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: May 2010.

THE AMERICAS

Philip Silberstein has returned to Carlson Hotels as Executive Vice President of Full Service Development, the Americas, based in Boston. He previously served as Vice President of Development for the company, before taking on his most recent role as Executive Vice President of Development for the Sonesta Collection.

Matthew Mullan has been appointed General Manager of the Hilton Barbados. He most recently served as cluster General Manager for Hilton Sharm El Sheikh – Egypt and General Manager for the Hilton Sharks Bay.

Adriaan Radder has been appointed General Manager of the Ballantyne Hotel & Lodge.  He was previously a Senior Vice President with Kerzner International and General Manager of One&Only Ocean Club Bahamas. He had previously served as Area Vice President and General Manager for Ritz Carlton in Washington DC. At Ballantyne, Radder takes over from Steven Kalczynski.

Alex Kim has been named General Manager of the One&Only Ocean Club in the Bahamas. He was most recently serving as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Coral and Beach Towers at the neighboring Kerzner resort, Atlantis on Paradise Island.

David Cayuela will be the opening General Manager of the Banyan Tree Cabo Marques in Mexico. He comes from the Gran Hotel El Cortesin in Marbella, and is a former General Manager of the Fairmont Pierre Marques in Acapulco.

Todd Mallen has been appointed General Manager of the Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort & Spa in Osoyoos, British Columbia. He had been at Kelowna's Lake Okanagan Resort since 1987, most recently as General Manager.

Brett Orlando takes over from Ilan Segal as General Manager of the Gansevoort South Beach. Orlando was previously the Vice President of Operations at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach.

Deanna LoRusso has been named General Manager for the hotel Indigo-Atlanta Downtown. She spent the past nine years working for InterContinental Hotels Group, most recently as Brand Manager for Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts - Americas Region.

Wyndham has appointed Wayne Schneider General Manager of Fashion 26 in New York City. He had previously held various positions for the Macklowe Hotel, the Sherry-Netherland, the Pierre and the Soho Grand.

Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa has appointed April Schute Vice President and General Manager. She was most recently at La Costa Resort and Spa as Vice President and General Manager and previously spent six years at La Quinta Resort & Club. Prior to joining KSL Resorts at La Quinta, she was at the Phoenician.

La Costa Resort and Spa has appointed Paul McCormick Vice President and General Manager. Most recently, McCormick was Vice President and Managing Director of the Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin. He had previously served as Vice President and General Manager of La Quinta Resort & Club and PGA West. At La Costa, McCormick succeeds April Schute.

San Francisco's Taj Campton Place has named Ashrafi Matcheswala General Manager. For the last four years, she had served as General Manager of the Taj Wellington Mews. Matcheswala takes over from Vikram Singh, who had been running Campton Place for the past three years.

Jeffrey Seward has been named General Manager of the Taj Boston. He was most recently serving as Task Force Takeover Leader to handle the rebranding of the Ritz-Carlton Cairo. He had previously served as General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Seoul, and the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta.

Joseph Violi, a Cornell graduate, has joined the Doubletree Hotel Sonoma Wine Country as General Manager. He had previously served as Managing Director for the Carmel Valley Ranch and General Manager for the Orrington Hotel, and the Swissôtel Chicago.

Mark Lauer has been appointed General Manager of the Hilton New York, succeeding Conrad Wangeman, who was recently named Area Vice President, Operations – Northeast, for Hilton Worldwide. Lauer was most recently serving as Hotel Manager of the Waldorf=Astoria New York.

Leigh Trilling has been named General Manager of the Thayer Hotel on the grounds of West Point. Trilling was formerly the Director of Operations for the Dolce Basking Ridge in New Jersey.

Thierry Guillot has been named General Manager of the Grand Hyatt Sao Paulo, a promotion from his current position of General Manager at the Hyatt Regency Paris Charles de Gaulle, a post he held for the past three years.

