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THE AMERICAS

Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts North America has named Steve Halliday President. Halliday has held many key management positions with Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts since 1984, including opening the Pan Pacific Vancouver in 1986, General Manager of the Pan Pacific Singapore, Executive Vice President of Operations and Marketing at Pan Pacific's Corporate Office in Singapore, and most recently, as Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts North America Senior Vice President.

Randy Morton has been promoted to President of the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas and will be in charge of upgrading the entire property to a much higher level of service and quality of food and beverage. Morton has his work cut out for him having previously been the Vice President Hotel Operations at Bellagio since 2000 following a twenty-one-year career with Four Seasons.

Gary Seibert has been named Area Vice President and Managing Director for Hilton in Hawaii, overseeing the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Doubletree Alana Waikiki and Hilton Waikoloa Village starting in June. Seibert has been serving as Area Vice President for Hilton Hotels Corporation and General Manager of the Palmer House Hilton since 2000.

Changes at HotelsAB where Andrew Zobler, Vice President Development, is gone; so is Chief Financial Officer Roberta Griffin. Also gone is David Lemmond, former General Manager of the yet-to-open Miami Standard who returns to the West Coast as Assistant General Manager at the Viceroy in Santa Monica for the Kor Group. Laurent Fraticelli, who was the General Manager of the Standard Hollywood prior to becoming the General Manager of the Standard Downtown LA, will be the opening General Manager of the Standard Miami, replacing Lemmond. As for Fraticelli’s successor at the Standard Downtown LA, he is Karim El Raheb, who was previously the hotel’s Assistant General Manager.

Brian Biggs has joined the CB Richard Ellis Hotels Group in Orlando as Senior Vice President. Biggs, a CPA, was previously the principal of his own Sunago CPSA Group, also in Orlando. He also spent ten years with Four Seasons in Dallas, Philadelphia, New York (the Pierre) and at the Four Seasons Nevis, where he was the Director of Finance.

At Nantucket Resorts, Bettina Landt is the General Manager of the Wauwinet. Formerly, as co-innkeeper since 2002, she had shared the duties with her husband Eric Landt who was recently named General Manager at the Jared Coffin House. Prior to her current role, Landt served as co-innkeeper of the Castle at Tarrytown in New York.

Scott Stuckey has been named General Manager of the Omni Jacksonville Hotel. Stuckey most recently served as General Manager of the Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown and was previously the General Manager of the Calgary Marriott Hotel and at the Hickory Ridge Marriott Conference Hotel.

Xavier Lividini has joined Miami’s Hotel Mutiny as General Manager. Lividini was most recently an Area Director of Sales and Marketing for Real InterContinental Hoteles based at the InterContinental Miami Airport. Lividini also served as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Mayfair House in Coconut Grove and the Condado Plaza Hotel and Casino in Puerto Rico.

Jon Kimball, a Cornell graduate, is transferring to the Westin St. Francis as General Manager. A former Hyatt man, Kimball has been with Starwood since 1995, starting as Director of Operations at the Westin Century Plaza. He then became General Manager at the Westin at Los Angeles International Airport, prior to being assigned to open the 700-room Westin Charlotte Convention Center.

Jacques Roy has been named Regional Director of Operations at Group Playa del Sol Mexico. Roy was previously with Starwood for three years, most recently opening the Atlantic in Fort Lauderdale. Roy also ran the W Honolulu following his run as opening General Manager of the Bora Bora Nui Resort.

Contrary to what we announced mistakenly in our May Newsletter, James Horsman remains the General Manager at the Nine Zero Hotel in Boston. Roland Maldonado, who had been the Director of Operations at the Nine Zero for over two years, has been promoted to General Manager at the Hamilton Park Hotel in New Jersey, a property recently taken over by Destination Hotels and Resorts. Thomas Holtmann, who had been the Director of Rooms at Nine Zero, has been promoted to Director of Operations.

Roland Maldonado has been promoted to General Manager at the hotel Nine Zero in Boston. He had been the Director of Operations at the property for over two years and previously worked as Director of Food and Beverage at Destination’s Vail Cascade Resort. Thomas Holtmann who had been the Director of Rooms at Nine Zero has been promoted to Director of Operations. Holtmann previously worked for Ritz-Carlton in their Boston, Dubai and St. Louis properties.

