been named Director of Catering for the Eaglewood Resort & Spa. He was previously the Director of Catering and Sales for Illinois Beach Resort and Conference Center.

Bruno Egea has joined Celebrity Cruises as Executive Chef. He was most recently at the Fairmont Newport Beach as Executive Chef. His previous culinary stints include opening the Paris Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and Sous Chef positions for the Four Seasons Nevis, the Four Seasons Los Angeles and L'Orangerie Restaurant.

Sean Eastwood has joined La Valencia in La Jolla as Executive Chef. He had previously served in culinary positions for Little Palm Island, Twin Farms, and owned his own restaurant outside of Chicago, Isabella's Estiatorio.

Jody Denton is back in Los Angeles after many years, as Chef/Partner in the Blue Plate Oysterette in Santa Monica, which is due to grow to several locations in the near future. Denton had been the Executive Chef of the short lived Eureka by Wolfgang Puck, in the early nineties. He was the Executive Chef and CEO of San Francisco's Lulu and its sister restaurants Azie and Zibbibo.

Régis Lacombe has been named Executive Chef and Food and Beverage Director at the Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit. He had previously served as Executive Chef of the Four Seasons Mexico City.

Juan Pablo Loza has been named Executive Chef at Jumby Bay. He hails from sister Rosewood property Las Ventanas al Paraíso in Los Cabos. 

Philippe Trosch has joined the Sofitel Philadelphia as Executive Chef. He was previously in St. Louis overseeing Lumière. He had previously held various culinary positions with the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach, the Loews Ventana Resort, and the Ritz-Carlton San Juan Hotel & Casino.

Clément Gelas has been named Executive Chef for the Canyons' Grand Summit Hotel in Park City. He has been in Park City since 2005, serving as Executive Chef at Wahso, and, most recently, at Talisker's Tuhaye Table Cafe.

Patrick Newman has been appointed Executive Chef at the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin. He was most recently the Executive Sous Chef at the InterContinental Houston at the Galleria. He had previously served as Chef de Cuisine at the Hilton America Houston, Executive Sous Chef at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, and Executive Sous Chef at the Mills House Hotel in Charleston, South Carolina.

The Sonesta Maho on St. Maarten has named Iwan Pennings Executive Chef. He was most recently overseeing the kitchen for Cotton House on Mustique.

Steven Rojas has joined the Jonathan Club in Los Angeles as Chef de Cuisine. He was most recently at the Rancho Bernardo Inn, overseeing El Bizcocho as Chef de Cuisine. He had previously served in various culinary positions at Saddle Peak Lodge, and Patina Downtown.

The Andaz West Hollywood has named Daniel Dulor Restaurant Manager at RH. He was most recently the restaurant manager at Les Orchidées at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme.

Jorge Moran has moved up the road in Los Cabos to Club 96 at Villas del Mar as General Manager. For the past five years he had been at Esperanza as Director of Food and Beverage. He had previously overseen food and beverage at the Real InterContinental Costa Rica and served as Resident Manager at the Mayan Palace Puerto Peñasco.

Russell Craney has returned to the Vail Cascade Resort as Assistant General Manager. Craney began his career with the Vail Cascade in 1994 achieving his most recent position at the resort as Director of Food and Beverage. He was most recently the General Manager of the Osprey at Beaver Creek.

Julia Nietes-Quinan has joined the Ritz-Carlton Boston as Assistant Director of Rooms. She had previously served in the same position for the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead before moving over as Director of Operations for the Ritz hotels in New Orleans.

Jérome Jeannest has been named Chef Concierge at the Palazzo and Venetian in Las Vegas. He had most recently been the Chef Concierge for the InterContinental Los Angeles. Previous concierge stints include the St. Regis Los Angeles, and the Hotel de Crillon, Paris.

EUROPE 

The Dorchester Collection has appointed Zoe Jenkins General Manager for Coworth Park, slated to open next summer. For the past six months, she had been overseeing the pre-opening project and launch plans as Director of Operations. She has been with the Dorchester Collection for fifteen years and had previously served in banqueting management positions for the InterContinental Hyde Park, the Hyde Park Hotel Knightsbridge and the Park Lane Hotel in Piccadilly.

Concorde Hotels & Resorts has appointed Alessandro Cresta General Manager of the Hotel du Louvre in Paris. Cresta most recently served as Assistant General Manager of the Hotel Martinez in Cannes. Prior to that, he held the position of General Manager of the Boscolo Group's Hotel Carlo IV in Prague.

Fabrice Martin has been named General Manager at the Radisson Blu Hotel Le Metropolitan Paris Eiffel. He has been with Rezidor for the past seven years and worked in various positions at the Radisson Blu Champs-Elysées where he was most recently the Hotel Manager.

