Global Staff Movements: Who's where and doing what

Edited by Benoit Gateau-Cumin, President, The Boutique Search Firm
 
THE AMERICAS

Nikolay Hotze is the new Director of Food and Beverage at the Loews Miami Beach. He comes from the much smaller Tides, an Island Outpost property, also in Miami. He used to be the Assistant Food and Beverage Director at the Doral Miami, and also worked in Puerto Rico for about five years with at the El San Juan.

At Sandy Lane, exit Resident Manager Ilio Rodoni, who is replaced by Jan Tivaldi, a Swiss who was formerly the Rooms Director at the Four Seasons New York. Also gone from Sandy Lane is Chef de Cuisine Frederic Foster, who moved on to the Middle East, replaced by Michael Hinds, a Barbadian formerly of Daphne's. He just underwent several weeks of training with Marco Pierre White at London¹s Mirabelle and is taking over at the soon-to-be-renamed Acajou, the upscale restaurant at Sandy Lane, being totally re-designed by David Collins, the hot London designer.

French chef Philippe Reininger did not stay but six months at the Hotel Bel-Air in spite of a lot of hoopla made over his arrival: he is back with Ritz-Carlton, his former employer of eleven years. He is now top whisk at the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia, replacing opening Executive Chef Kai Lerman. Lerman transferred to the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach to the spot left vacant by the departure of Jean-Christophe Basseau a couple of months earlier. As for the Bel-Air, it has retained the temporary consulting services of one of its former chefs, George Mahaffey for the time being. He was the Executive Chef there from 1989 to 1992.

At Brad Korzen's Avalon in Beverly Hills Paul Birchall has been replaced as General Manager by Steven André. André is the hotel¹s fifth General Manager in three years and comes from the Kimpton Group in San Francisco

Christophe Emé has been named Chef de Cuisine at L'Orangerie in Los Angeles, where he replaces Ludovic Lefebvre. Emé, 34, was recently a Sous Chef at Cello in New York, (which closed its doors a few days ago) following a stellar career as Chef of L¹Auberge des Templiers in Les Bézards, Chef de Cuisine for the Normandie Grill at the Oriental in Bangkok, and Chef de Partie at Taillevent in Paris.

Hervé Pennequin is the new Sommelier at L¹Orangerie in Los Angeles. He was previously at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel in a similar capacity.

Tracy Larrua who was until recently the Director of Public Relations for the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey and the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, has moved on to the Century Plaza Los Angeles in the same capacity.

Christoph Zbinden has been promoted by Ritz-Carlton to Corporate Director of Hotel Openings, developing all food and beverage concepts for same and presiding over a task force any time a new property gets ready to open. He was previously the Director of Food and Beverage at the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia where his successor is John Reiman, formerly of the New York Marriott Marquis.

Stefan Schupbach will be the opening Executive Chef at the luxe Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch near Vail. He joins from the Ritz-Carlton Puerto Rico, and also worked for the company in Dubai and Wolsfburg.

Toni Robertson has left the Sonoma Mission Inn to join the Darden Restaurant Group, allegedly the largest restaurant company in the world (they do Olive Garden and those types of restaurants). Robertson, who is originally from Myanmar, is in charge of developing a top-secret restaurant concept. Since she used to be the Executive Chef at the Pan Pacific Singapore, one can only guess she will be doing so some sort of Panasian fusion cuisine. At the Sonoma Mission Inn she was replaced by Michael McDonald, formerly of Miami¹s Shore Club.

Christophe Gérard will be the opening Chef at Angèle, Bettina Rouas' new restaurant concept in the town of Napa, due to open in November. Gérard, a Frenchman, comes from the Park Plaza Gardens in Winter Park, Florida, and was the opening Executive Chef at the Tides on Miami¹s South Beach.

Speaking of The Tides, Roger Ruch was named Corporate Executive Chef of Island Outpost's eleven Hotels. He was previously the Executive Chef at The Tides, the company flagship. He originally joined the company as Executive Sous Chef at The Tides. He also served as Chef de Cuisine at The Peaks Resort and Golden Door Spa in Telluride, Colorado.

Mario Barroso is the Director of Engineering for Island Outpost's hotels on Miami's South Beach, based at The Tides. He was previously the Chief Engineer at Ian Schrager's Delano, also on South Beach.

Holly Waterbor is the new General Manager for the Benjamin, flagship property of New York's Manhattan East Suite Hotels. She was the Hotel Manager at the Omni Berkshire in New York, and was previously the Director of Sales at the New York Palace.

Ryan Crabbe is the Spa Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Tyson's Corner, replacing Aline Long who relocated to Atlanta. Crabbe joins from a similar position at Charlottesville's Boar¹s Head Inn.

Ulrich Samietz has been promoted to General Manager of the Park Hyatt Los Angeles. He replaces Cormack O'Modhrain, who will be the opening General Manager at the upcoming Grand Hyatt Huntington Beach.

Rob Stirling has joined the upcoming W San Diego Hotel as Director of Sales and Marketing. He joins from Hyatt with whom he spent fourteen years in Chesapeake, La Jolla, Dallas and New York.

Thomas Beaty is the latest Director of Food and Beverage at Earl Holding¹s Grand America in Salt Lake City. Beaty was previously the Director of Food and Beverage at the Ritz-Carlton St Louis, following a four-year stint in the same capacity for the Loews Ventana Canyon in Tucson.

Lynn Howard has recently been named Marketing Manager for the historic Nassau Inn in Princeton, New Jersey. She comes from the chic Shore Club in South Beach, Florida, where she launched the hotel as Public Relations Manager.

