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: September 2019

THE AMERICAS

James Henderson has been appointed Chief Executive Officer at Exclusive Resorts, taking over from Cathy Ross, who will retire in October and remain involved as advisor to the company. Henderson was most recently President of Commercial Operations for XOJET.

Sébastien Silvestri has joined Daniel Boulud’s Dinex Group as Chief Executive Officer, taking over from Brett Traussi. Silvestri was most recently with sbe’s Disruptive Group. He was previously overseeing food and beverage for the Venetian and the Palazzo both part of the Las Vegas Sands.

Liam Doyle has been promoted to Area Vice President with Marriott International, overseeing Marriott Luxury Western Region, taking over from Chris Gabaldon. Doyle is the former General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain, and the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin.

The Kimpton Glover Park Hotel has appointed Phillip Blane to General Manager. He was most recently serving as a consultant at Next Door Dining.

Tony Marco has been named General Manager of the Hyatt House Chicago/West Loop-Fulton Market. He was most recently the General Manager of the Hilton Garden Inn Chicago North Shore/Evanston.

The Whitley has appointed Shah Adil as Managing Director. He is the former General Manager of the Westin Atlanta Perimeter North.

Rolf Lippuner has been appointed General Manager of the Wymara Resort & Villas Turks and Caicos. He is the former General Manager of the Four Seasons Riyadh.

Robert Festinger has been appointed Vice President of Hotel Operations at the Mondrian South Beach. Most recently, Festinger served as General Manager of YVE.

Matthew Whiteheart has been appointed General Manager of the Unscripted Durham. He was most recently the Director of Rooms at The Umstead Hotel and Spa.

Matthew Hoffman has been named pre-opening Director of Residences of the Four Seasons Private Residences San Francisco. He is the former Resort Manager of the Four Seasons Residence Club Carlsbad.

Maureen Fleetwood has been named Regional Director of Operations for Sonesta ES Suites. She was most recently the Dual General Manager of the Sonesta ES Suites Chicago – Lombard and Sonesta ES Suites Chicago – Schaumburg.

The Hyatt Regency Austin has named Jeff Donahoe General Manager. He has been with the company since 2002, most recently as Regional Director of Sales and Marketing. Donahoe is the former Director of Sales and Marketing of the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa, the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport, and the Hyatt on Capitol Square.

Allen Highfield has been appointed General Manager of the Montage Healdsburg. He has been the General Manager of the Montage Deer Valley for the past five years and previously spent thirteen years with Ritz-Carlton, including General Manager positions in San Francisco, Lake Tahoe and Georgetown.

Tim Nardi has been appointed General Manager of the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa. He is the former Vice President Hotel Operations of Menin Hospitality and Managing Director of 1 Hotel & Homes South Beach.

Maxence Bonnamain has been promoted to General Manager of the Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort. He had joined the resort in 2014 as Resort Manager and is the former General Manager of the Hilton Panama and Waldorf Astoria Panama.

Marco Tabet has been appointed General Manager of the Conrad Punta de Mita. He is the former General Manager of the Hilton Los Cabos and the Hilton Lima Miraflores.

Keith Hill has joined the Sorrel River Ranch Resort & Spa as General Manager. He was most recently the General Manager of the Timber Cove Inn.

Greg Bradley is the opening General Manager of the 
Graduate Hotel Nashville. He is the former General Manager of
 The Edwin Hotel in Chattanooga.

Ahmed Yacout has been promoted to Hotel Manager with his move to the Four Seasons Las Vegas. He was most recently serving as Director of Rooms of the Four Seasons Austin.

The Conrad New York Downtown has appointed Juan Gonzalez Izquierdo as Hotel Manager. Izquierdo was most recently Director of Operations at The Carlyle.

Antoine Winkler has moved as Hotel Manager to the Fairmont Century Plaza. He was most recently in the same role at the Sofitel Los Angeles. Winkler is the former Director of Operations of the Sofitel Chicago Magnificent Mile and Director of Operations of the Sofitel Marrakech.



Rickie Pares has joined The Estate Yountville as Hotel Manager. Pares was most recently the Director of Rooms at the Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans.

Luiz Abdo has been named Resident Manager of the Shangri-La Hotel Toronto. Abdo was most recently the Executive Assistant Manager – Rooms,
 at the Rosewood Hong Kong.

Ryan Onofrey has joined the Mayer Corporation as Vice President of Finance. He was most recently the Director of Asset Management 
of the
 Irvine Company. Onofrey is the former Financial Controller of the Hotel Jerome.

Jim Koutsky has been named Director of Finance for the Grand Plaza Hotel and The Beachcomber. Koutsky was most recently Director of Finance of the Stonewall Resort. He is the former Chief Financial Officer for Visionary Destin.