Christopher Alto transfers as General Manager of the Melrose in Washington, D.C. Alto comes to Washington, D.C. after almost four years as General Manager of the Melrose in Dallas.

Heather Strauss joins Prime Hotels and Resorts as General Manager of the Hilton Hasbrouk Heights. Strauss was previously in the same position at Elk Mountain Resort in Telluride.

Mark Neubert leaves the Mina Group in San Francisco to join the Hotel Andalucia in Santa Barbara as General Manager. The Andalucia is part of the Edward Thomas Hospitality Corporation, the operators of Shutters on the Beach and Casa Del Mar in Santa Monica, where Neubert once was a Director of Food and Beverage.

Armin Schroecker, General Manager of the Hilton Toronto, has been promoted to the position of Regional Director Canada for Hilton International. Prior to joining the Hilton Toronto in March 2004, he was the General Manager of London's Langham Hilton.

Mark Francis Osborne has joined Le Méridien Sunny Isles Beach in Miami as General Manager. Osborne has worked for Le Méridien since 1999, overseeing multiple operations throughout Europe.

Ian Wilson has been promoted to General Manager of the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto. He replaces Francisco Gomez who has transferred to the Fairmont San Francisco as Regional Vice President and General Manager. Wilson was formerly the Hotel Manager and before joining the property, Wilson served as Executive Director, Distribution Management, for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.

In Bermuda, Robin Gilbert is the new General Manager of the newly renovated South Shore Hotel, replacing Andrea Jennings who has left the company. In 2004, Gilbert was taken on as a consultant by Coco Reef’s owner John Jefferis to assist in the transition and construction phase of the property.

Ed Burke has been appointed General Manager for the Omni Charlotte Hotel. Burke most recently served with Interstate Hotels and Resorts as Corporate Director of Room Operations and Brand Assurance.

Gabriel Ratner has joined the Oceana in Santa Monica as General Manager replacing Patricia Yates who has left the company. Ratner comes from the Sagamore in Miami where he was the Operations Manager. He previously spent six years with Four Seasons in Las Vegas and Palm Beach.

Cliff Martine is the new General Manager of the Oceana Santa Barbara. Martine was previously Assistant General Manager at the Torrance Hilton.

Robert Van Eerde has been appointed General Manager of the Raleigh on Miami’s South Beach. Van Eerde hails from Ireland where he was the General Manager at the Clarence in Dublin. He also previously ran Skibo Castle in Scotland.

Sileshi Mengiste is the new General Manager at the Pan Pacific San Francisco replacing Jacques Villeneuve. Mengiste was formerly the Executive Director of Hotel Operations at Wynn Las Vegas. He also served as General Manager at the St. Regis Houston, and at San Francisco’s Clift.

Eliezer Quinones is the new Hotel Manager at the Peabody in Memphis. He was previously the Director of Rooms Division at the Lodge at Sea Island and worked with Ritz-Carlton as Executive Assistant Manager, Rooms Division at the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas and at the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas.

René Peter will join Silversea Cruise Line on the Silver Shadow as Hotel Director. Peter was previously the Hotel Manager on the World of ResidenSea.

Andrew Mace has been appointed Hotel Director with Carnival Cruise Lines in Miami. He was previously a Vice President with Passkey International in Boston.

Rudy Sharp has been named Resort Manager at the Hollows at Lake Travis in Texas. He was previously the General Manager at the Depot in Minneapolis and also served as the General Manager and Director of Sales Marketing of the Magnolia in Dallas. The Hollows is one of the first condo-hotel projects of newly-formed Centex Hospitality, a subsidiary of Centex Destination Resorts.

Deepak Mehra is the new Director of Operations at Raffles L'Ermitage Beverly Hills. He was previously the Director of Rooms Operations at the Hilton Checkers Los Angeles. Prior experience includes various Rooms Division positions with InterContinental and Hyatt Hotels in the United States and India.

