THE AMERICAS David Kurland has been appointed Managing Director at Acqualina, by developer Jules Trump and Rosewood Hotels and Resorts. The 51-story luxury beachfront property, which promises to be one of the country’s finest, is slated to open in November. Kurland was previously in Puerto Rico as the President and Managing Director of the cool Water Club and its sister property the Excelsior. He also was, for many years, the President and Managing Director of the El San Juan Hotel and Casino. Kurland is no stranger to Miami, where he ran the Grand Bay for six years.

Duncan Graham has been named General Manager at San Ysidro Ranch. Prior to that, he was with Starwood as General Manager of the St. Regis Washington, DC. He had joined the property four years ago as Hotel Manager from the St. Regis Houston.

Sileshi Mengiste has been appointed Executive Director of Hotel Operations at Wynn Las Vegas. He was previously the General Manager of the St. Regis Houston. Mengiste also managed the Clift in San Francisco.

William Taylor has been appointed General Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago. He transfers from the Four Seasons Atlanta where he held the same position. In Chicago, he replaces Christoph Schmidinger, who is now the General Manager of the Four Seasons New York, replacing Thomas Steinhauer.

Robert Nelson has been appointed General Manager at the Lodge at Cordillera. He was previously the General Manager and Vice President of Hospitality at the Woodlands Resort and Conference Center.

Mehdi Eftekari has been appointed General Manager of the Four Seasons Los Angeles, taking over from William Mackay who transferred to Hong Kong. Eftekari previously held the top job at the Four Seasons Newport Beach. His successor in Newport Beach is Thomas Gurtner, who comes from the Four Seasons Boston where he was the General Manager and a Regional Vice President. Gurtner’s successor in Boston is Peter O’Colmain, formerly the General Manager of the Regent Beverly Wilshire.

At the Regent Beverly Wilshire, Rada Arora takes over from O’Colmain. He comes from the Four Seasons Wailea Maui, where he had been the General Manager for the past three years.

Philip Barnes has been appointed Regional Vice President, Pacific Northwest Region, Fairmont Hotels and General Manager at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. Barnes was most recently the Regional Vice President, Operations, Western Canada, Delta Hotels, and General Manager of the Delta Vancouver Airport Hotel. Prior to joining Delta (now part of Fairmont), Barnes was the Chief Operating Officer of Stamford Hotels and Resorts. Before that, Barnes had held General Manager positions at the Regent of Auckland, the Four Seasons Singapore, the Shangri-La Singapore and Houston’s former Four Seasons Inn on the Park.

Joseph Violi has been appointed General Manager at the Orrington Hotel in Evanston. He most recently was the General Manager of the Swissôtel Chicago. He also worked in California before as Managing Director of the Cliffs in Shell Beach. Violi, a Cornell graduate, also logged fourteen years with Hyatt and six with Ritz-Carlton.

Lisa Impagliazzo has been named General Manager of Le Méridien Beverly Hills. She will be cumulating this position with that of Area Vice President Americas for Méridien Hotels. In Beverly Hills, she replaces Laurence Saward who left the company.

Kurt Wiksten has been appointed Resort Manager at Lajitas, "Texas’ Ultimate Hideout". Wiksten has been the Director of Operations at Le Méridien Beverly Hills for the past two years. He also took part in the opening of the Kor Group’s two Viceroys in Santa Monica and Palm Springs.

Andrea Melotti has been appointed Managing Director of the Bentley Group in Miami. Until a few months ago, Melotti was the General Manager of the Raleigh and previously the Managing Director at the Sagamore also in Miami.

Denis Dupart has been transferred to the Sofitel Lafayette Square in Washington, DC where he will be taking over from Francis Cossuta as General Manager. Cossuta will be moving to Egypt in a similar capacity. Dupart was previously the Director of Operations at the Sofitel Montreal and also worked in Asia for the Sofitel and Novotel brands for several years.

Henri Birmele has been promoted to General Manager at Shutters on the Beach. He had joined the property a year ago from the Viceroy where he was the opening General Manager. Prior to joining the Kor Group, Birmele worked with Starwood as the Hotel Manager of the St. Regis Hotel and Spa in Los Angeles where he was a member of the opening team. At Shutters, he replaces Armella Stepan who has been promoted to Vice President of Brand and Marketing for the Edward Thomas Companies, the owners of Shutters on the Beach and Casa Del Mar. Prior to that, Stepan had been the opening General Manager at the Standard in Hollywood.

At Casa Del Mar, Klaus Mennekes has been promoted to Vice President of Operations for the Edward Thomas Companies.

Shaun Robinson has been named General Manager of the Doubletree Hotel San Diego/Del Mar. Robinson most recently served as General Manager of the Hilton Scottsdale Resort & Villas, a position he held for three years.

Michel Chertouh has been promoted to General Manager at the Intercontinental Sao Paulo. Chertouh has been with the Intercontinental Hotel Group for twenty years and previously held the same position at the Crowne Plaza, also in Sao Paulo. He also worked at other Intercontinental properties in Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona, London and Paris.