Eric Weber, until now the Assistant General Manager at the Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill, takes over from Thierry Guillot as General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Paris Charles de Gaulle.

Gregory Sheets has joined the Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino in Las Vegas as Vice President of Hotel Operations. For the past three years, he had been with the Pechanga Resort and Casino as Vice President of Hotel and Resort Operations. Sheets, a Cornell graduate, had previously served in hotel operations for Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa, Palms Casino Resort Las Vegas, and spent nine years with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts.

The Glenwood Hot Springs in Colorado has named Loretta Ayala Lodge Manager. She had previously worked as Group Sales Manager for East West Resorts and ResortQuest in the Aspen and Snowmass area.

Newport Harbor has promoted Casey Riley to Chief Operating Officer. He was most recently serving for the company as Director of Culinary Operations and joined the company as Executive Chef at the Castle Hill Inn & Resort, over ten years ago.

Juan Francisco Perez Breton has moved to the Dreams Riveran Cancún Resort and Spa as General Manager. For the past three years, he had been with Presidente InterContinental Hotels first as General Manager of the Presidente InterContinental Ixtapa before taking on his most recent role of General Manager for the Presidente InterContinental Cancún.

Richard Stettner has moved to Aspen to run the Limelight Lodge, newly acquired by the Aspen Skiing Company. He was most recently with Exclusive Resorts, based in Denver as Resort Manager.

Penn National Gaming has appointed Alex Stolyar to the newly created position of Vice President, Corporate Development. He most recently served as Vice President, Corporate Development for Pinnacle Entertainment.

Jon Joy has been appointed General Manager of Aston Hotels & Resorts Sun Valley in Idaho. He previously served as Director of Club Development for IntraWest Corporation in various ski areas.

The Montage Beverly Hills has promoted David Hoffman to Hotel Manager. He joined the property in 2008 as Director of Rooms after serving as Director of Rooms for the Montage Laguna Beach.

Matthew Thomas has been promoted to Resident Manager and joined the Mandarin Oriental Boston. He was most recently serving as Director of Food and Beverage at sister property the Excelsior Hong Kong. He also served in food and beverage positions at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park London and the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong.

Spencer Yeo has moved to L'Ermitage as Hotel Manager and Director of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Peninsula Beverly Hills. Yeo had previously served in sales and marketing roles at the Mandarin Oriental Washington D.C. and the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park London.

The Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa has appointed Adrian Gonzalez Director of Operations. He was formerly the Hotel Manager and Director of Food and Beverage at Sunriver in Oregon.

Tim Metarko has joined Vail Hospitality and Rock Resorts as Director of Finance at the Snake River Lodge & Spa in Jackson Hole. He was previously the Owner/Operator of Montana Hanna's . He had previously held several Controller positions with Barceló Hotels, Omni Hotels, Meristar Hotels and Interstate Hotels.

At the Lifeworks Restaurant Group, a subsidiary of Aramark, Angus Mackay has been promoted from Director of Operations to Vice President. Prior to joining the group four years ago, he ran his own group of family restaurants in Dallas. Mackay is also a former Director of Food and Beverage at the Hotel Bel-Air and the Mansion on Turtle Creek.

Nancy Chacon has transferred as Director of Rooms to the Four Seasons Buenos Aires replacing Raul Levis who is heading to London. For the past eight years, Chacon had been at the Four Seasons Punta Mita as Director of Rooms.

Victorio Gonzalez has moved up the coast to take over as Director of Food and Beverage at the Montage Beverly Hills. He was most recently with sister property, the Montage Laguna Beach, as Director of Food and Beverage.

Tony Pope has joined the Langham Huntington Pasadena as Director of Food and Beverage. For the past six years, Pope was the General Manager of the Salishan Lodge and Golf Resort in Oregon and was previously the Director of Food and Beverage at the former Westwood Marquis, which was relaunched as the W Westwood during his tenure.