Brian Jones is Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Americas for Le Méridien. Prior to joining Le Méridien, he was Vice President of National Sales Offices at Loews Hotels.

Michael Dimond has returned to The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs as Senior Vice President of Marketing, after a ten-year absence, during which time he served as Senior Vice President of Marketing for Gaylord Entertainment in Nashville and then formed his own company, the Dimond Marketing Group. At the Broadmoor, Dimond replaces Perry Goodbar, who left after eight years on the job.

Margaret Thomas has joined the Hotel Sofitel Los Angeles as Front Office Manager after a two-year stint in the same capacity at the Hotel Bel-Air. Thomas previously spent eight years at what used to be the Hotel Inter-Continental Los Angeles (now the Omni Los Angeles).

>From snow to sand: David Roberts is the new General Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, following a fourteen-year tenure as General Manager of Chateau Whistler in Canada. He replaces John Toner.

Tobias Mattstedt¹s title at the 5,005-room MGM Grand Las Vegas, has changed from Vice President of Food and Beverage Operations to that of Vice President of Food and Beverage Development. As such he will personally research, develop and implement all new concepts for the hotel. He will also handle some non-food and beverage special projects, in order to ready himself for future opportunities within fast-growing MGM Mirage.

Eric Damidot is the new Executive Sous Chef at the Rio in Las Vegas. He recently left the Bellagio, where he had been the Executive Banquet Chef. Damidot, 32, used to be a Sous Chef at L'Orangerie in Los Angeles; he also worked  for Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco and Palm Beach.

Gael Cruchet was transferred by Ritz-Carlton from Executive Chef at the soon-to-reopen (and to me the one and only) Ritz-Carlton Boston, from the Ritz-Carlton St Thomas. Cruchet joined the company in 1996 as Chef de Cuisine at the Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey. In Boston, he will be joined by Chef de Cuisine Tony Esnault, currently the Sous Chef to Sylvain Portay at the award-winning Dining Room of the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco.

Karen Christensen transfers from Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Wailea Maui to the same position at the Four Seasons Resort Dallas. She is filling the spot left vacant when Win Person left to join the Bellagio in Las Vegas. In Wailea, Tim Gustie moves up one notch from Assistant Director of Food and Beverage to Director of Food and Beverage.

David Federico has left his post of Front Office Manager at Miami¹s Shore Club to take the position of Director of Front Office Operations at the Sonoma Mission Inn. Speaking of which, the Sonoma Mission Inn is expected to become a Fairmont property as of the end of this month. As for the Shore Club it is now operated by Ian Schrager Hotels, and has been shedding many a high salary including General Manager Craig Waterman, Spa Director Monica Charvet and Director of Sales and Marketing Jonathan Caplan.

At Four Seasons¹ Ritz-Carlton Chicago the new Food and Beverage Director is Gianluca Sparacino, former Director of Food and Beverage at the Grand Hyatt Jakarta. Sparacino also held food and beverage management positions at Grand Hyatts in Taipei, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

At the Four Seasons Palm Beach the new Director of Rooms is Cindy Racco, former Director of Rooms at the Four Seasons Philadelphia. Racco joined Four Seasons in 1998 after opening the Ritz-Carlton Puerto Rico. In Philadelphia her successor is Ann Schorno, coming from the pre-opening team of the Four Seasons Shanghai as Director of Rooms. Schorno was also the Director of Rooms at the Regent Singapore, and started her career with Four Seasons in Chicago.

At the Four Seasons Chicago Matthias Kiehm is Hotel Manager, coming from the Four Seasons Boston, where he was first Director of Food and Beverage and then Hotel Manager. Kiehm started with the group as Banquet Manager at the Regent Beverly Wilshire.

At the Four Seasons Boston the new Director of Rooms Operations is Rob Hagelberg, former Director of Rooms at the Four Seasons Houston since 1999.

Replacing Matthias Kiehm as Hotel Manager at the Four Seasons Boston is Thierry Kennel, formerly the Resort Manager at the Four Seasons Nevis. Kennel joined the group in 1989 in Houston. Before Nevis, he was the Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Maldives.

At the Four Seasons Bali Jimbaran Bay Stefan Killinger has been appointed Hotel Manager, coming from the Four Seasons Philadelphia where he was Director of Food and Beverage.

At Le Méridien Chicago, Hugues Jaquier has been replaced by Mario Masini, who had been the General Manager of Le Méridien New Orleans for a number of years.

Stéphane Chevet has been named Executive Sous Chef at the Sofitel Los Angeles. He came from Las Ventanas Al Paraiso in Mexico.

David McManus was named General Manager of the Eastgate Tower Hotel in New York City. He has been with Manhattan East Suite Hotels since 1997 and most recently he was Assistant General Manager of the Beekman Tower Hotel.  

Peter Shaindlin left Rosewood after eight years. As Managing Director of Little Dix Bay and Regional Vice President for the Caribbean, he oversaw the company's most dynamic region, which, at times, included as many properties as Little Dix Bay, Caneel Bay Plantation, Martineau Bay, Jumby Bay and Carénage. Shaindlin's first exposure to Little Dix Bay came in 1991 when he was the resort's Resident Manager under Rockresorts.

Joining the Hyatt Regency Acapulco as General Manager is Stefan Gaessler. He joined Hyatt in 1991 as a Corporate Trainee at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. He transferred to Cologne in 1992 then to Rabat, Puerto Vallarta, Jakarta, Pusan and Seoul, prior to his new posting in Acapulco.