Pablo Curtosi has been appointed Operations Manager at the Lennox Hotel Ushuaia in Argentina. Curtosi was previously the Project Manager for Design cE the new design hotel in Buenos Aires and previously served on the guest services team at the Hilton Buenos Aires.

Olivier Maumaire, Director of Operations at the Caribe Hilton in San Juan adds to his current responsibilities with his appointment as Regional Director of Food and Beverage Operations for Hilton International Caribbean Region.

Margie Fouracre has been promoted to Director of Operations at the Westin Tabor Center. In 2000, Fouracre opened the Westin Westminster as the Director of Rooms, where she also held the position of Operations Manager. With Starwood since 1989, she transferred to the Westin Tabor Center in November 2002 as Director of Rooms.

Shutters on the Beach has appointed Craig Forbus Director of Rooms. Forbus was previously an Assistant Director of Housekeeping at the Venetian in Las Vegas.

Mickey Weill has joined ProTravel in Los Angeles in a dual role as Director of Business Development and Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Weill had been with Altour Travel for the past ten years and was formerly a partner with Group 4. He worked at Pacifica Plaza Travel and La Cienega Travel. Weill continues to serves on many industry advisory boards, including Four Seasons, Rosewood, Abercrombie & Kent, Travcoa, and Preferred Hotels and Resorts.

Contrary to what we announced mistakenly in our previous newsletter, Steve Sampson has joined Preferred Hotels & Resorts as Vice President of Group Sales. Sampson most recently was the Director of Sales & Marketing at the Arizona Biltmore. Prior to that, he was the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Biltmore has appointed Robert Filipelli as its Director of Sales and Marketing. Filipelli previously served as Director of Sales and Marketing for the Wyndham El Conquistador Resort & Golden Door Spa and Las Casitas Village & Golden Door Spa in Puerto Rico since 2000. Previous positions include Director of Sales, Fontainebleau Hilton Resort & Towers, Miami; and Director of Sales, the Pointe Hilton Resort in Phoenix.

J. Thomas Baker has been named Vice President of Marketing for Melrose Hotels to be based in Dallas. Baker takes this position after four years as General Manager at the Westin Great Southern Hotel and two years as Corporate Director of Marketing for Melrose Hotels.

Barbara Piagari joins Le Méridien Sunny Isles Beach Hotel in Miami as Director of Sales and Marketing. Piagari was previously at the new Fontainebleau Tower at the former Fontainebleau Hilton Resort in Miami Beach, where she served as Pre-Opening Director of Sales. She has also served at the Estancia La Jolla and the Warwick in Houston.

Philippe Parodi has been named Director of Sales and Marketing for both the Delano and Shore Club in Miami. Parodi comes from the Hôtel Martinez in Cannes and was previously Director of Sales at the Hôtel de Crillon.

Christina Romero-Peri has returned to Rosewood’s Las Ventanas al Paraiso as Director of Sales and Marketing. She had left that same position nearly two years ago to join the One&Only Palmilla as Vice President of Sales and Marketing, following former Las Ventanas Managing Director Ed Steiner. Las Ventanas is now owned by Ty Warner.

Tracy Kaltman-Ahmed has joined the Hilton McLean as Director of Sales and Marketing. Kaltman-Ahmed was previously at the St. Regis Washington DC and Loews L’Enfant Plaza.

Juergen Stutz has been appointed Senior Director of Sales, Caribbean, for Sol Melia Hotels & Resorts. He previously was a Managing Director of Sol Meliá in Germany. Prior to joining Sol Meliá, Stütz was the Director of Sales for Lindner Hotels & Resorts and Vice President of Sales & Marketing for LTI-International Hotels in Germany.

Bill Kairis joins the Palms Las Vegas as Director of Sales. Kairis was previously the National Sales Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas. He is also a veteran of Mandalay Bay and Caesar’s Palace, and served as Director of Sales and Marketing at L’Auberge Del Mar.

Robin Kennovin has been promoted to Assistant Director of Sales of the Hotel Plaza-Athénée New York. She was a Sales Manager at the hotel for the past four years and previously was a Group Sales Manager for Leading Hotels of the World.

Lucinda Gaudio has been named Sales Manager at the Shores Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach. Gaudio previously had a twenty-year career in Sales and Marketing in New York. Most recently the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hotel Kitano, she was previously the Director of Sales at the InterContinental New York Central Park South until it closed to become a residential building.