Gabriel Rivera has moved to the Viceroy Miami as Director of Operations, Food and Beverage. For the past two years, he had been with the Ritz-Carlton South Beach as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage. He had previously served in food and beverage positions at the Water Club and the Ritz-Carlton, both in Puerto Rico.

The InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco has promoted Mark Oza to Director of Food and Beverage. He joined the hotel in 2007 and was most recently serving as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage.

Greg Kocsis has joined Sandy Lane as Director of Food and Beverage. For the past ten years, he had been with Four Seasons, serving in various food and beverage positions including opening Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Beirut and as Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Gresham Palace in Budapest.

Jim Webster has been promoted to Director of Food and Beverage at the Hotel Theodore, formerly the Mondrian Scottsdale. He was most recently the Operations Manager-Food with the resort. He had previously held various roles during his eighteen years with Ritz-Carlton in Phoenix, Rancho Mirage, San Francisco, and Laguna Niguel.

The JW Marriott Miami has appointed Carlos Rodriguez Director of Food and Beverage. Most recently, he served as Director of Restaurants and Bars for the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel.

The Hotel Shattuck Plaza has appointed Monica Schafer Director of Food and Beverage. She was most recently with La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla as Food and Beverage Manager.  

Deniz Omurgonulsen has been appointed to the newly created position of Vice President of Membership for The Leading Hotels of the World. She joined the company in 2005 as a Strategic Planning Manager and became Director of Membership Development in 2006.

David Warman has relocated to Toronto to join Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts as Vice President, Revenue Management and Worldwide Reservations. He was most recently the Vice President Market Strategy and Director Revenue Management - The Americas - for InterContinental and previously served with Hilton as Corporate Director Revenue Management.

Luxe Hotels has appointed Sherwin Banda as Director of Brand Standards and Training. He was formerly the General Manager at the Luxe Rodeo Drive Hotel.

Benchmark Hospitality has named Katie Kaye Director of Training. She was most recently the Director of Training and Staff Development for Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo.

Laura Hernandez has joined the Portola Hotel and Spa in Monterey as Director of Human Resources. She was most recently in the same position with HotelsAB at the Standard Downtown Los Angeles.

Austin Watkins returns to Southern California to take over for Jorge Collazo as Director of Marketing at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills. Watkins was most recently the Director of Marketing at the Four Seasons San Francisco. He had previously served in sales and marketing roles for the former Ritz-Carlton Huntington in Pasadena and the former Four Seasons Newport Beach.

Gloria Lloyd has returned to the Four Seasons New York, this time as Director of Marketing, replacing Brian Honan. She was previously the Director of Sales for the hotel before taking on her most recent challenge as Director of Marketing at the Beverly Wilshire three years ago.

Ali Kayhan has returned to New York to take on the role of Director of Catering and Conference Services at the InterContinental New York Times Square. He was most recently the Director of Catering and Conference Services at the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows. He had previously served in catering roles for the New York Palace, the Plaza and the New York Marriot Marquis.

Rebecca Huetter has joined the Langham Huntington Pasadena as Director of Sales and Marketing. She had previously served as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Thompson Beverly Hills, and as Regional Director of Sales and Marketing at Andre Balazs Properties.

The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco has named Reggie Dominique Director of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently in the same position at the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach. He had previously held sales and marketing positions for the Ritz-Carlton St. Louis, the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey and the former Ritz-Carlton Huntington in Pasadena.

Cindy Hill has moved to Texas to take over as Director of Marketing for the W Austin. For the past five years, she had been based in Chicago for W Hotels. She had previously served in sales and marketing positions for the W Los Angeles, the W Chicago Lakeshore and the W San Francisco.

John de Los Santos is joining the Purple Sage Ranch in Bandera, Texas, as Director of Sales. He was most recently a Senior Sales Manager at the Omni La Mansion Del Rio & Watermark Hotel & Spa.