Julien Pierlas has been named Director of Food and Beverage at The Standard, High Line. He was most recently in the same position at the 
New York Hilton Midtown and the former Assistant Director of Food and Beverage of the Waldorf=Astoria New York.

Nicholas Hines has been promoted to Director of Food and Beverage with his move to the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel. He was most recently with the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta as General Manager of Southern Art and Bourbon Bar.

James Massey has joined The Essex in Vermont as Director of Culinary Experience. Most recently, Massey was the Executive Chef and Owner of Field and Cellar in Massachusetts. He is the former Executive Chef of Canyon Ranch in Lenox.

Rob Hazard has joined the Stonebridge Companies as Vice President of Real Estate. Most recently, Hazard served as Senior Vice President at Hersha Hospitality Trust.

John Davis has been named Vice President of Asset Management of the Stonebridge Companies. He had previously serving as the Vice President of Asset Management for Woodbine Development Corporation.

Kevin Froemming has been named to the newly created role of Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer at Playa Hotels & Resorts. He was most recently serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer.

Rex Loh has been named Vice President Commercial at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. He was previously Cluster Director of Sales and Marketing overseeing the JW Marriott Singapore South Beach, the St. Regis Singapore, and the W Sentosa Cove.

Julienne Smith has been appointed Senior Vice President, Development – Americas – at the InterContinental Hotels Group. She was most recently the Senior Vice President, Development and Owner Relations at Hyatt Hotels.

Michael Hirschler has been promoted with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts to Vice President, Early Careers. For the past year, he had been serving as Director of University Relations. For 11 years, the Cornell graduate had been the Director of People and Culture for the Four Seasons Seattle.

Robert Mellwig has joined sbe Lifestyle Hospitality in New York as Chief Culture Officer. For the past 18 years, he had been with Destination Hotels and Resorts, most recently as Senior Vice President Human Resources.

Sandra McDowell has been named Director of Human Resources of the Stonewall Resort. She was previously Director of Human Resources for William R. Sharpe, Jr., Hospital of Weston.

Christina Mackey has been named Director of Human Resources of the Grand Plaza Hotel and The Beachcomber. She had previously overseen human resources for Remington Hotels of Tampa/St. Petersburg, and for the Wyndham Hotel Group in the greater Pittsburgh area.

The Andaz Mayakoba Resort Riviera Maya has appointed Sylvia Smith Director of Sales and Marketing. She was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing of the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok.

Playa Hotels and Resorts has named Dean Sullivan Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations. He is the former Chief Marketing Officer for Couples Resorts and Vice President of Sales and Digital Marketing for Kerzner International.

Jon Erickson has returned to Phoenix as Director of Sales and Marketing of the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown. He had previously served as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel, before leaving in 2018 for the Westin Peachtree Plaza.

Amy Scherer-Ramskill has been named Director of Sales and Marketing of the Hotel Erwin. Most recently, she was a General Manager for Proper Hospitality in Hollywood.

Ginger Gibson has been named Director of Sales and Marketing of the Millennium Times Square and the Premier New York. She had previously served as Director of Sales and Marketing 
at the Empire Hotel and the Redbury New York.

Gary O’Driscoll has been named Director of Sales and Marketing of the Radisson Blu Mall of America. He is the former Director of Sales and Marketing of the Wyndham Riverwalk San Antonio, the Hilton San Antonio Airport, and the Crowne Plaza Dallas.

Siobhan Fajayan has been appointed Director of Marketing and Sales of the Edgewood Tahoe. Fajayan is the former Marketing Director at both Hard Rock Hotel Casino Lake Tahoe and the Sands Regency Hotel and Casino Reno.

Michael Bergin has been appointed Director of Sales, Events and Marketing at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa. He was most recently the Director of Sales, Marketing and Events of the Andaz Napa.

Adela Toto to Director of Sales and Marketing of the Kimpton Glover Park Hotel. She was most recently with The Alexandrian and Morrison House Autograph Collection Hotels as Complex Associate Director of Sales and Marketing.

Sean McNamara has been named Director of Sales and Marketing at the JW Marriott Denver Cherry Creek. Since 2016 he had been with the Sheraton Denver Downtown as the Director of Group Sales.

Craig Richesin has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing at the Cadillac Hotel & Beach Club. He was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing of the Sheraton Burlington Hotel.

The Aloft Tallahassee Downtown has named Leslie Lindley Director of Sales. She was previously Director of Sales for LBA Hospitality.

Set Hotels has appointed Sherry Reynolds Director of Group Sales. She is the former Global Group Sales Manager at Associated Luxury Hotels International and National Account Manager at Miraval Arizona.

Mimi Lopez has moved as Director of Catering and Convention Services 
to the Gwen in Chicago. She was most recently in the same role at the St. Jane Hotel.

Santa Barbara’s Hotel Californian has named Travis Watson Executive Chef. He most recently the Executive Chef at Rancho Bernardo Inn & Spa in San Diego.