Eugenio Rigo comes in to oversee the Relais Santa Croce in Florence. He had previously served as General Manager at the Hotel Métropole in Venice and the Hotel Baglioni due Torri Verona.

Dominic Bachofen has been appointed General Manager at the Carlton St. Moritz. He was previously serving as General Manager at the Hôtel de Paris in Monaco.

Marco Milocco has been appointed General Manager at the Regina Hotel Baglioni in Rome. He had previously served as General Manager and Project Coordinator for the Castiglion del Bosco Hotel in Tuscany.

Sabine Dorn has been named Cluster General Manager overseeing both the Sheraton Arabellapark and Westin Grand in Munich. She had previously been at the Hilton Dusseldorf as General Manager.

Gianni van Daalen moves to take over for Stephan Interthal as interim General Manager of the Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin. He was most recently the Kempinski Group's Regional President Europe. This is the second time for van Daalen to be appointed General Manager of Hotel Adlon Kempinski – the hotel was opened under his leadership in 1997.

Pierre Stacher has joined the Istria Kempinski Adriatic as General Manager. For the past two years, he had been with the Swissôtel Sydney as General Manager after serving in the same position at the Swissôtel Zurich.

Baglioni Hotels has named Maurizio D'Este Vice President, Sales and Revenue and continue in his role as General Manager of the Luna Hotel Baglioni in Venice.

Concorde Hotels & Resorts has appointed Gitte Harder-Pecqueux Hotel Manager at the Hotel Martinez in Cannes. Harder-Pecqueux began her career at Concorde Hotels & Resorts in 2003 and has held positions as Sales Director, Commercial and Marketing Director and Director of Business Development at Concorde Hotels throughout the South of France. Prior to that, she worked at a variety of luxury hotels in Nice and at the SBM Monaco.

John Jennings will be rejoining the Four Seasons Dublin as Director of Finance to take over from Neil Gribben who is leaving the company. Jennings first joined the Four Seasons Dublin in 2000 in Food and Beverage operations before moving to Finance. He had served as Assistant Director of Finance for the hotel before moving to open the Ritz-Carlton Dublin as Assistant Director of Finance. He was most recently the Director of Finance at D4 Hotels in Ballsbridge.

The Hotel Martinez in Cannes has named Cédric Cauvelier Director of Food and Beverage. He comes from the Shangri-La Tokyo, where he was Director of Food and Beverage. Previously, he was Associate Director of Food and Beverage at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo.

Also at the Hotel Martinez, Marie-Christine Buenaobra has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing. Buenaobra was previously at the Palais de la Méditerranée in Nice and was also a member of the opening team at the Four Seasons Resort Provence at Terre Blanche.

Brown's Hotel in London has appointed Friederike Lockau Director of Sales and Marketing. For the past three years, she had been at the Four Seasons Prague as Director of Sales and Marketing. 

Jodi Masterson has been named Director of Sales and Marketing at the Augustine in Prague. She was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Lowry Hotel in Manchester.

Peter Neto has been promoted at Brown's Hotel in London to Rooms Division Manager. He joined the hotel in 2007 as Front of House Manager.

Jean Francois Piège, the recently departed Executive Chef of the Hotel de Crillon, will be opening, in partnership with Thierry Costes (of Hotel Costes fame), the seventeen-room Hotel Thoumieux, located in its landmark Parisian namesake. The property will feature a 100-seat brasserie and a 20-seat fine dining restaurant, as well as room service. Prior to becoming the Executive Chef at the Crillon in 2003, Piége held the same post at the Plaza-Athénée under Alain Ducasse.

And speaking of the Crillon and its chef, Christopher Hache will be taking over from Piège in January 2010. The 28-year-old comes form La Grande Cascade in Paris, where he was the Executive Sous Chef. He also previously worked alongside Eric Briffard at Les Elysées du Vernet, Alain Senderens at Lucas Carton and Eric Fréchon at the Hotel Bristol.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Royal Rowe has returned after a short sabbatical as General Manager of the Four Seasons Macau, replacing Antoine Chahwan who recently transferred to the Four Seasons Singapore. Rowe was most recently the General Manager of the Four Seasons at Landaa Giraavaru. He had previously served as General Manager at the Four Seasons Bali at Sayan and at the Four Seasons Langkawi.

Anthony Marrinan has been appointed General Manager of the InterContinental Sanya Resort. He had previously served as Regional General Manager for Forte Hotels in Oxford and for Mirvac Hotels & Resorts in Australia.

Melvin Lim has been appointed General Manager at the Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur. He was most recently serving as General Manager for the Orchard Hotel Singapore.