Scott Evans, who was the pre-opening Director of Sales and Marketing for the Laguna Beach Colony Resort until it was sold to Montage (odd, odd name!) has rejoined the cocoon of Ritz-Carlton. He will be opening the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas early next year. Evans originally joined the company in 1997 at the "old" Ritz-Carlton New York.  He also ran sales and marketing for the Hotel Arts Barcelona and opened the Ritz-Carlton Puerto Rico. Replacing Evans at the Montage is Jeff Johnson, who comes from Destination Hotels and Resorts, following a ten-year stint at the Phoenician (where he worked under Montage CEO Alan Fuerstmann. Also gone from the Montage is Director of Sales Steven Janicek, who went into consulting with Exceptional Marketing, in Palm Desert. Taking Janicek¹s spot at Montage is Bob Frears, who comes from the Phoenician.

Ian Schrager Hotels announced that Sherry Harris has been appointed Senior Vice President for Human Resources. Harris was most recently with GE Capital. Previously, she held positions at MGM Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Estee Lauder, and FEB Leber Katz.

Rick Gonzalez is the new Chef de Cuisine at Silks at the Mandarin-Oriental San Francisco. He joins after a mere one-year tenure at Willow Creek at the Ritz-Carlton Club in Aspen. That followed a two-day (really!) tenure at the Hotel Bel-Air. Prior to that Gonzalez was the Chef de Cuisine at the award-winning restaurant of the Four Seasons Palm Beach.

Ronald Burleson is the latest General Manager at Noble House's Grove Isle Resort in Miami. He previously worked for Bill Freeman Associates and their Service Measurement Systems, based out of Dallas. Burleson has also been the General Manager of Cheeca Lodge in Islamorada and the Universal City Hilton.

Dan Reid who had been announced as joining Jumby Bay as General Manager, has instead joined Island Outpost as Vice President of Operations, initially in charge of the group¹s Bahamas Operations. Reid was the Regional Director for Amanresorts in Indonesia.

At Jumby Bay it is Peter Bowling who takes over as General Manager under Rosewood. He recently opened Villa Nova in Barbados as Managing Director. The property was ranked runner-up "Best New Boutique Hotel Worldwide" by Tatler. Prior to that, Bowling was the General Manager at Mustique¹s elite Cotton House. Bowling is coming home to Jumby Bay where he was the Director of Food and Beverage from 1986 through 1990.

Another Jumby Bay alumna, Mara Bouvier, is leaving her post as General Manager of the Inn at Morro Bay to join Island Outpost as General Manager of Strawberry Hill in Jamaica. Bouvier ran the restaurants at Jumby Bay from 1993 to 1997.

Suzanne Goldberg has been promoted to East Coast Director of Sales with Kerry Hotels. Her background includes Schrager Hotels, Wyndham and Fairmont.

Tony Bruno was named General Manager of the Disneyland Resort Hotels.

Bill Doak moved up to Hotel Manager at the Regent Beverly Wilshire. His successor as the hotel¹s Director of Sales and Marketing is Connie Williams, who joined Regent-Four Seasons following nine years with Fairmont.

Patty Donovan has been named Director of Leisure Sales for La Costa. Most recently she was Director of Leisure Sales for Li Ka Shing's oddly-named Our Lucaya Beach & Golf Resort on Grand Bahama Island. Previously, Donovan was Director of Leisure Sales for the Westin Rio Mar in Puerto Rico, and held similar positions with Walt Disney World¹s Swan and Dolphin in Orlando.

David Friedrich is the opening Director of Food and Beverage at the Westin Kirland in Phoenix. He was promoted to this position by Starwood from that of Food and Beverage Director at the Wigwam, also in the Phoenix Area. Friedrich previously spent eleven years with Four Seasons in Seattle, Newport Beach and Dallas.

Holger Frohlich is Executive Sous Chef at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, coming from the position of Executive Chef at the Brazilian Court in Palm Beach.

The Ritz-Carlton Tyson¹s Corner¹s Director of Food and Beverage David Rothwell has become the Director of Rooms Operations for the hotel, replacing Simon Chen who will be opening the Ritz-Carlton at Bachelor Gulch in Colorado as Director of Rooms. No new Director of Food and Beverage has been officially announced for Tyson¹s Corner.

Lynn Brutman joined the Four Seasons Newport Beach as Rooms Director from the Ritz Carlton Chicago where she was Assistant Director of Rooms. Prior to that, Brutman was the Front Office Manager   at the Four Seasons Atlanta since 1997.

Shaker Akbar went from Director of Sales at the Four Seasons Los Angeles to the Four Seasons Riyadh as opening Director of Marketing.

Scott Kronen has been appointed to the newly created position of Regional Director of Food and Beverage for China Grill Management. As such he is in charge of China Grill¹s operations in all Ian Schrager Hotels in New York as well as China Grill outlets in Miami. He was previously a Regional Director with Planet Hollywood.

Ron Vuy is the newly appointed General Manager of Dolce¹s National PGA Resort and Spa in Florida. He comes from Benchmark Management for whom he was most recently the General Manager and Vice President at the Lodge at Squaw Creek. Joining the team as Director of Sales & Marketing is Fred Edson, whose previous position was Director of Hotel Sales and Services for Colonial Williamsburg Company -Hospitality Group. No stranger to PGA National Resort & Spa, he was their National Sales Manager in the early nineties
   
Cedric Fasbender joins PGA as Resident Manager, transferring from Dolce¹s Heritage in Southbury, Connecticut and Tarrytown House in Tarrytown, New York, where he was Assistant General Manager.
Joseph Orichiella joins as Director of Food and Beverage, transferring from Dolce¹s Oak Brook Hills Resort outside Chicago. He previously worked for Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton.