Frank Maduro has been appointed Vice President of Marketing for Palace Resorts' Twelve Resorts in Mexico and Dominican Republic. He was most recently serving as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Luxury Retreats at Cap Cana in Miami.

White Lodging has appointed Shannon Linahan to Regional Director of Sales and Marketing. She was previously the General Manager of the Marriott Mountain Shadows Resort.

The Tarrytown House Estate has appointed Joseph Gorey Director of Sales and Marketing. He was most recently with the Hyatt Arlington as Director of Sales and Marketing.

Ronald Couget was named Director of Sales and Marketing at the Courtyard by Marriott Sandestin and Residence Inn by Marriott Sandestin at Grand Boulevard. He was most recently with the Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort & Spa as Director of Sales.

Cathryn Giff has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for the Renaissance Portsmouth Hotel & Conference Center. She was previously the Director of Sales for the Hilton Garden Inn Detroit.

The Sheraton Phoenix Airport Hotel Tempe has named Viktoria Riley Director of Sales and Marketing. She was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Frenchman's Reef & Morningstar Marriott Beach Resort on St. Thomas.

The Dolce Hayes Mansion has appointed Terry Dembowski Director of Sales and Marketing. She was formerly the General Manager of the Larkspur Landing, Home Suite Hotel in Sunnyvale.

The Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel and Casino has named Jeremy Marquard Director of Sales and Marketing. He comes from the Wyndham Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa where he was the Director of Sales and Marketing for almost two years, and was previously with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide for six years.

The Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel and Casino has named Jeannette Aviles Director of Group Sales. She was most recently in the same position for the Wyndham Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa.

The Balboa Bay Club & Resort has named Danielle Staffieri Director of Catering and Conference Services. She was most recently serving as Senior Catering Manager at the St. Regis Monarch Beach.

Caneel Bay on St. John has appointed Toya Frazer-Ellis Director of Catering and Conference Services. She had previously served in catering and sales positions for the Westin St. John Resort and Villas, and the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center in Gainesville. 
 
The New Yorker Hotel has promoted Lisbeth Recio to the position of Director of Catering and Convention Services. She joined the hotel in 2009 as Catering Sales Manager.

Didier Eléna is rejoining Alain Ducasse at Adour in the St. Regis New York as Executive Chef de Cuisine. He was most recently briefly in Eze, France, as Chef at the Chateau de La Chèvre d'Or, following four years as Chef of Les Crayères in Reims. Eléna was the Chef of Alain Ducasse at the Essex House when it first opened.

Marcus Jernmark is the new Executive Chef at Aquavit in New York. He was most recently the Chef at the Swedish Consulate New York.

Bruno Egéa has joined Miami's Delano as Executive Chef. He was most recently with Celebrity Cruises as Executive Chef. He had previously served in culinary positions for the Fairmont Newport Beach, the Paris Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and the Four Seasons Nevis.

Anthony Keene has taken over the stoves of Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood. He had previously served as Executive Chef at Carmel Valley Ranch, Little Palm Island Spa and Resort and Ojai Valley Inn.

Jeff Walter has joined the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas as Executive Chef. He was most recently with the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego as Executive Chef. He had served in culinary positions for Caesars Palace Resort Casino Las Vegas, the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows and the Phoenician.

Renato de Pirro has been appointed Executive Chef at the Hotel Granduca in Houston. He served most recently as Executive Chef for Osteria del Circo in the Bellagio Resort Las Vegas.  Previously, he had held culinary positions at Terra Rossa in the Red Rock Resort & Casino Las Vegas and the Grill at Valentino also in Las Vegas.

The Grand Traverse Resort has named Joseph George Executive Chef. He was most recently the Executive Chef/Operating Partner at Glendoven at The Highlands in Grand Rapids.

The Black Point Inn in Maine has appointed Alfred Hynes Executive Chef. He was most recently the Executive Chef at the Spruce Point Inn. He had previously worked in the kitchens of the Chatham Bars Inn in Cape Cod, the Palm Beach Country Club and the Breakers.

The Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers has appointed Stuart Race Executive Chef. He was most recently overseeing the culinary operation for the Westin Galleria in Dallas. He had previously served as Executive Chef for the Westin Melbourne and Executive Banquet Chef at the Westin Diplomat in Florida.

Patrick Ponsaty has joined Mistral at the Loews Coronado as Chef de Cuisine. He has been in the San Diego area since 1998 serving as Chef for El Bizcocho in the Rancho Bernardo Inn, La Bastide Bistro and, most recently, Bernard'O Restaurant.

Rocio Varela has taken on the role of Executive Chef for the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel and Casino. Most recently, Varela was Executive Chef at the W San Diego.

Eric Baldridge has been appointed Executive Chef at the Omni Bretton Arms Inn in New Hampshire. He was most recently serving as Corporate Regional Chef at Centerplate, the Connecticut-based food and beverage provider to the sports and entertainment industry.

Jason Johnston has joined Shutters on the Beach as Executive Sous Chef. For the past three years, he had been with the Hollywood Roosevelt as Executive Chef.  He had previously served in a variety of culinary positions at the Pierre in New York, and the Bellagio Las Vegas.

Jean Vergnes, the original Chef at Le Cirque, is dead at 88. In the early seventies, Sirio Maccioni, then the Colony's Maitre d'Hotel, reached out to him when he formulated plans to open a midtown restaurant in the Mayfair Hotel, on East 65th Street, that is now the location of the restaurant of another Le Cirque former Chef, Daniel Boulud. Le Cirque attracted the boldface names that would, in time, be immortalized by Tom Wolfe in The Bonfire of the Vanities: rich businessmen, Wall Street movers, real estate tycoons and soigné socialites. Mr. Vergnes sold his interest in Le Cirque in 1978.

Eric Espuny has joined the Jonathan Club as Beverage Director. For the past seven years, he had been with Patina Los Angeles as Head Sommelier. He had previously served as Sommelier at Restaurant Alain Ducasse New York, Lutèce, and Le Bernardin.

Jamie Unwin returns to the restaurant side as Service Director for the Mercer Kitchen. Unwin had previously served as General Manager for Jojo Restaurant in New York before stepping into his most recently role as Spa Director at Spa Chakra 5^th Avenue.

The Castle Hill Inn & Resort has named James Cuccia Food and Beverage Manager. He joined the resort in 1999 and moved up the ladder to his most recent position of Dining Room Manager in 2007.

The Seaport Hotel & Seaport World Trade Center has named Gereson Hao Yongo Assistant Food and Beverage Director. Yongo was previously the Food and Beverage Manager for Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in North Carolina.

The Castle Hill Inn & Resort has promoted Lindsey Struck to Rooms Division Manager. She was most recently the Reservations and Revenue Manager for the property.

EUROPE

Von Essen has appointed Justin Hickman as Regional Operations Manager. He was most recently at the Forestdale Hotel Group as Regional Manager. 

Turistrela Hotels & Resorts in Portugal has appointed José Luiz Moreira as Managing Director of Operations. He was previously the Managing Director for Aoki after serving more than five years at the Corinthia Hotel Lisbon in a similar role.

Shay Dadon has been named General Manager for the Leonardo Hotel Rigihof Zurich. He was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage for the Crowne Plaza Zurich and the InterContinental Zurich. He had previously served in food and beverage positions for the Essex House New York and at the Mayflower Inn, in Washington, Connecticut.

Karen Ayad has been named Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons London slated to re-open later this year. She was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Hampshire after joining the resort in pre-opening as Director of Catering.

David Monson has transferred as Director of Food and Beverage to the Four Seasons Hampshire. He was most recently in the same position at the Four Seasons Canary Wharf.

