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: January 2012.

THE AMERICAS

Virgin Hotels has appointed David Kuperberg Senior Vice President of Development. He most recently served as Vice President of Development for the Wyndham Hotel Group.

Christian Goode has been named President of Genting's Resorts World Miami. He was most recently the Chief Financial Officer of the Resorts World New York City project in Queens, New York. He is the former Director of Compliance at Seneca Gaming in New York and Casino Controller at the Charles Town Races and Slots in West Virginia.

Peter Ells has been named Managing Director of the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, taking over from Janis Clapoff. He was most recently overseeing the Royal Palms Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Ells is the former General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay and the Ritz-Carlton Phoenix.

Leon Young has moved to the W Hollywood as General Manager, taking over from Jim McPartlin who transferred back to New York. Young was most recently overseeing the W Scottsdale. He is the former General Manager of the W New Orleans - French Quarter and Director of Operations for the W San Diego.

James Wroblewski has been promoted to General Manager and joined the W New Orleans – French Quarter. He was most recently in the position of Director of Operations at the W Chicago – City Center.  He is the former Director of Operations of the Westin Pasadena.  

Ed Walls has joined the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa as General Manager. He was most recently at the Westin Peachtree Plaza as General Manager.

Cavallo Point Lodge has named Euan Taylor General Manager. He is the former General Manager of the Hotel Shattuck Plaza in Berkeley and the Hotel Vitale in San Francisco. Taylor also served as Hotel Manager at London's Grosvenor House.

Edgar Garin has been named Director Franchise Development, Latin America for La Quinta Inns & Suites, based in Miami. The Cornell graduate was most recently with Radisson Hotels and Resorts International Latin America as Vice President of Development.

The Ritz-Carlton New Orleans has named Donna Brown Director of Operations. Since 2009, she had served in the same position for the JW Marriott New Orleans.

Chad Wood has been named Operations Manager for the Lyford Cay Club in the Bahamas. He was most recently the Director of Operations for the Hotel Mulia Senayan in Jakarta. Wood was previously with Fairmont for twelve years, most recently as Director of Rooms at the Fairmont Dubai.

Guy Tomlinson has been appointed Controller for the Cheyenne Mountain Resort. He is the former Director of Financial Services for the Colorado Springs Marriott. 

Brian Jones has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for the Pierre. He is the former Senior Vice President, Sales, with Morgans Hotel Group and Vice President, Global Sales, with Le Méridien Hotels and Resorts.                 
James Pedone has joined Miramonte as Director of Sales and Marketing, taking over from Chris Kandziora who is now at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. Pedone was most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing for La Quinta Resort. He is the former Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Hotels & Resorts of Halekulani.

David Hume has been appointed Director of Sales for Chateau on the Lake Resort, Spa & Convention Center. He is the former Director of Sales and Marketing at the Abbey Resort & Spa and the Rocky Gap Lodge & Golf Resort.

Daniele Trombacco has been named Director of Sales and Marketing of the Eden Roc at Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic, slated to open in February. He was most recently the Director of Sales for the Waldorf Astoria Rome.

The Enchantment Group has named Victoria Strubbe Leisure Sales Manager, based in Scottsdale. For the past two years, she had served as Leisure and Business Travel Sales Manager of the Arizona Biltmore.

Eric Haugen is now at the Lambs Club in New York as Executive Chef. He was most recently the Chef de Cuisine for the Ocean House in Newport, Rhode Island. Haugen is a former Chef de Partie at Bradley Ogden's One Market and Sous Chef at Cortez, both in San Francisco.

After a short stint at L'Epicerie in Culver City, Sébastien Archambault has moved on to join the Blue Duck Tavern at the Park Hyatt Washington, D.C. as Executive Chef. He had previously spent over two years with the Andaz West Hollywood as Executive Chef.

Michael Vignola is returning to New York's Strip House after joining Gravy last summer as Chef. He was previously with Michael Jordan's the Steakhouse N.Y.C.        

Matthew Helms has been appointed Assistant Rooms Executive for the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans. He was most recently the Director of Housekeeping at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel.

Sean Hardy, who was the Director of Operations at the Fairmont Miramar died unexpectedly at age 41. A CIA graduate, he was a former Executive Chef from the Peninsula Beverly Hills as well as the Lodge at Koele.

EUROPE

The Lungarno Collection, the luxury hospitality group owned by the Ferragamo family, has promoted Valeriano Antonioli to Chief Executive Officer. He joined the company recently as Chief Operating Officer and is the former Managing Director at the InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa in Scottsdale. He had previously served as General Manager of the W Los Angeles, the Diana Majestic in Milan and had been Resident Manager at the Hotel Principie di Savoia and the Hotel Duca, both in Milan.