Eric Scuiller is the Executive Chef at the Inverness resort in Colorado. He was previously the Executive Chef and Director of Food and Beverage at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Scuiller also was the opening Executive Chef for the Paris Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Jeffrey Solenberger is the new General Manager at the Inn at Beverly Hills. He comes from Barnabey's Hotel in Manhattan Beach.

At the upcoming Ambrose in Santa Monica, the General Manager is Dan Howery, formerly of Luxe Hotels and the Fairmont Princess in Scottsdale

Spa Director Ann Emich has followed General Manager Ulrich Krauer from the Sonoma Mission Inn to the St Regis Monarch Beach. Emich had been a consultant to Atlantis in the Bahamas, after being the opening Spa Director at Bacara in Santa Barbara.

Jeffrey Kohl, who was Ann Emich¹s predecessor at the Sonoma Mission Inn, is now the Director of Spa Operations for Princess Cruises.

Carlos Molinet was named General Manager of the Wyndham Grand Bay in Coconut Grove. He was most recently General Manager of the Wyndham Bel-Age. Thomas Carney is the new Director of Sales for Wyndham Grand Bay. He previously served as Director of Convention Sales for the Fort Worth Convention & Visitor Bureau.  

Michael Erickson has left Four Seasons in Los Angeles to become Vice President of Sales for KSL. He will be reporting to the equally newly hired Arthur Berg, formerly Vice President of Sales at Rosewood.

Cindy Gagle is the Director of Marketing and Sales for the Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance Resort, following a five-year stint with Noble House's Sunburst resort in Phoenix, in the same capacity.

Chef Jon Mathieson is leaving Kimpton's newest hotel, the Monaco in Washington DC a mere few weeks after its opening. He is going for his lifelong dream, and will be opening his own restaurant (tentatively named Victoria) in Brookfield Connecticut. His wife will man the front of the house. Prior to joining Kimpton, Mathieson was for over three years the Chef at the tony Stonehenge Inn in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts. He also logged five and a half years under Gray Kunz at New York¹s Lespinasse.

Javier Ferreyra is the new Executive Pastry Chef at the Real Inter-Continental Guatemala. He is the former Pastry Chef at the Conrad Punta del Este in Uruguay.

At the Pan Pacific San Francisco, Laurent Desbat is Restaurant Manager and Wine Director. He was previously at La Folie in San Francisco.

Bora Goymen was promoted by Raffles Swissôtel from Revenue Manager at the former Swissôtel Watergate (now operated as an independent by owners the Blackstone Group, as in Savoy Group) to Director of Rooms at Raffles L¹Ermitage in Beverly Hills. Goymen originally joined the group eleven years ago in his native Turkey, at the Swissôtel Istanbul the Bosphorus.

Alfonso Jarquin has been appointed General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Merida. He joined Hyatt International in 1992 as Director of Rooms for the Hyatt Regency Villahermosa where he was subsequently appointed Director of Sales and Marketing in 1994.  After a stint with Fiesta Americana, Jarquin rejoined Hyatt in 2001 as Director of Rooms and Marketing for the Hyatt Regency Merida. He takes over as General Manager from Kamal Chaoui who left the company to join Banyan Tree in Phuket.

Mark Sergot was promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing for the Fairmont Chicago. Sergot joined the Fairmont Chicago as Director of Group Sales in January 2001. Prior to joining the Fairmont Chicago, he was Director of Group Sales for the Sheraton Hotel & Towers in Chicago.

Todd Arviso has joined Accor as Corporate Director of Hotel Sales, North America, reporting directly to Don Kelly.  Todd brings more than 12 years of hotel experience, most recently in a similar position with Destination Hotels & Resorts.  

Laurie Cardenuto was appointed Director of Sales & Marketing at the Marco Island Marriott Resort, Golf Club & Spa. She was formerly the Senior Director of Strategic Alliances for Marriott Vacation Club International.

John Santaniello was Named Vice President & General Manager of the Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel & Conference Center. He most recently was General Manager for Keystone. Prior to Keystone, Santaniello was General Manager for Laguna Brisas Spa Hotel in Laguna Beach.

Jeff Bloom was named Director of Sales and Marketing for the World Golf Village Renaissance Resort in St. Augustine, Florida. Most recently, he served as Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for Philadelphia-based GF Management. He also served as General Manager for the Doubletree Hotel in the Gardens in Palm Beach Gardens,  


ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Mark Keith has joined HVS Executive Search as the Managing Director of their newly launched Hong Kong office. It is the second time Keith tries his hand at executive search. He had done so a few years back upon leaving Mandarin-Oriental. He recently left Peninsula where he was General Manager of Human Resources. Peninsula recently hired its Chicago General Manager through HVS. At Peninsula¹s home office Keith¹s successor is Zuleika Mok, formerly the Director of Human Resources at the Peninsula Hong Kong. Also gone from the group is Keith¹s former right-hand man Gilbert Ching, formerly Peninsula's Corporate Director of Training. He left after six years to become the Director of Human Resources for the Hong Kong Tourist Office. Prior to Peninsula he has been with Hyatt International.

At the Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort Pam & Jacques Brouchier left as Co-General Managers to be replaced by Jean-Marc Pétin, who transferred from the Aitutaki Resort in the Cook Islands, also a Pearl Resort.

Jean-Luc Martin is the Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort¹s new Food and Beverage Manager, replacing Jean Jadas. Martin joins from Daniel Boulud¹s mini-empire in New York, where he started out as Back of the House Manager at  Restaurant Daniel prior to becoming the Manager at Café Boulud. Also at the Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort, the new Pastry Chef is Gilles Ballay, formerly the Assistant Pastry Chef at Le Cirque at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Ballay also was the Pastry Chef at Jean Denoyer¹s Orsay in New York.