P. Alice Fay is the new Director of Catering for the Westin St. Louis. Previously Fay held the position of Catering Manager for the Chase Park Plaza, St. Louis and prior to that spent over three years as Wedding Manager at the Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis.

Franco Lanese has been named Director of Catering at the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica. He was previously at the Hilton San Francisco as Senior Catering Manager and also worked as Director of Sales and Catering at the Queen Mary in Long Beach.

Camille Cress joins the Peninsula Beverly Hills as Director of Catering. Cress previously worked in the same capacity at the Viceroy in Santa Monica and at the California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey.

La Costa Resort and Spa has a new Director of Catering with the appointment of Robert Schwab. Schwab was most recently Director of Catering and Conference Services at the Regent Beverly Wilshire for five years. Previous to that, he was the Director of Catering at Shutters on the Beach.

Karen Meno is the new Director of Human Resources for Le Méridien Sunny Isles Beach in Miami. She comes from the Mandarin-Oriental Miami and was also part of the opening team of the Mandarin-Oriental New York.

Barbara Bale has been named Director of Human Resources at the Loews Coronado. She had been transferred to the Loews Santa Monica two years ago from the same Loews Coronado.

Joie de Vivre Hospitality has appointed David Silver Corporate Director of Employee Development. Silver is a former Director of Human Resources at Hawaii’s Turtle Bay Resort, and served as Director of Human Resources and Training at Raffles L’Ermitage in Beverly Hills.

Marina De Jesus has been named Director of Human Resources at Cheyenne Mountain Resort. Previously, De Jesus was the Corporate Director of Human Resources for the Hotel Valencia Corporation, based in San Antonio.

Bill Bracken has been promoted at the Peninsula Beverly Hills to Executive Director of Food and Beverage. Sean Hardy, Executive Sous Chef, is promoted to Executive Chef to replace Bracken. A CIA graduate, Hardy has been with the hotel since 1994 in various chef positions, and originally joined Peninsula from the Four Seasons Newport Beach.

Doug Zeif has been named Vice President, Food and Beverage for the Boca Hospitality Collection, a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group, which includes the landmark Boca Raton Resort and Club. Zeif was previously the Managing Partner of La Olas Restaurants in Ft. Lauderdale. He is also a former Vice President of the Cheesecake Factory.

Brian Marcus has been appointed Director of Food and Beverage at the Renaissance Las Vegas. Marcus was previously a General Manager at Innovative Dining, the operators of Sushi Roku, Boa and Katana in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Marcus also served as the General Manager of Fujimamas Restaurant, Bar and Catering in Tokyo.

Peter Dickinson has left the not-yet-fully-open Setai in Miami to become the Director of Food and Beverage at the Windsor Court in New Orleans. There, he reports to General Manager Anthony McHale, who had been Dickinson’s mentor in the past at Shutters on the Beach and at the Peninsula Beverly Hills. At the Windsor Court, Dickinson takes over part of the responsibilities of Clive O’Donoghue, recently promoted by Orient-Express to General Manager of El Encanto in Santa Barbara.

The W New York has named Wolfgang Wehen Director of Food and Beverage. Wehen was previously Director of Food and Beverage at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Florida and Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at Turnberry Isle Resort & Club also in Florida.

Carlos Salazar has been named Director of Food and Beverage at the Kahala Mandarin-Oriental. Salazar hails from the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island of Hawaii. At Kahala, he replaces Wayne Woods, now the Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage at the Mandarin-Oriental Washington.

Robert Mansfield is the Controller of Hotel QT in New York. Mansfield comes from the Morgan Hotel Group and also served at the New York Palace as Assistant Controller.

Bill Tremper has joined the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino as Vice President, Hotel Operations. He works for the developers/owners of the 2,600-room hotel-condo project that will eventually be operated by Hyatt. Tremper was previously with Starwood where he served as Corporate Director of Sales for W Hotels Worldwide.