Michael Morauw is back in Paris as General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Madeleine, a property he successfully opened and for which he was named General Manager of the Year by Hyatt International in 1999. Since then, Morauw had been assigned the responsibility of repositioning the Part Hyatt Washington DC and the launch of the Andaz West Hollywood.

Grégoire Salamin has been named General Manager at the Trianon Palace in Versailles. The Lausanne graduate was most recently the General Manager at the InterContinental Jordan.

The Dorchester Collection has named Eugenio Pirri Vice President, People and Organizational Development. He was most recently the Regional Director of Human Resources at The Savoy & Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Europe.

Jean-Marie Le Gall takes over from Agnès de Bousquet de Florian as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris. He is the former Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hotel Royal Monceau and held a similar position at the Grand Hotel InterContinental Paris.

Agnès de Bousquet de Florian has moved into the position of Director of Rooms for the Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris. For the past six years, she had served the hotel in the post of Director of Sales and Marketing. She is the former Director of Sales and Marketing for the Marriott Paris Champs Elysées.

Florence Poli has joined the Hotel Richemond in Geneva as Assistant General Manager. She was most recently in Paris with the Hotel Plaza Athénée as Director of Rooms and Spa. Liked the Plaza Athénée, the Richemond is part of the Dorchester Collection.

Jérome Legendre is the new Director of Food and Beverage at the Shangri-La Paris. He moves up from the position of Assistant Director of Food and Beverage to take over from Arnaud Duhem. Duhem, who had left the Park Hyatt Vendôme to open the Shangri-La, is leaving to focus on developing his own project.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Rajan Tata has announced he will be retiring as Chairman from the Tata Group next year. Poised to take his place is Cyrus Mistry, the son of Pallonji Mistry, Tata's largest shareholder.

Hospitality Marketing Concepts has named Octavio Gamarra Vice President and Managing Director for Asia Pacific. Gamarra was previously the Senior Vice-President for Dusit Hotels and Resorts. The Lausanne graduate is also a seventeen-year veteran of Ritz-Carlton, whose two most recent posts were as General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Osaka and General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore.

Hilton Worldwide has appointed Aman Sharma as Director, Food and Beverage Operations, based in New Delhi. For the past fourteen years, he was with Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces.

Castle Resorts & Hotels has named Robin Graf Vice President of Operations in Hawaii. He was most recently the General Manager of the Kauai Beach Resort.

LaTour Hotels and Resorts has appointed Guy Hall Vice President of Operations and Business Development Asia. He is the former Director of New Business Development and Regional Director of Operations with Grand Pacific Resorts in Carlsbad.

Lausanne graduate Pierre Perusset is now in Hong Kong overseeing the new Ritz-Carlton. For the past five years, he had served as Managing Director for both the Ritz-Carlton Jakarta and the JW Marriott Jakarta. He is the former General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Doha and Executive Assistant Manager Food and Beverage of the Ritz-Carlton Osaka.

After a two-year tenure with Oberoi as General Manager of Amarvilas, Nigel Badminton will be relocating to China in February to join Urban Resort Concepts as General Manager of the PuYu Hotel and Spa in Wuhan, due to open mid 2012.

Davide Barnes has been named Hotel Manager of the Pudong Shangri-La in Shanghai. He was most recently the Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. Barnes is the former Hotel Manager of the Four Seasons Philadelphia and General Manager at the Four Seasons Prague.

Carl Contractor has been promoted to Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Sydney. He joined the hotel last year as Food and Beverage Manager. He had previously overseen food and beverage for the Barhabour and the DoubleTree by Hilton New York.

Stuart Doust has been appointed Head Chef at the Four Seasons Sydney. He is the former Executive Chef at the Four Seasons Cairo at Nile Plaza.

Jonathan Bruell has taken the position of Kitchen and Beverage Director at the Observatory Hotel in Sydney. He is the former Executive Chef of the Quay Grand Suites, and the Sebel Pier One Sydney.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

Mahmoud El Keiy moves into operations with his promotion to Hotel Manager to join the Four Seasons Alexandria at San Stefano. He has been with the company for over ten years in sales positions including Sales Manager at the Four Seasons Sharm El Sheikh as Sales Manager and Director of Sales and Marketing at the Four Seasons Cairo at Nile Plaza.

Fouad Shafik has been promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing at the Four Seasons Sharm el Sheikh. He was most recently serving as Director of Sales.

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

The Boutique Search Firm
susana@boutiquesearchfirm.com
benoit@boutiquesearchfirm.com
lisa@boutiquesearchfirm.com

www.boutiquesearchfirm.com

HEADS above the Rest® is a copyrighted publication; redistribution is prohibited. Reprinted with permission.