Lorraine Flacks has been appointed Director of Sales for Orient-Express¹ Bora Bora Lagoon Resort, based out of its Los Angeles sales office. Until recently, she was a Regional Director of Sales for Regent International Hotels, following a prior three-year stint in a similar capacity for Conrad International Hotels.

Also at Orient-Express¹s Bora Bora Lagoon Resort, Executive Chef Jean-Paul Lucy left after one year on the job. His successor is Franck Lamache, who was for the past nine months the Chef de Cuisine at Jean-François Méteigner¹s La Cachette in Los Angeles. Lamache also spent two years with award-winning Chef Gunter Seeger in his namesake restaurant in Atlanta. Joining him as Executive Sous Chef is Damien Rinaldi, who spent the past eighteen months as Sous Chef at the esteemed Relais Gourmand L¹Orangerie in Los Angeles.

Abid Butt has left Banyan Tree where he was the Vice President of Operations. He concurrently held the position of General Manager of the company flagship, the Banyan Tree Phuket. Taking over some of Butt¹s regional responsibilities is James Batt who has been the Managing Director of Thai Wah Development (the development arm of Banyan Tree in Thailand). Taking over as General Manager of the Banyan Tree Phuket is Kamal Chaoui. Chaoui comes on board following a sixteen-year career with Hyatt International. His last position was that of General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Merida in Mexico. He also was the General Manager of Hyatt properties in Australia, Jakarta and Tahiti. Chaoui, a French Moroccan, also held management posts for Hyatt in Chili, Bali, Malaysia and Morocco.

Caroline Mir is the opening Executive Housekeeper at the Luxury Collection Bora Bora Nui Resort. She held a similar post at Paris' chic Pavillon de La Reine. She also was the Assistant Executive Housekeeper at the Royal Luxembourg, and was a Housekeeping Supervisor at Paris' George Cinq.

Carol Gordon was appointed Director of Sales for Vanuatu and New Caledonia by Six Continents, based in Sydney. She will be selling the Crowne Plaza Vanuatu Resort, Parkroyal Noumea, Parkroyal Escapade Island, Noumea and Le Pacifique Hotel, Noumea. She was previously Product Manager, South Pacific with Venture Holidays Australia.

Dorin Schuster is leaving his position of Executive Chef at the Legian Bali, after three years to become the Manager of the Financial Club in Jakarta.

At Amanresorts in Asia, a few positions were shuffled following the departure of Dan Reid to Island Outpost. Guy Heywood from Amankila was promoted to Reid¹s position as the Regional Director for Indonesia, based at Amanusa. His replacements at Amankila are a couple, Ross and Sunny Lusted, who come from the Grand Hyatt Singapore. John Reed, a Cornell graduate and the General Manager of Amandari, will be leaving in October to go open the new Amanresort in Bhutan.

At Mauna Lani, on the Big Island of Hawaii, Francis Ulep is the new Chef de Cuisine of the CanoeHouse restaurant He comes from the Island of Lana'i, where he was Chef de Cuisine of Ihilani at the Manele Bay Hotel.

At Spago Maui, located within the Four Seasons Wailea, the new General Manager is Michael Lowney, who comes from Las Vegas where he was already a Manager for the Spago Group.

Ed Brea is Hotel Manager of Shangri-La Hotel Singapore. He was most recently with the Island Shangri-La Hong Kong as Hotel Manager, a position he held since August 2000. Prior to that, he was Resident Manager at the Grand Hyatt Taipei.

Jim Kostecky, a Cornell graduate, is the new Resort Manager at the Four Seasons Hualalai on the Big Island of Hawaii. He replaces Dean Hyry who moves on to the Four Seasons Aviara. Most recently, Kostecky was the General Manager at Island Outpost¹s flagship, The Tides in Miami for two and a half years. Hyry had joined Four Seasons in January 1999, from the Kahala Mandarin-Oriental on Oahu.

Pastry Chef Guillaume Bonnety is moving up within the Oberoi empire: after two years as Pastry Chef at the Oberoi Delhi, he will be in charge of two properties in Mumbai, with a third one opening next year, for a combined total of 1,500 rooms and 12 restaurants.

Also with Oberoi, Jean-Christophe Basseau is the opening Executive Chef for Udaivilas, the group¹s fanciest ever resort property, located in Rajasthan. Basseau was most recently the Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach. Prior to joining Ritz-Carlton, he spent four years with Four Seasons in Newport Beach, and five with Méridien in Paris, Africa, the Middle East and California.

Tim Ananiadis is the new General Manager of the Grand Hyatt Mumbai.  Ananiadis transferred to Hyatt International in 1999 from Hyatt Hotels Corporation after a 20-year career in the United States.  Ananiadis' first international appointment was as General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki in Greece.

Six Continents Hotels has appointed Jan Smits Director of Operations to oversee its operations in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Smits was most recently General Manager Hotels & Resorts for Rydges. He also spent 14 years with Southern Pacific Hotels - which were later acquired by Six Continents Hotels.


MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

Peter Wynne, former General Manager at Begawan Giri in Bali, is the new General Manager at Lemuria
Resort on the island of Praslin in the Seychelles. His predecessor as General Manager of Lemuria transferred to a sister property, Le Prince Maurice on Mauritius, to replace Patrick Finet, who left the company.

Reinhold Nagler is the opening Executive Chef for the Four Seasons Riyadh. He comes from the Ritz-Carlton Wolfsburg where he can be credited for earning the first ever Michelin star for the company. Nagler had originally joined Ritz-Carlton as Executive Sous Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington in Pasadena. Prior to that he was with Peninsula, first at the Palace in Beijing, later at the Kowloon Hotel in Hong Kong.