At the Adam’s Mark St. Louis the new General Manager is Wolfgang Waldor. He comes from the Hyatt Regency Buffalo. The position had been left vacant since Jeffrey Jacobs left in January.

Laura Neumann has been promoted to the position of Vice President and General Manager of the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs by Benchmark Hospitality. A seventeen-year company veteran she held regional positions with Benchmark for several years.

Jean-Luc Deguines has been named General Manager of New York’s classic Knickerbocker Club. Deguines was the Resident Manager at the Mandarin-Oriental Hotel du Rhône in Geneva. He had worked in New York before also with Mandarin-Oriental at the Mark as Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage.

Antoine Berberi has been appointed General Manager of the Westin Governor Morris following a thirteen-year career with InterContinental, where his last position was that of General Manager at the InterContinental Al Ain. Berberi is an IHMI Cornell-Essec graduate.

Marie-Christine Albini has been appointed General Manager at the Hotel Carl Gustav in St. Barthelemy. Albini was previously the Rooms Division Manager at the Kilimanjaro in Courchevel. She had worked in St. Barthelemy before as the Operations Manager at Guanahani.

Joseph Kirtley has been transferred by Ian Schrager Hotels from the Paramount in New York (which was just sold to Hard Rock International) to the Mondrian in Los Angeles. Lateral move for Kirtley, who keeps his same title of Hotel Manager. A graduate of Michigan State University, he has been with Ian Schrager Hotels since 1995.

Mark Fischer is the opening General Manager of Kimpton's newest Boutique property, the Onyx Hotel, in Boston, set to open mid-May. Fischer was previously the Assistant General Manager at Kimpton's Hotel Marlowe in Cambridge. Before that, he was the Rooms Division Manager at the Chambers in New York.

Enrico Lindenhahn has been appointed Executive Assistant Manager in charge of the French Village at the Beaches Turks and Caicos Resort. Lindenhahn was previously the Food and Beverage Director at Grande Sport Villa Golf Resort and Spa in Jamaica.

At Rosewood’s soon-to-open Acqualina, Deborah Yager-Fleming has been named Director of Sales and Marketing. She joins following a two-year stint as a Vice President with our friendly competitor Executive Search International. Yager also worked as Vice President of Marketing for Island Outpost and held several senior management positions with The Leading Hotels of the World.

Teresa Holden joined Allison Kneubuhl’s Allimar as Vice President Marketing. Holden has spent over twenty years marketing luxury hotels. She has been affiliated with Ritz-Carlton, Wyndham, Ian Schrager Hotels, W Hotels and St. Regis Hotels & Resorts. Most recently, she was the Director of Sales and Marketing at the St. Regis Los Angeles.

Michele Rees has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing at the soon-to-open Elk Mountain Resort outside Telluride. Rees previously worked in Chicago for six years as Vice President of Marketing and Sales with a full service travel agency. She also held various Sales and Marketing positions with Hyatt International in Germany and Switzerland. Elk Mountain Resort is managed by Jack Westergom’s Manhattan Hospitality Advisors, of Hermosa Beach.

Jeff Karlson has been appointed Regional Director of Sales & Marketing for Hilton International in Latin America to be based in Sao Paulo. Karlson was formerly the Vice President of Marketing for Starwood Hotels in Latin America. Prior to that, he held the position of Regional Director of Sales & Marketing for InterContinental Hotels in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile.

Denise Miller has been named Regional Director of Sales for Destination Hotels and Resorts, based in New York City. Miller was previously the Director of National Accounts for Kimpton Hotels in San Francisco.

Julia Gajcak has been named Vice President, Communications for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. She replaces Stephanie Platt who retired after fourteen years with the company. Gajcak previously worked for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. She started her Four Seasons career in Bali and most recently served as Regional Director of Public Relations for Asia.

Marjan Sabetian has joined Four Seasons Hotels as Public Relations Manager at the Regent Beverly Wilshire. She was previously the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Mosaic also in Beverly Hills and at the Beverly Plaza Hotel.

John Makhamaltchi has joined Small Luxury Hotels in San Francisco as their Regional Director of Sales. He was previously the opening Director of Sales and Marketing at the Carneros Inn in Napa Valley and the Director of Sales at San Francisco’s luxe Huntington.

Nanci Figueroa has been promoted to Area Director of Sales and Marketing for two of Kimpton’s three Chicago properties, the Hotel Monaco Chicago and the Hotel Burnham. Figueroa joined Kimpton in 2001 when she was brought on board as Director of Sales and Marketing for the Hotel Monaco Chicago.

Kimberly Schaller has been promoted to Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer for Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company. In her new role, Schaller will maintain her former responsibilities as Vice President of Marketing – a role she held for seven years.

Also at Hershey, Timothy Bugas becomes Vice President of Sales. Bugas began with the Company in 2001 as the Managing Director of Resorts Sales for Hershey Resorts. He has held various Director Sales roles in the hospitality industry including at the Greenbrier and the Homestead.

Mike Pistana is the new Director of Leisure Sales at Bellagio in Las Vegas. Pistana has been employed by MGM Mirage for the past ten years in various Hotel Operations and Sales & Marketing positions at Las Vegas’ Golden Nugget and at the Beau Rivage Resort in Biloxi.