Ruprecht Schmitz takes over from Lim with his promotion to General Manager of the Orchard Hotel Singapore. He was most recently serving as Executive Assistant Manager for the hotel.

Stephan Interthal has moved as General Manager of the Kempinski Beijing Lufthansa Center. He had been the General Manager of the Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin for the past three years.

Paul Lee has been appointed General Manager of the Four Points by Sheraton Taicang. He was most recently the General Manager of the Four Points by Sheraton Changshu.

Stephen Alexander has been named General Manager of the Regal Jinfeng Hotel Shanghai. Alexander was most recently the General Manager at the Howard Johnson Plaza Shanghai for the past three years.

Sigi Bierbaumer has been named General Manager of the Shangri-La Guilin, which is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2010. For the past two years, he had been serving as General Manager at the Traders Hotel, Yangon.

Shangri-La has appointed Matthias Roeke General Manager of the China World Summit Wing, Beijing. Roeke has been with Shangri-La for six years, most recently as General Manager of the Shangri-La Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa in Kota Kinabalu.

Christophe Pairaud has been appointed General Manager of Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport. Prior to his current role, Pairaud had worked for almost six years on mainland China, holding various executive positions in Sofitel Wanda Chengdu, Novotel Hefei, and Novotel Wuhan.

Aqua Hotels & Resorts has named Gary Rohanna Director of Operations, based in Waikiki. Rohanna was most recently the General Manager of the Loews Beverly Hills Hotel. 

Magdy Anis has been appointed as Complex General Manager overseeing the St. Regis Lhasa Resort and the Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa. He was most recently the General Manager of the Sheraton Xi'an Hotel.

Carsten Schieck has been promoted to the newly created position of Regional General Manager in charge of the Hilton properties in the Maldives and Sri Lanka. He had been the General Manager and Island Chief of the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island since 2002. 

Pascal Prigent moves to the Maldives with Universal Resorts to oversee both the Velassaru Resort and the Kurumba Resort. He had previously been on Mauritius since 1998, overseeing the Anahita Residences and Villas, the Beau Rivage and the Paradis Hotel.

Klaus Christandl has transferred as General Manager to the Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket. He was most recently in Egypt as General Manager at the Sheraton Miramar Resort in El Gouna.

E.J. MacEwan has returned as General Manager of the Pan Pacific Sonargaon in India. He had previously served in the same role from 1997 to 1999, before serving as General Manager at the Pan Pacific Kuala Lumpur and the Sari Pan Pacific Jakarta.

Damian O'Donnell has moved to the Shangri-La Suzhou as Resident Manager. For the past three years, he had been in the same position at the Shangri-La Fijian Resort. He had previously served as Resort Manager at the Evason Hideaway & Six Senses Spa at Ana Mandara and Rooms Division Manager at Hayman Island.

J. Walter Hess has moved to the Maldives as Executive Assistant Manager for the One&Only Reethi Rah. For the past two years, he had been at the Four Seasons Nevis as Director of Residences. He had previously served in various rooms positions for the Four Seasons Costa Rica, the Four Seasons Washington, D.C. and the Four Seasons Philadelphia.

David Li has returned to Four Seasons as Director of Human Resources for the Four Seasons Guangzhou. He had previously spent a few years in the early nineties at the Four Seasons Vancouver. Li was most recently at the Venetian in Macau as Director of Human Resources.

Kaiulani Damaso is the Fairmont Orchid's new Director of Learning and Hawaiian Cultural Affairs. She was most recently the Director of Recreation and Hawaiian Cultural Affairs for the resort after joining in 1999 as a Human Resources Manager.

Graham Wilson has been promoted to Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing of Accor Asia Pacific, taking over from Ray Stone who is retiring after thirteen years with the company. Wilson has been with the company since 2003, most recently serving as Vice President Marketing for Accor Asia Pacific.

Marriott has named Paul Rushton Cluster Director of Marketing for its four properties in Jakarta, namely the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place, the JW Marriott Hotel Jakarta and the Mayflower – Jakarta, Marriott Executive Apartments. Rushton is replacing Jacqueline Kennedy who is now at the Portman Ritz-Carlton, Shanghai as Director of Sales and Marketing. Rushton was most recently the Director of Marketing at the JW Marriott Dubai.  

Jeff Crowe has transferred to the Four Seasons Guangzhou as Director of Marketing. Crowe, a Cornell graduate, joined Four Seasons over three years ago at the Four Seasons Sydney as Director of Marketing. He was previously based in Thailand as Regional Director of Development for Small Luxury Hotels of the World and as Director of Marketing for Marriott International Thailand.