Francis Jud is Financial Controller for the Salam Hotel Chain in Morocco. He previously spent five years with the German Group Aldiana/Paradiana, based in Senegal. Judd was also the Financial Controller for the Hotel Inter-Continental Kinshasa.

Erich Kaiserseder will be opening Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage for the fancy new Shangri-La Dubai. Kaiserseder transfers from the Shangri-La Edsa Plaza in Manila. He previously was with Ritz-Carlton in Marina Del Rey, Dusseldorf, Shanghai, Bali and Singapore.

Guy Crawford was named Corporate Director of Operations for Jumeirah International. Crawford joined Jumeirah International from Heritage/ Macdonald Hotels where he held the position of Managing Director. Before taking up his assignment with Heritage/Macdonald Hotels, he held the position of Managing Director for Heritage Hotels, a division of the Forte Hotel Group. He held various senior management positions during his twenty-two years with the Forte and Le Méridien Hotel Group and has been based in South America, Monaco, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Morocco, the Bahamas and Belgium.

Nadège Kollhoff left Méridien, where she was, out of Paris, selling its Polynesian and South Pacific properties, to become the Director of Sales at the Hotel La Croix du Sud in Mauritius.

Pierre Perusset has been transferred by Ritz-Carlton to General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Doha in Qatar. Perusset, a Swiss who graduated from the Ecole Hotelière de Lausanne, had joined Ritz-Carlton in July 1999, from Regent International Hotels, with whom he had spent eight years in Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

Eric Brand has joined Movenpick as General Manager of a yet-to-be-announced hotel in the Middle East. He had recently briefly been the General Manager of the Sukhothai in Bangkok following five years at the Windsor in Melbourne and two years at the Hotel Shilla in Seoul, also as General Manager.


EUROPE

René Beauchamp has been appointed General Manager of the Four Seasons Prag, coming from the Four Seasons New York where he had been the Hotel Manager for the past two years. Beauchamp, a Canadian, joined Four Seasons in 1980 and held different positions in Rooms Operations there and in Chicago prior to his New York posting. In Prag, Beauchamp takes over from Ignacio Gomez-Tobar, who moves to Miami as Regional Vice President in charge - among other things - of the opening (in 2003) of the Four Seasons Miami. Gomez joined the company in 1992, from the position of General Manager at what was then the Kahala Hilton in Hawaii.

Christophe Aldunate has been hired as Hotel Manager at the Hôtel Martinez in Cannes, reporting to General Manager Sylvain Ercoli. He takes the post left vacant when Charles Bourdin accepted to become the General Manager of the Hotels Balzac and de Vigny in Paris. Aldunate, 29, comes from the Gray D¹Albion, also in Cannes, where he was Executive Assistant Manager.

At Brussels-based Radisson SAS, Michel Schutzbach, former General Manager of the SAS Radisson Nice since September 2000, becomes Vice President of Human Resources for the company. Florian Meyer-Thoene takes over as General Manager in Nice. He was previously the General Manager of the Radisson SAS Schwarze Block Hôtel in Wiesbaden, since 1997.

Arnaud Battini leaves Paris¹ Hôtel Montalembert after three years to be the Restaurant Manager at the very new Park Hyatt Paris Vendôme.

In Italy, the new General Manager at Le Méridien Rimini is Mario Murtas, who was previously the Director of Sales at the Royal Méridien Excelsior Gallia in Milan. He had joined the Excelsior in 1993.

Bruno Mercadal is the new General Manager at the Royal Riviera in St Jean Cap  Ferrat, replacing Michel-André Potier, who will be retiring. Mercadal comes from Monaco¹s Société des Bains de Mer where he spent six years,  first as General Manager of the Hotel Mirabeau, then as Director of Marketing for the  group.

Jérôme Coltier is the new Controller at the Mandarin-Oriental Hotel du Rhône, in Geneva, joining after six years in the same capacity at Orient-Express¹ La Samanna in St Martin. Coltier's replacement at La Samanna is Patrick Izoard, who had recently been the Controller at Cotton House on Mustique.

Now that Swissôtel no longer manages the Watergate, General Manager Jan Chovanec has been transferred to the Swissôtel Istanbul the Bosphorus, also as General Manager, replacing Albert Hoffmann.

Jean-Claude Annen is the new General Manager at the Grand-Hôtel du Domaine de Divonne, in France. He was previously the General Manager of the Hôtel Royal Plaza in Montreux, Switzerland. In Divonne, he replaces Alain Mansion.

Frank Bannenberg is the new Food and Beverage Manager at Grace Leo-Andrieu's Hotel Bel-Ami in Paris. He was prior to that the Assistant Food and Beverage Manager at the Grand Hills Village Resort in Lebanon. He also worked at the Royal Méridien Bahrain as Manager of Restaurants.

Juergen von Massow has been appointed General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki in Greece.  He originally joined Hyatt in 1988 in Dubai.  After further stints in Cologne, Cancun, Guadalajara and Jakarta, he had his first General Manager posting in Yogjakarta. Prior to Thessaloniki, he  also was the General Manager in Mainz and Acapulco.

Pascal Leprou is the new General Manager of the Hotel Columbus in Monaco. He did not come from very far, since he was the General Manager of the Hotel Mirabeau  for the Société des Bains de Mer. Prior to arriving in the principality in October 1999, Leprou was the Hotel Manager at the Hyatt Regency Almaty, in lovely Khazakstan.