Rudolf Gimmi was promoted by Fairmont to Rooms Director at the soon-to-open Fairmont Mayakoba in Mexico. He hails from Fairmont's Turnberry Isle Resort. Gimmi previously worked at the Chateau de Bagnols in France.

Claude Le Tohic will be the opening Chef at the Restaurant Joel Robuchon at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Le Tohic, who was a winner in 2004 of the coveted Meilleur Ouvrier de France, did work under Robuchon many years ago. Since 1998 he has been a Chef Instructor at a French cooking school.

At Alain Ducasse New York (located at the Essex House) Chef Christian Delouvrier, who had been manning the stove for the past year, has moved on. His successor is 33-year-old Tony Esnault, who hails from the Ritz-Carlton Boston, where the Dining Room was recently shuttered. Esnault had also spent four years as the right-hand whisk to Sylvain Portay at the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco. He had logged two years at Alain Ducasse’s Louis Quinze, in Monte Carlo, prior to coming to the United States.

David Walzog, fresh from the success of his just-published New American Steakhouse Cookbook, takes over where Jimmy Sneed left at the Country Club Grill at Wynn Las Vegas. Walzog was the Chef-Partner at Michael Jordan, the Steak House in New York, the Steak House at the Monkey Bar, and Strip House in Livingston and Houston.

Lissa Doumani and Hiro Sone of Terra in St. Helena, have been chosen to operate the restaurant of the soon-to-open St. Regis San Francisco. The hotel will have one other restaurant, a breakfast-only venue for guests.

Peter St. John transferred from the Sheraton Four Points Denver Southeast to the Westin Tabor Center as Executive Chef.

Marcel Driessen has joined Sandy Lane in Barbados as Executive Chef taking over for Richard Ekkebus who has left to open the Landmark Mandarin-Oriental Hong Kong. Driessen was previously the Executive Chef at the InterContinental Phoenicia in Beirut.

Thomas Gisler has been appointed Executive Chef at Cornell University's Statler Hotel & J. Willard Marriott Executive Education Center. A former Hyatt man, he most recently served as Executive Chef for the Otesaga Resort in Cooperstown, New York. Gisler replaces former Statler Executive Chef Craig Hartman, who relocated to Washington D.C. as Executive Chef for two of Classic Hospitality's luxury properties, the Morrison-Clark Inn and the Henley Park Hotel.

Executive Chef Jean-Louis Dumonet leaves Rosewood’s Carlyle (where the restaurant had been renamed after him) to be the new Executive Chef for Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. Prior to joining the Carlyle in September 2001, Dumonet was the Executive Chef at the late Jean-Louis Palladin’s restaurant at the Times Hotel. From 1992 to 2000 he was the Chef-Partner at Restaurant Troisjean on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Francois Kwaku-Dongo is the new Executive Chef at Jean Denoyer’s and Rick Wahlstedt’s L’Escale in Greenwich, Connecticut. Kwaku-Dongo was previously the Corporate Chef at Lettuce Entertain You in Chicago following fifteen years with Wolfgang Puck Restaurants. He was a Chef-Partner at Spago Chicago until it closed in 2003.

Drew Deckman has been named Executive Chef at Orient-Express’ Maroma Resort in Mexico. Deckman was previously the Executive Chef de Cuisine at the former Four Seasons Berlin.

Robert Wilson has been named Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Dearborn. Wilson transfers from the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel where he had served as Executive Sous Chef since 1997.

Richard Chen joins Wynn Las Vegas as Executive Chef of the Chinese Restaurant, Wing Lei. Chen was previously the Chef de Cuisine and General Manager at the Peninsula Chicago in charge of Shanghai Terrace.

Jean Pierre Dutéron is the new Restaurant Manager for Peacock Alley at the Waldorf=Astoria. Dutéron was previously the General Manager at Morrell’s Restaurant, which closed in December 2004.

Sensi at the Bellagio has appointed Sébastien Silvestri as General Manager. Silvestri was previously the Director of Restaurant Operations at the Telluride Ski and Golf Company and Food and Beverage Director at the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort.

Loic Launay has been named Restaurant Manager at the upcoming Joel Robuchon Restaurant at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Launay hails from the Métropole Palace in Monte Carlo where he ran Joel Robuchon’s outlet for the past year. Launay previously spent four years managing Pierre Cardin’s Maxim’s de Paris also in Monte Carlo.