Rick Nagaoka has been promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing for the Fairmont Orchid. He was most recently the Director of Group Sales for the resort. He had previously served as Director of Sales and Marketing at Mauna Kea.

Albert Lafuente has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for the Saujana and the Club at the Saujana in Kuala Lumpur. He was most recently in the position of Director of Business Development for Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts.

Preferred Hotel Group has appointed of Peggy Yip Director, Marketing - Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong. She had previously served with HVS and Horwath HTL.

Kaori Yamaguchi has joined Preferred Hotel Group as Director, Global Sales – Japan, based in Tokyo. She was most recently serving as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo.

Juan Pablo Garcia-Neveu has been named Director of Group Sales at the Fairmont Kea Lani. He was formerly an Associate Director of Sales for the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa.

Lucy Wan has been appointed as Director of Sales overseeing the St. Regis Lhasa Resort and Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa. She has been in various roles at the Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa since 2007.

The Fairmont Orchid has named Stephan Miller Director of Catering and Conference Services. Miller joins the resort from the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa where he held the position of Director of Catering and Conference Services. He also had held the title of convention services manager at the Fairmont San Francisco and the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

The Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows has appointed Sandy Tuason Executive Chef. He was most recently with the Four Seasons Nevis and had previously served as Executive Sous Chef at the Four Seasons New York.

Angelina at the Hotel Metropole Hanoi has recruited Egidio Latorraca. He was most recently the Chef de Cuisine at Portofino in the Venetian Macao.

The Huka Lodge in New Zealand has named Michel Louws Executive Chef. He had previously served as Head Chef of t-Veerhuis, located in The Netherlands.

The Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows has appointed James Oritaga Executive Sous Chef. Ortiaga was most recently cooking at L'Atelier de Joel Rubuchon in New York City.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

Jonathan Soper has transferred as General Manager to the Mövenpick Hotel & Casino Tangier. He was most recently the General Manager of the Mövenpick Resort and Spa Sharm El Sheik. He had previously served as General Manager of the Ceylan InterContinental Istanbul and the InterContinental Bucharest.

Hossein Vetry is now the new Area General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Qatar, adding to his current duties as General Manager of the Sharq Village and Spa. He joined the company at the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco in 1992 as Director of Outlets and had recently served as Hotel Manager at the Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai.

Dominique Colliat has been appointed as Managing Director for Accor's Sofitel Europe, Middle East and Africa division. Colliat began her career at Accor managing a succession of hotels in the Caribbean, mainland France and the UK.

Simeon Olle has been named General Manager of the Address Downtown Burj Dubai . He had spent the last two decades with Hyatt, most recently as General Manager of the Park Hyatt Beijing and the Park Hyatt Seoul.

The Aloft Abu Dhabi has appointed Rainer Weinberg Director of Operations. He had previously served as Front Office Manager at the Sheraton Frankfurt and the St. Regis Mardavall Resort, before taking on the role of Director of Rooms at the Sheraton La Caleta Resort and Spa, Tenerife.

Michael Jacobi has been named General Manager of the Radisson Blu Hotel Muscat. He was most recently the Executive Assistant Manager at the Radisson Blu Hotel Kuwait.

Felix Murillo has returned to Istanbul to take over from Livio Faverio as Hotel Manager for the Four Seasons at the Bosphorus. Previously, Murillo was among the opening team of the Four Seasons at Sultanahmet. He then moved on to the Ritz-Carlton Chicago, the Four Seasons Canary Wharf and the Four Seasons Miami. His most recent positions include serving as Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons Mexico City and at the Four Seasons Buenos Aires.

Matthias Al-Amiry has been named Hotel Manager for Rosewood's Al Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh. He was most recently the Resident Manager for the Peninsula Manila.

Media One Hotel in Dubai has appointed Sébastien Noat Operations Manager. He had previously served as Director of Food and Beverage at the Shangri-La Dubai and at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort in Monaco.

Rémy Cadière has moved to the InterContinental Nairobi as Director of Food and Beverage. For the past two years, he had been in the same position at the InterContinental Cozumel. He had previously overseen food and beverage for the Hotel Kura Hulanda and the InterContinental San Juan.

Walid Mehiri has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for the Radisson Blu Residence, Dubai Marina. He was most recently a Regional Director of Sales and Marketing with Swiss-Belhotel International in Dubai.

Orazio Simoncini has moved to the Four Seasons Cairo as Executive Chef. He was most recently the Executive Chef at the Four Seasons Mexico City and previously at the Villa San Michele in Florence.

Martin Dell has been appointed Director of Restaurants at the Jordan Valley Marriott Resort and Spa. He was previously the Restaurants Manager at the JW Marriott Hong Kong.

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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