 
 
Edited by Benoit Gateau-Cumin
President
The Boutique Search Firm
http://www.boutiquesearchfirm.com/

‘Demanding’ London hits M&C profits

e-Tid.com  -  Surrey-based Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, which owns or operates 91 properties in 13 countries worldwide, today reported a 55% fall in first-half pretax profits to £25.6m, from £46.2m last year.
Turnover dropped from £313.5m to £283.8m, while sales decreased by 9.4% year-on-year to £283.8m. Average occupancy was down 1 point at 66%.
The group said overall revenue per available room (revPAR) improved during the first six months of the year, largely due to a 13% rise in Australasia. However, Europe saw a 9% decline in room revenue and London continued to be ‘demanding’, with an 11% fall, as tourists replaced business travellers post-11 September.
In New York, occupancy rose from 76% to 83%, but average room rate dropped £30 to £121. London and New York together account for around one-third of M&C’s total profits.
M&C chairman, Kwek Leng Beng, said the group’s first-half performance demonstrated an effective response to the prevailing market conditions. ‘We have driven sales at a local level, thereby maintaining and increasing market share, in addition to monitoring our cost saving initiatives,’ he said.
‘We have begun the second half in line with our expectations and remain confident that the group's performance in 2002 will be ahead of last year.’
Leng Beng added that M&C was currently on the acquisition trail, seeking properties in major hubs, including Bangkok, Tokyo and possibly Beijing and Shanghai.

Monterey Peninsula Market Overview

Written By: Rachel White   HVS International

In 2001, the Monterey market area felt the effects and aftershocks of many of the same events that caused occupancies to plummet in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. The Salinas-Monterey market was one of five California markets, out of 22, to experience occupancy declines in the double digits, and one of only four markets to experience a decline in average room rate. According to Smith Travel Research overall occupancy in the Salinas-Monterey area declined from 71.8% for year-end 2000 to 63.0% for year-end 2001, representing a decline of 12.3%. Average rate moved in tandem with occupancy and dropped 2.2% from $116.49 in 2000 to $113.92 in 2001. The end result was a 13.4% decline in room revenue, the sharpest decline of any of the 22 California lodging markets studied.

Year-to-date data, through the first five months of 2002, show modest declines in occupancy (2.6%), average rate (2.6%), and room revenue (4.7%). In terms of occupancy, the outlook is favorable for the year as occupancies will likely finish above last year in the third and fourth quarters of 2002 resulting in a year-end occupancy above that earned in 2001. Average rate growth is less likely however, as average rate through May 2002 was $2.78 below the average at the same time last year.     

The Monterey Peninsula lodging market includes properties located in Carmel, Marina, Big Sur, Pacific Grove, Salinas, Seaside, and the city of Monterey. The peninsula includes a range of lodging products, from the motels in the inland markets of Seaside, Del Rey Oaks, and Monterey, to the upscale resorts associated with Pebble Beach, Carmel, and Big Sur. As of January 2002 the area supported 151 hotels with 8,618 hotel rooms; of these, 59 hotels with 4,380 hotel rooms are located in Monterey.  

Due to high barriers to entry into the market, including limited space in areas zoned for lodging development, supply growth has been limited during the past decade. The city of Monterey has a moratorium on development that makes the probability of future development, beyond what is already approved, unlikely. According to officials at the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau, approximately 1,000 new hotel rooms have been approved in five different projects throughout the county over the next few years. Among the projected new supply is a 230-room upscale hotel that is approved for a vacant parcel of land on Cannery Row. This property will be the last new lodging development in the city of Monterey unless the city’s charter is amended. The extremely high barriers to entry into the lodging market throughout Monterey County will always keep the number of lodging facilities limited. As a result, the Monterey Peninsula will be able to maintain the small seaside community atmosphere that is so attractive to visitors today.       

Monterey County is located at the approximate midpoint of California’s Pacific coast, placing it within easy driving distance from most of Northern California and the Central Valley. According the officials at the Monterey County Convention & Visitors Bureau, roughly 62% of visitation to the Monterey Peninsula was generated from the San Francisco Bay Area (in 2000). The tourism industry in Monterey benefited greatly during the latter half of the 1990s from its location proximate to the bastions of high technology. Monterey’s market mix was evenly split between the leisure and meeting and group segments. Individuals in the San Francisco Bay area used Monterey as a personal escape while firms located in the area used Monterey for company retreats. Monterey has also long been a favorite with government associations as it has historically been more affordable than larger convention cities such as San Francisco. While the San Francisco Bay Area will continue to be a primary feeder market to the Monterey Peninsula, in times of limited demand, the area is striving to market itself to other demand sources.

Due to the large percentage of business from the greater Bay Area, particularly from Silicon Valley and San Jose, Monterey felt the effects of the weakening economy earlier than other parts of the state. By April 2001, the decline in occupancy percentage was in the double digits, compared to the same month in 2000. Percentage occupancy decline, compared to the same month in the prior year, would remain in the double digits through the summer. At summer’s end, the events of September 11^th and the ensuing proclivity to stay at home further wounded the lodging market. 

The Monterey Peninsula lodging market was the beneficiary of significant increased demand during the latter half of the 1990s, particularly from the burgeoning technology industry located within a two-hour drive. Hoteliers used this increased demand to foster above-inflationary average rate growth for five consecutive years. The icing on the cake was the hosting of the US Open Golf Championship in 2000, which provided opportunity for a roundly 12% rate increase from the previous year. A challenge now facing hoteliers in the area will be to maintain the high average rates that they have been able to charge in recent years. If the average rate trend from the early 1990s is any indication, rate growth may be extremely tough to come by over the next few years.