Joshua Alderete joins the Westin Tabor Center as Banquet Manager. Alderete previously worked at the Sheraton Four Points Culver City where he was the Director of Food and Beverage. He has been with Starwood since.

Scott Roby, a Cornell Graduate, has joined Tarsadia Hotels as Corporate Director of Revenue Management. Roby was previously at La Costa Resort and Spa as Director of Revenue Management and began his career with Hilton Hotels in San Diego.

David Crouch is the new Front Office Manager for the Hyatt Regency Maui. He was previously the Executive Housekeeper at the Hyatt Lake Las Vegas. He also served as Front Office Manager at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort, after starting his Hyatt career at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki.

Daryl Morris has joined the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center as Director of Relâche, the Spa at Gaylord Opryland opening this summer. Morris joins Opryland from Las Vegas, where he was an Executive Hotel Manager of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino and Operations Manager of the Canyon Ranch SpaClub at the Venetian Hotel.

Fabien DeGuffroy is the Assistant Spa Director at the newly-opened Palms Resort and Spa in the Turks and Caicos. He was previously a Massage Therapist at the Boca Raton Resort and Club.

EUROPE

François Droulers has been appointed Vice President Director of Development and Acquisitions for Domina Hotels & Resorts. Droulers was previously with RES Co. and the Villa d’Este Group.

Agnès Bourguignon, Director of Sofitel France, has also been given the special assignment to oversee the coordination of the groupe Accor for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Didier Boidin takes over for Marie-Béatrice Lallemand as General Manager of the Grand Hotel InterContinental in Paris. Boidin was previously the General Manager at the Hotel Carlton InterContinental in Cannes, where he spent eleven years. Additionally, Boidin will have regional responsibilities over InterContinental properties in Europe.

Rony Timsit, who had been the General Manager of the boutique Hyatt Brussels Barsey since August 2003, moved over to the similarly boutique Hyatt Regency Paris Madeleine.

Paul Reynolds has been appointed Vice President Sales and Marketing for Maybourne (Claridges, the Berkeley, the Connaught). A former InterContinental man, he once served as Director of Sales and Marketing at the MayFair InterContinental London.

Euan Taylor is to be the Hotel Manager for the soon to be renamed JW Marriott Grosvenor House in London. Taylor comes from Miami where he was the Executive Assistant Manager at the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort and Club. Taylor previously spent four years with Starwood at St. Regis Monarch Beach and the original Turnberry in Scotland.

Thomas Klippstein is the new General Manager of the Hotel Adlon Kempinski in Berlin taking over for Herman von Treskow. Klippstein is moving from the Kempinski Grand Hotel Heiligendamm.

Nicola Terlizzi is the new General Manager at the Holiday Inn Verona. Terlizzi was previously at the Melia Olbia Resort and Convention Center as General Manager.

Dominick Adrian is the General Manager of the Plaza Paris Vendôme. Adrian previously held the same position at the Warwick Champs Elysées and at the Sofitel Demeure Le Parc. The Plaza Paris Vendôme is to be reflagged Marriott this month.

Patrick Caron is the General Manager of La Fripounière, a 14-room rustic mountain "gîte" in southeastern France. He was previously the General Manager of Le Palais de La Méditerranée in Nice. Caron also was the Managing Director at the Royal Evian for five years.

Jose Silva has joined the Hotel des Bergues Four Seasons in Geneva as General Manager. Silva transfers from the Four Seasons Hotel Ritz Lisbon where he was the General Manager.

In Geneva, Silva replaces Jose Soriano, who moves over as General Manager of the Four Seasons Canary Wharf, London, replacing Karen Earp, now the General Manager of the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara.

Ezio Indiani is the new General Manager at the Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan, replacing Paolo Guarneri. Indiani was previously Group Managing Director for the Villa d’Este Group and spent time as General Manager at Hotel des Bergues in Geneva and the Hotel Eden in Rome.

Antonella Sgobba has recently joined Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in Milan as Regional Director of Sales for Italy and Southern Mediterranean area. Sgobba previously worked in the Regional Office of InterContinental in Italy and Spain.