Jim Leiken has been appointed Executive Chef of the Bardessono in Yountville. He was previously Executive Chef at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena.

Alex Pasco has been appointed Executive Chef of The Tides Inn. He is the former Chef de Cuisine of the Enchantment Resort.

Lacey Lou Franklin has been appointed Executive Chef of the Mayflower Inn & Spa. She was most recently the Chef de Cuisine and Executive Sous Chef at Solbar at Solage.

Thomas Burke has been named Executive Chef of the Mirbeau Inn & Spa Rhinebeck. He was most recently at the Tavern at GrayBarns.

The Omni La Costa Resort & Spa has promoted Adam Solowitz to Executive Chef. He joined the resort as Executive Sous Chef and transitioned into the role of Assistant Director of Food and Beverage in 2018.

John Waldy has been appointed Executive Chef at the Graham Hotel in Washington, D.C. He is the former Sous Chef of the DuPont Circle Renaissance.

Tim Graham has been appointed Executive Chef of the Thompson Chicago. Most recently Graham was the Executive Chef and Owner of Twain.

Dustin Taylor has been appointed Executive Chef of the AC Hotel Los Angeles South Bay. He is the former chef of The Anchor in Venice, Michael’s Santa Monica, and Comme Ca in West Hollywood.

Franklin Perdue has been named Chef de Cuisine of Boleo at the Kimpton Gray Hotel in Chicago. He is the former Executive Sous Chef of the Lake Shore Country Club.

Miguel Leopoldo Gallegos has been appointed Executive Chef at the Casa Velas. He is the former Executive Senior Sous Chef at AM Resorts’ Puerto Vallarta properties, and Executive Chef of El Dorado Maroma by Karisma.

Tyler Alden has been named Wine Director and Restaurant Outlets Manager at Willows Lodge, Woodinville in Washington. Alden was previously the Assistant Wine Director for Purple Cafe and Wine Bar in Seattle.

Ariel Bruckner has been named Director of Beverage at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin. She was most recently the General Manager of Todd English’s Bluezoo.

Sean Linehan has moved up to Director of Rooms with his move to Chatham Bars Inn. Most recently, Linehan was Director of Guest Services at the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville.

Dee Zumbo has been named Director of Rooms of the Hotel Contessa. She had previously served as Director of Rooms at the Park Hyatt Hotel St. Kitts and Assistant Director of Rooms for the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa.

Viviana Quesada has been appointed Spa Director at the Four Seasons Toronto. She is the former Spa Director of the Four Seasons Istanbul at the Bosphorus and the Four Seasons Punta Mita.

The Chatham Bars Inn has appointed Sheri Thimas Spa Director. Most recently, she was Spa Director at the Armand Salon Spa in Kingston.

The St. Regis Aspen has named Michael McDonald Director of Spa. Most recently, he had served as Spa Director at Aspen’s Hotel Jerome.

Jorge Hernandez has been appointed Spa Director at the Rosewood Bermuda. Most recently, he served as Spa Director at the Chileno Bay Resort & Residence.

Shawn Shortall has been appointed Spa Director at the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club. Shortall had previously served as Spa Director for the Bellezza Spa in Miami, and Spa Director for New York City’s B3 Spa.

EUROPE

Willem van der Zee has been appointed Chief Operating Officer of EVENT Hotels in Germany. He is the former Area Vice President with the Radisson Hotel Group, and Managing Director of Lapithus Hotel Management, based in Frankfurt.

Sandeep Bhalla has been promoted to General Manager at the Connaught Hotel. He joined the hotel in 2018 as Hotel Manager. Bhalla is the former Director of Food and Beverage and Hotel Manager of the Berkeley in Knighstbridge, the sister hotel to the Connaught.

Antonio Alvarez has been appointed General Manager of the Hard Rock Hotel Madrid. He was most recently a Senior Asset Manager of GTI Corp. Alvarez is the former General Manager of the Grand Hyatt Tokyo, the Park Hyatt Buenos Aires, and the Park Hyatt Mendoza.

Jorge Manzur is the new General Manager of the Anantara Villa Padierna Palace. For the past six years, he had served as General Manager of the Hotel Puente Romano in Marbella.

Christian Ruge has been appointed General Manager of the Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko in Bulgaria, taking over from Natalia Kashirskaya. Ruge is the former General Manager of the Kempinski Hotel Ajman and the Burj Rafal Hotel Kempinski.

Stuart Geddes has joined the Lanesborough in London as Hotel Manager. He was most recently the General Manager of The Goring, after several years at the Ritz London.

Roman Angulo has joined the Majestic Hotel & Spa Barcelona as Hotel Manager. He as most recently with the Rosewood Beijing as Executive Assistant Manager.