Mike Fuchs has relocated to Spain to take over as Director of Food and Beverage for the St. Regis Mardavall. For the past two years he had been Assistant Director of Food and Beverage for the St. Regis Monarch Beach.

The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park London has named Dean Yasharian Executive Chef for Bar Boulud, due to open in the hotel this month. He has worked alongside Chef Daniel Boulud for over six years, most recently heading up the kitchen at Bar Boulud, New York City as Chef de Cuisine.

Alejandro Mayer has relocated to England as Sous Chef for the Four Seasons Hampshire. This is return to Four Seasons for Mayer after serving as Resort Banquet Chef at the Four Seasons Biltmore Santa Barbara. He was most recently with the Anassa in Cyprus as Executive Sous Chef.

Stephen Macintosh has been named General Manager of Bar Boulud in the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park London. He previously held a longstanding position as Assistant General Manager at The Wolseley restaurant in London.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Anatara Hotels has named Peter Carmichael Senior Vice President. He was most recently with the InterContinental Hotel Group as Vice President Operations, South East Asia and Maldives.

Rodney Ito has been appointed Area Director of Operations for Marriott International for North Asia, Hawaii and South Pacific based in Honolulu. Ito has been with Marriott International since 2000 serving as General Manager of the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort, twice.

Coetzer Deysel has been named General Manager of the W Retreat Koh Samui scheduled to open this summer. He was, most recently serving as Hotel Manager of the W Retreat & Spa Maldives. 

Andrew Khoo is the new General Manager of the Hard Rock Hotel Bali. Khoo previously managed the rebranding of the Concorde Hotel in Singapore, from its previous Le Méridien branding.

Ian Hurst has been appointed General Manager of the Saujana Hotel Kuala Lumpur. He had formerly held the position of Area General Manager of Stamford Hotels and Resorts properties in Sydney.

Steven Kalczynski has been appointed General Manager of the Oberoi Mumbai. He was most recently the General Manager of the Ballantyne in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dietmar Koegerl has been named General Manager of Anantara Kihavah Villas Maldives. He was most recently the General Manager of the Sheraton Pattaya Resort.

Jerry Mong has joined the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore as Senior Hotel Manager. He was most recently with the Fairmont Beijing as Resident Manager. He had previously held various rooms management positions for the Hollywood Roosevelt, the Fairmont Newport Beach, and the InterContinental Buckhead.

Raig Douglas has been named General Manager of La Residence Hotel and Spa in Vietnam. Douglas most recently served as General Manager at the SALA Samui Resort and Spa, Koh Samui.
 
Cornell graduate Robert Gerber has been appointed General Manager of the Regal Riverside Hotel in Hong Kong. He was most recently the opening General Manager for the New World Hotel, Dalian.

Lars Kerfin has been appointed General Manager of Anantara Lawana Resort & Spa, Koh Samui. He was most recently at the Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa as Resident Manager.

Yvonne Stefano Ruzza has been named General Manager of the Hilton Namhae Golf & Spa Resort in South Korea. He was most recently at the Hilton Colombo as Director of Operations.

Rolf Buehlmann has joined the Hong Kong Club as Executive Assistant Manager. For the past year, he had been at the Mira Hong Kong as Director of Food and Beverage. He had previously served as Director of Food and Beverage for the JW Marriott Shanghai and the Stanford Court San Francisco.

Terrence Tsang has been appointed Group Director of Food and Beverage for Langham Hotels based in Hong Kong. He had previously been with Four Seasons for ten years most recently as Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Hong Kong.

Ben Shank has moved over to the Four Seasons Maui as Director of Food and Beverage. He was most recently weathering the storm of what is now the former Four Seasons Aviara as Director of Food and Beverage. He had previously served as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage with the Four Seasons New York.

Lionel Richard has joined the St. Regis Princeville as Director of Food and Beverage. Richard was most recently in the same position for the St. Regis Bora Bora. He had previously served in food and beverage positions at the Imperial New Delhi, La Réserve in Geneva and the Lausanne Palace.