Cristiano Morelli is the new Sales & Marketing Director at the Hotel Lotti in Paris. Morelli was previously with Rocco Forte Hotels as Assistant Director of Sales of the Hotel Amigo in Brussels. His career also includes experience at the Hotel Napoleon in Paris and Il Palazzo at the Bauer in Venice.

Jean-Marie Pébrel is the new Director of Sales and Marketing at the Warwick Champs-Elysées in Paris where he replaces Valérie Buttignol. He had been the Director of Sales at the hotel Saint James & d'Albany for the past three years and previously worked with Worldhotels for seven years.

Oliver Dewattre is the Associate Director of Sales and Marketing at the Plaza Paris Vendôme. Dewattre was previously a Corporate Sales Manager at the Hôtel Meurice.

Sophie Orliange is the new Director of Human Resources at the Ritz Paris. Orliange was previously in a similar position at the Four Seasons George V.

Pierre-Henri Perrin is the Director of Rooms at the Plaza Paris Vendôme. Perrin was previously the Front Office Manager at the Warwick Champs Elysées.

Emmanuel Pérignon is the new Food and Beverage Manager at the Chateau de Bagnols in France. Pérignon was previously the Assistant Food and Beverage Manager at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Nigeria and worked at Le Méridien Bora Bora as Food and Beverage Manager and Restaurant Manager.

David Collas joins the Hôtel Martinez in Cannes as Food and Beverage Manager. Collas was previously in the same capacity at the Lancaster in Paris.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts announced the transition of former Pan Pacific President Ichigo Umehara to President of Tokyu Hotels and Chairman of Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts to be based in Tokyo. Umehara has been President of Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts for the past fourteen years. Akihito (Arthur) Ikeda moves over from the Tokyu Group, the parent company of Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts, to assume Umehara’s place as the new President of the Singapore-based company.

Michael Kalyk is retiring as President of the Marco Polo Hotel Group where he has been a chief executive of the Hong Kong-based hotel company since 1990. Jeffrey Flowers will assume responsibility as President upon Kalyk’s departure. Flowers has been with the Marco Polo Hotel Group since 1991 when he joined as Vice President for Development.

Malcolm Kerr has been appointed Vice President Development Asia Pacific for Le Méridien to be based in Hong Kong. Kerr has worked with Le Méridien over the past three years as Director of Development Asia Pacific.

Pierre Perusset will be the opening General Manager of the upcoming Ritz-Carlton Tokyo. The hotel is owned by Mitsui Fudosan, the owners of Honolulu’s Halekulani. A Lausanne graduate, Perusset comes from the Ritz-Carlton Doha. He had previously worked with Ritz-Carlton in Japan as the Executive Assistant Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Osaka.

François Cnockaert, another alumnus of the Ritz-Carlton Osaka (which he opened as EAM Food and Beverage) is now the General Manager of the Leela Kempinski in Mumbai, replacing Mattias Kann.

Tony Cousens has returned to Singapore as the General Manager of the Marina Mandarin. Cousens lived in the Lion State in the eighties as the Regional Director of Marketing for Méridien. In all, he spent a total of nineteen years with Méridien.

Mark McWhinnie has departed Beijing and is now the Managing Director of Narita Cluster for Ishin Hotels Group. McWhinnie will be based out of the Narita Hilton.

David and Jacqueline O’Hara will together manage Per Aquum’s Dhoni Mighili in the Maldives. Prior to taking this position David O’Hara held the role of Executive Chef to His Majesty King Abdullah II and Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan. Jacqueline O’Hara has held positions as Spa and Health Club Manager for Le Royal Hotel in Jordan and Company Manager for M.V. Circa Luxury Cruises in Australia.

Dietmar Kielnhofer is the new General Manager at Le Méridien Nirwana in Bali. He transfers from Le Méridien Amman and Convention Center and was previously at Le Méridien Jeddah.

Rudy Oretti has been appointed General Manager of the Leela Palace Kempinski Bangalore. Oretti has held the same position at the One&Only La Pirogue in Mauritius for the past three years, following stints as Resident Manager at the Peninsula Manila and the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong.