Karelle Lamouche has been appointed Chief Commercial Officer for Europe at Accor. Lamouche has been with Accor since 2003, most recently as Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing, Distribution and Revenue Management.

Gregory Habeeb has been appointed President, North America, at WorldHotels. For the past six years, he has served as Global Vice President, Hotel & Hospitality, for Molton Brown.

Mathew Turvey has been appointed Regional Director of Global Sales – Europe – for Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos. He was most recently with Melia Hotels International.

Maria Perez has moved to the Nobu Hotel London Portman Square as Director of Sales. She was most recently serving as Head of Sales
 of the Curtain Hotel & Members’ Club in London.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Anthony Gill has moved to the Four Seasons Chiang Mai as General Manager. He was most recently in the same role at the Four Seasons The Nam Hai.

George Varughese has been appointed General Manager of the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa. He was most recently the General Manager of the Bangkok Marriott Hotel The Surawongse.

Frank Beck has been appointed Managing Director of the St. Regis Langkawi, the Westin Langkawi Resort and Spa, and the Langkawi International Convention Centre. He is the former Managing Director of the Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Faber Imperial Court – Sheraton Office Tower, and the St. Regis Singapore.

Alex Willats is now in Beijing as General Manager of Shangri-La’s China World Summit Wing. He as most recently the General Manager of the Shangri-La at The Shard, London, where his successor is Kurt Macher.

Choe Peng Sum has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Pan Pacific Hotels Group, taking over from Lothar Nessmann. Sum was most recently the Chief Executive Officer of Frasers Hospitality International.

Sunil Narang has been appointed General Manager of the Four Seasons Mumbai. He is the former General Manager of the Four Seasons Shenzhen.

Joshua Hargrove has been appointed General Manager at the Prince Waikiki. Most recently he was the Hotel Manager of the Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas in Lahaina.

Christoph Strahm has been appointed General Manager of the Kempinski Hotel Guiyang. Most recently Strahm served as the Residence Manager at the Kempinski Residences and Suites Doha.

Clinton Lovell has been named General Manager of the Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast in Malaysia. Clinton had previously served as General Manager of the Avani Atrium Hotel Bangkok and the Anantara Seminyak Bali Resort.

Nayan Seth has been named General Manager of the Taj Palace, New Delhi. He is the previous General Manager of the Taj Lake Palace Udaipur, the Taj Wellington Mews Luxury Residences Mumbai, and the Taj West End Bengaluru.

Michael Gaehler has been named General Manager of the Six Senses Uluwatu. He was most recently the General Manager of the Oriental Residences Bangkok.

Ronan Henaff has been appointed General Manager of the Capella Shanghai, replacing Dorian Rommell. Henaff was previously overseeing The Shanghai EDITION.

Fabio Berto has been appointed General Manager of the Hilton Niseko Village. He was previously the Commercial Director and Hotel Manager of the Waldorf-Astoria Shanghai on the Bund.

Luna Bajracharya has been appointed Hotel Manager of the JW Marriott Singapore South Beach. She was most recently the Director of Operations at the Bvlgari Resort Bali.

The Rosewood Hotel Group has named Micah Friedman Chief Information Officer. He was previously with Cognizant Technology Solutions, the Oracle Corporation and Blackstone LXR.

Charis Yim has joined the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong as Executive Assistant Manager – Sales and Marketing. She was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing of the JW Marriott Hong Kong.

Amy Lingga has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing of the Ritz-Carlton Bali. She was most recently in a similar position at the Courtyard by Marriott Bali Seminyak Resort.

Simon Song has been named Executive Chef of the JW Marriott Singapore South Beach. He was most recently the Executive Chef of the Ritz-Carlton Sanya. Song is the former Executive Chef of the Four Seasons Tianjin City and the Four Seasons Beijing City.

Brent Assam has joined the Hilton Adelaide as Executive Chef. He had previously served in the same role for the Yasawa Island Resort and the Radisson Blu Resort Fiji Denarau Island.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

Ahmed Younes has been appointed General Manager of the Mövenpick Hotel Jeddah. He was most recently the General Manager of the Ascott Limited, Jeddah.

Husam Malik is appointed General Manager of Banana Island Resort Doha by Anantara. He is the former Resident Manager of the Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara in Abu Dhabi and General Manager of the Souq Al Wakra Hotel by Tivoli.

The Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai has named Max Zanardi General Manager. He is the former General Manager of the One&Only Portonovi in Montenegro.

The Mazagan Beach & Golf Resort in Morocco has promoted Sergio Pereira to General Manager. He joined the hotel in 2017 as Resort Manager.

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

susana@boutiquesearchfirm.com / benoit@boutiquesearchfirm.com / lisa@boutiquesearchfirm.com

Twitter: @boutiquesrchfrm
Facebook: www.facebook.com/boutiquesearchfirm

www.boutiquesearchfirm.com