Alexander Schillinger takes over for Rolf Buehlmann as Director of Food and Beverage at the Mira Hong Kong. He was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage at the Grand Millenium Sukhumvit, following a two-year stint in the same position for the Shangri-La Beijing.

Puneet Saigal has been named Director of Food and Beverage for the Crowne Plaza Okhla slated to open this month in New Delhi. He was most recently with Shangri-La's Eros Hotel, New Delhi as Director of Food and Beverage.

Vacharavich Tasanaroungrong has been appointed Director of Training at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit. Vacharavich joins the hotel from Le Méridien Chiang Rai, where he served as Human Resources Manager.

Rachael Harman has joined the Westin Kuala Lumpur as Director of Sales and Marketing. She was most recently in the same position for the Westin Auckland Lighter Quay in New Zealand.

Steven Liang has been promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing for the InterContinental Beijing Financial Street. He has been with the hotel since 2005 joining as Director of Events and was subsequently promoted to Director of Sales in 2007.

Toshi Chigira has been named Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hotel Nikko Wuxi. He had previously served as Director of Sales and Marketing for the Ramada Plaza Dalian, and as General Manager for the Best Western Kochi.

Azvil Aziz has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for the Saujana Hotel Kuala Lumpur. He was previously the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Meritus Pelangi Beach Resort & Spa, Langkawi. Also joining the hotel is Sherina Pang as Director of Human Resources.

The Crowne Plaza Okhla has appointed Biswajit Chakravarty as Director Sales and Marketing. He had previously held sales and marketing positions with Claridges New Delhi and the Park Royal InterContinental New Delhi.

Shashi Razdan has been named Crowne Meetings Director for the Crowne Plaza Okhla. He most recently held the position of Director of Sales – MICE with Crowne Plaza, Delhi.

Jasvinder Kaur has been appointed Public Relations Manager for the Saujana Hotel Kuala Lumpur. She was previously the Public Relations Manager of Berjaya Times Square and subsequently joined Courts Mammoth as Corporate Communications Manager.

Adam Mathis has moved over to the Peninsula Tokyo as Executive Chef. For the past three years he had been overseeing the culinary operation for the Peninsula Manila. He had previously served in the kitchens for the Peninsula Bangkok and the Peninsula Beijing.

Freddy Schmidt takes over for Mathis as Executive Chef at the Peninsula Manila. He had previously served as Executive Chef at the Hotel Conrad Tokyo and the Oriental Singapore.

Mathias Olsson has been appointed as Executive Sous Chef at the Bangkok Marriott Resort & Spa. He was most recently the Executive Chef for the Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor in Cambodia.

Maximilian Schwalbe has moved over to the Shangri-La Singapore as Assistant Director of Food and Beverage. He was most recently in the same position for the Pudong Shangri-La in Shanghai.

Andy Chang has moved over as Director of Rooms to the Four Seasons Guangzhou. Chang has been with the company over 17 years most recently as the opening Director of Rooms at the Four Seasons Macau.

Howard Donnelly, who graduated from Cornell and was awarded a scholarship by the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne in 1947, has died. He was 90 and was a major contributor to the development of hospitality and tourism in Hawaii. His achievements also included co-founding the School of Travel Industry Management at the University of Hawaii. Everyone who crossed his path loved and respected him.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

Veteran hotelman Robert Bergé will be supervising the pre-opening and opening phases of the Mandarin Oriental Marrakech, replacing Franck Sibille. Bergé was, for many years, the Managing Director of La Mamounia until its closure for extensive renovations a few years ago. He is also a former General Manager of Paris' Royal Monceau, following an international career with Méridien.

André Kretschmann has joined LVMH - Hotel Management based in Muscat as Director overseeing hotel openings in Oman and Egypt. Previously he was General Manager for the Shangri-La Boracay Resort & Spa.
 