Romain Chan is the new General Manager at the Kowloon Hotel (formerly part of the Peninsula Group, now part of Li-Ka Shing’s Hutchison Whampoa) in addition to his current duties as General Manager at the Harbour Plaza Metropolis Hotel.

Suzanne Reitz has joined Rajvilas in India as General Manager. Reitz had previously worked in India as the opening General Manager of Ananda for the Georg Rafael Hotel Group.

Nicolas Solari is Hotel Manager for the Viking Century Sky. Solari was previously Hotel Manager for the Viking Century Star, the first vessel in China for Viking River Cruises.

Damian O'Donnell is the new Executive Assistant Manager at the Evason Hideaway Resort at Ana Mandara in Vietnam. For the past three years, O’Donnell has been at Hayman Island in Australia in various roles, most recently as Rooms Division Manager.

Simon Manning has been appointed Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for Ritz-Carlton and will responsible for all existing and future properties in Asia. He transfers from his previous position as the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore. Manning joined Ritz-Carlton as the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong in 1999.

Jean-Francois Pelaez has been promoted to Executive Chef at the Oberoi Delhi from the same position at Udaivilas in Udaipur.

Sean O’Connell has joined the Mandarin-Oriental Hong Kong as Executive Chef. O’Connell was most recently in the same position at the Banyan Tree Phuket. He also served as Executive Chef and Food and Beverage Director at the Legian Bali for GHM.

Laetitia Vergne is the new Executive Housekeeper at the InterContinental Moorea. Vergne comes from the Palms Resort and Spa where she was Assistant Corporate Executive Housekeeper.

MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA

Kamal Fakhoury has taken over as General Manager of the Jumeira Rotana Hotel in Dubai. For the past ten months, Fakhoury had been the Executive Assistant Manager at the Sheraton Cavalier.

Laurent Garrido is the new Resident Manager at the hotel Dinarobin in Mauritius, part of the Beachcomber Group, following over two years at Les Pavillons, for Naïade Resorts. Prior to moving to Mauritius, Garrido was the Food and Beverage Director at the Hotel Meurice in Paris.

Declan Hurley has been promoted to Regional Director of Sales & Marketing for Ritz-Carlton in the Middle East and Europe. He joined the company in December 2000 for the opening of the Ritz-Carlton Istanbul as Executive Assistant Manager Sales and Marketing.

Kenneth Hill has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain. Hill was previously the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Ritz-Carlton Seoul. Prior to that, he held the same position for more than nine years at the Ritz-Carlton Osaka.

The new Sales and Marketing Director at Al Raha Beach Hotel in Abu Dhabi is Christian Dangel. Dangel joins from the Dolder Grand in Zurich.

Vivienne Gan has been appointed Director of Public Relations at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain. A Canadian national, Gan was previously the Director of Communications at the Kahala Mandarin-Oriental in Hawaii. Prior to that, she held the post of Director of Public Relations at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore.

Christian Wurm is the new Director of Rooms at Burj Al Arab in Dubai. Wurm was previously the Executive Assistant Manager at Raffles Resort Canouan lsland and Director of Room and Residences at Rosewood’s Al Faisaliah Hotel.

Peter Fuchs has joined the Al Faisalaiah Hotel in Riyadh as Executive Chef. Fuchs was most recently the Director of Food and Beverage at the Celtic Manor Resort in Wales where he began as opening Executive Chef in 1999.

Edited by Benoit Gateau-Cumin & Lisa Leroy

Born and raised in France, Benoit managed to scoop up a French law degree prior to studying Hotel Administration at Cornell University. Upon graduation in 1975, he engaged in an eleven-year hotel management career which took him to Chicago, New York, Washington DC, San Diego, Istanbul, Jamaica and Hawaii. He held positions with Omni, Hyatt, Hilton International, ITT Sheraton and Méridien, as well as Honululu's unique Halekulani, consistently rated as one of the world's best. Benoit was bit by the "headhunting" bug in 1986, and has not relented yet. He founded "The Boutique Search firm" in February 1992. His motto: small is beautiful. Benoit loves to mountain bike, cook and write short (and long) stories.

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