Despite the current melancholy, overall, the Monterey lodging market is in an enviable position. Though the slump in demand has been felt deeply in the area, the limited supply will allow a faster recovery and lack of new supply will lead to above-inflationary rate growth in the long term.             

Orient-Express Hotels Announces Second Quarter and Six Months Results

Orient-Express Hotels Ltd., luxury hotel, restaurant, tourist train and river cruise ship operator announced its results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2002. Net earnings were $11.6 million ($0.38 per common share) in the second quarter compared with $14.4 million ($0.47 per common share) in the second quarter of 2001. Revenue was up 3% to $79.1 million compared with $76.7 million in the year earlier period.

For the six months ended June 30, 2002 net income was $12.0 million ($0.39 per common share) on revenue of $132.8 million, compared with net income of $19.3 million ($0.62 per common share) on revenue of $134.6 million in the year earlier period.

Mr. James B. Sherwood, Chairman, said that the second quarter had performed to expectation. Lower earnings year on year were due to the lingering effects of September 11th and the conscious decision of the company to close the Inn at Perry Cabin for construction which is doubling the number of keys, and delayed openings at the Villa San Michele for major rooms addition and at the Hotel Cipriani, also because of major works at the property.

He indicated that same store RevPAR in the second quarter was down 8% from the year earlier period, indicating continuing recovery from September 11th. Same store RevPAR was down 17% in the fourth quarter of 2001 and 12% in the first quarter of 2002. He said that second quarter earnings were in line with "street consensus".

Mr. Sherwood indicated that travel patterns had remained unchanged from previous observations, meaning that Americans and Japanese seem to be less on the move to overseas destinations, with arrivals of Americans in Europe down about 20% from the same period of 2001. Travel by Europeans within Europe is strong, as is travel by Americans within the U.S.

Business travel in the U.S. also seems weaker as many of the IT and telecoms companies reduce spending. Orient-Express Hotels differs from many of its competitors in that 65% of its guests are leisure as distinct from business travellers.

Mr. Sherwood said that negotiations were progressing satisfactorily with respect to acquisition of additional properties in the U.S., Europe and Asia but it is unlikely that any will be concluded until later in the year so there would be no earnings implications for 2002.

Mr. Sherwood advised that effective July 22, 2002 a subsidiary of Orient- Express Hotels had acquired 18,044,478 Class B shares in Orient-Express Hotels from Sea Containers Ltd. under an agreement that had been put in place before the initial public offering of Orient-Express Hotels in August 2000. These shares may be voted by the subsidiary but are not counted for purposes of earnings per share calculations in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting practices, while the subsidiary owns them.

The significance of this transaction is twofold. First, voting control of Orient-Express Hotels is no longer in the hands of Sea Containers Ltd., and second, in a takeover situation, the board of Orient-Express Hotels' subsidiary holding the Class B shares would be able to assure the highest price was achieved for all shareholders.

Mr. Simon M.C. Sherwood, President, summarized the second quarter results as follows:

Owned European hotels. EBITDA was $11.4 million compared with $11.8 million in the second quarter of 2001. Weakness in Italian hotels caused by closures and less arrivals from the U.S. was offset by earnings from Le Manoir and La Residencia, both acquired early in 2002.

Owned North American hotels. EBITDA was $3.6 million compared with $4.8 million in the prior year period. La Samanna was particularly hard hit by September 11th and closure of the Inn at Perry Cabin was also a factor.

Owned Southern Africa hotels. EBITDA was $0.2 million, up from a loss of $0.1 million in the prior year period. Southern Africa is showing strong growth and the South African Rand has strengthened although it is still lower in value than in 2001.

Owned South American hotels. EBITDA was $1.2 million, down from $1.6 million in the prior year period due to continued weakness in the Brazilian Real and less business travel to South America, reflecting economic concerns in the region.

Owned South Pacific hotels. EBITDA was $0.4 million compared with $0.8 million. These long haul destinations have been badly hit by September 11th.

Management and part ownership interests. EBITDA was $3.6 million compared with $3.3 million in the year earlier period, reflecting solid performance from Charleston Place and improved results at Peruvian hotels.

Restaurants. EBITDA was $1.4 million, unchanged from the year earlier period.

Tourist trains and river cruise ship. EBITDA was $3.7 million compared with $3.5 million in the year earlier period. European tourist trains were ahead of the year earlier period.

Simon Sherwood indicated that same store RevPAR in the second quarter was $169 compared with $184 in the second quarter of 2001. Rooms sold were 117,000, the same as in the year earlier period and ADR was $291 compared with $300.

He indicated that work is proceeding on both the La Cabana restaurant in Buenos Aires and the Hotel Caruso in Ravello, Italy with a view to opening both properties in 2003. Tourism to Argentina is rising rapidly in the wake of the devalued peso. The Amalfi coast is still experiencing a shortage of five star hotel accommodation.

He said that booking patterns remain unpredictable due to stock market and recession jitters, with last minute bookings becoming the norm rather than the exception. Nonetheless, the company's properties seem to fill. He said that the company had just acquired six beautiful "Shasta" cars for a new day trip tourist train operation in the U.S. The train will be based in New York City and will be operated in much the same way as the British Pullman train is operated out of London.

He stressed that the company has a very well balanced portfolio of 41 properties in 16 countries and is not over-dependent on any one market. He said that the company's strategy of investing in hotels capable of expansion is paying dividends and that much of the company's future investment would be directed to this.

He concluded by repeating management's earlier forecast that same store RevPAR is expected to be higher in the third and fourth quarters compared with 2001 and net earnings for the year are expected to exceed those of 2001 when the company had net income of $30 million ($0.97 per common share).

For further information, visit 
http://www.orient-express.com