One to One Hotels and Resorts has appointed Sami Ayari Chief Executive Officer. He had previously overseen the Banyan Tree Desert Spa and Resort Al Areen and the Banyan Tree Bangkok.

Timur Ilgaz has been appointed General Manager of the Amwaj Rotana Jumeirah Beach Dubai. He was most recently the General Manager for the Jumeirah Rotana.

Tom Crowley will be the opening General Manager of the Mövenpick Gammarth, outside Tunis. He is a former General Manager of the Sunset Beach Resort in Al Khobar, the Royal Amman and Le Royal Beirut, as well as the Conrad London. He also spent sixteen years with InterContinental.

Fabrice Collot has been promoted to the position of General Manager at the Banyan Tree Marrakech. He was previously with the Banyan Tree Al Areen in Bahrain.

Philippe Pellaud has been transferred by Radisson Blu from General Manager of the Radisson Blu Dubrovnik to General Manger of the Radisson Blu Kuwait. He has been with the company since 1992.

John Rogers has joined the Desert Islands Resort & Spa by Anantara as General Manager. He had previously served as General Manager at the Tresantion Hotel in Cornwall, and subsequently, as Director and General Manager for La Residencia Hotel in Mallorca.

The W Doha Hotel and Residences has appointed Roman Goetsch Director of Operations. He was most recently the General Manager of the W Istanbul.

Daniel van der Heijden has been named Executive Assistant Manager at Le Méridien Amman. He was most recently the Food and Beverage Director at the Sheraton Jeddah.

Ajaz Sheikh will be overseeing Zuma and Roka Restaurants in Dubai as Director of Operations Middle East. He had most recently been serving as Executive Assistant Manager Food and Beverage for the Lanesborough in London, after joining them in 2005 as Director of Food and Beverage.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has promoted Jane Burnell to Regional Vice President of Sales for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She joined the company in 2000 as Regional Director of Sales for the UK and was most recently serving as Regional Director of Sales for Europe, the Middle East & Africa.

Stéphane de Robien has joined Palmeraie Hotels & Resorts as Director of Sales and Marketing of the Hotel Division based in Marrakech. He was most recently with Garrigae Resorts in France as Director of Sales and Marketing. He was previously the General Manager of the Chateau de Camiole, following several years at the Hotel Négresco in Nice as Director of Sales and Marketing.

The Grand Hyatt Doha has appointed Tareq Bagaeen Director of Marketing. Bagaeen had previously served as Director of Sales for Ritz-Carlton in Singapore and most recently, Ireland.

Hassaan Abdoh has been named Director of Sales at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel & Spa. Abdoh was most recently the Director of Business Development with the pre-opening team at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi.

The Four Points by Sheraton Complex, Dubai has appointed Tamer Saleh and Anna Villanueva as Deputy Directors of Sales. Saleh was most recently with Rotana in Saudi Arabia as acting Director of Sales. Villanueva has been promoted from her most recent position with the hotel as Senior Sales Manager.

Martin Frost has moved to Egypt as Executive Chef at the Four Seasons Sharm El Sheikh. He was most recently overseeing the culinary operations for the Four Seasons Biltmore Santa Barbara.

Giancarlo Gottardo has transferred to the Four Seasons Beirut as Executive Chef. He was formerly the Executive Chef for the Four Seasons Istanbul and, most recently, the Four Seasons Cairo First Residence.

Replacing Gottardo at the Four Seasons Cairo First Residence is Erwan Laurenceau. He was most recently serving as Executive Sous Chef at the Four Seasons Cairo at Nile Plaza after opening the Four Seasons Alexandria in the same capacity.

Guillaume Mantis has joined Margaux in Dubai as Restaurant Director. He previously spent two years as Restaurant Manager and Head Sommelier in San Diego at the Westgate Hotel and as Restaurant Manager for the restaurant at Lords of the Manor Hotel in Gloucestershire, England.

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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