Mark Wallisa has been named Director of Sales and Marketing at the Millennium Hotel Cincinnati. Wallisa previously held the position of Vice President of Sales with the Greater Cincinnati Convention & Visitors Bureau. He had also served as Regional Vice President of Sales and Marketing for GES Exposition Services, one of the country’s leading trade show and event marketing firms.

Peter Dyckes has joined the Four Seasons San Francisco as its Director of Sales. He comes from Loews Resorts in Orlando. He takes the spot left vacant when Joe Dunnavant left San Francisco to join Four Seasons’ Western Sales Office in Beverly Hills.

Also at the Four Seasons San Francisco, Kevin O’Rourke has joined as Sales Manager. O’Rourke previously logged seven years with Hyatt in San Francisco, first at the Park Hyatt, then at the Hyatt Regency at Embarcadero Center.

Michael Consuelo has been appointed Director of Group Sales at the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa. Most recently, he was the Group and Convention Sales Director at the Disneyland Resort.

Kimberley Curtis Johnston has been promoted to Director of Resort Operations at Sea Trail Plantation, a property she joined in 2002 as Director of Sales, Conference Services and Banquets.

Oliver Wharton has been appointed Managing Director of Fix at the Bellagio. Wharton, a Cornell hotel graduate, previously worked as Director of Restaurants Operations for Michael Mina Restaurants where he was responsible for the openings of Nob Hill and Seablue at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. Prior to that, Wharton worked with Jean-Georges Vongerichten for several years including two as the General Manager of the much-lamented Vong in London.

Ana Lavin has been appointed Director of Sales and Marketing at the soon-to-open Inn at Palmetto Bluff, the latest Auberge Resort, in Bluffton, South Carolina. Most recently, Lavin served as Director of Sales and Marketing for the Coastal Hotel Group, whose properties include the Bitter End Yacht Club, Sunset Waters Beach Resort, the Inn at Morro Bay and its sister property, the Sea Venture Resort.

Patrick Pollak has been transferred back to Mexico by Four Seasons as Director of Food and Beverage at the Four Seasons Punta Mita. Most recently, he was the Assistant Director of Food and Beverage at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago. Pollak has been with Four Seasons for eight years and was at the Four Seasons Mexico City prior to moving to Chicago.

Wim Steenbakkers has been appointed Director of Operations for Eleuthera Properties in the Bahamas. Prior to that, Steenbakkers was at the head of a consulting firm specializing in the development and marketing of European Resort properties. He also owned a small luxury resort in Quebec.

Frank Fraser has been named Director of Catering and Conference Services at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa. He most recently was at the Peninsula Beverly Hills where he was the Director of Private Events for two years. Prior to the Peninsula, he was with Starwood as a Catering Sales Manager at the Phoenician.

Greg Martinez has been named Director of Sales at the Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center in Berkeley. His previous experience includes Director of Sales for the South Seas Resort, on Captiva Island and Director of Sales at the Fairmont Dallas. Most recently, he served as the Area Director of Sales and Marketing for the San Francisco Bay Hotel Collection, a collection of five San Francisco hotels.

Alexander Kim has been named Vice President and General Manager of Conference Services and Banquet Operations at Atlantis on Paradise Island. Prior to joining Atlantis, Kim was at La Quinta Resort and Club where he served as Director of Conference Services and Director of Food and Beverage.

David Bodette has been appointed Director of Food and Beverage at the Langham Hotel Boston, formerly Le Méridien Boston. He was previously the Director of Tasting Room Operations at Napa Valley’s Niebaum-Coppola winery. Bodette also served as Director of Food and Beverage at L'Auberge du Soleil, at the Elliott in Seattle (now the Grand Hyatt) and at the Elbow Beach Mandarin-Oriental.

Cyndi Roppolo has joined the Sofitel New York as Director of Catering Sales. She was previously the Director of Catering at the Intercontinental New York Central Park South.

Oscar Gomez has been promoted to Director of Engineering for Accor Hotels New York City, overseeing the Sofitel and Novotel. He was previously the Director of Engineering at the Sofitel New York.

Beverly Ramsook has been appointed Director of Revenue of Accor Hotels New York City, overseeing the Sofitel and the Novotel. Prior to that, she was the Director of Revenue for the Sofitel New York.

Karen Webster has been appointed Controller of Accor Hotels New York City. She will oversee the Sofitel and Novotel properties. Before her promotion, she was the Controller at the Novotel New York.

James Lao has joined the Patina Group as Director of Catering at the Music Center for the Performing Arts. Lao most recently worked at the Regent Beverly Wilshire in both catering and banquets. He also spent ten years with Hyatt Hotels and two years with the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey also in catering.

Fiona Milne has been appointed Front of the House Manager at Necker Island, Sir Richard Branson's private island located in the British Virgin Islands. She comes from the Draycott Hotel in London where she was an Assistant Manager. Prior to that, Milne was with Mandarin-Oriental for four years at their London and Miami properties.

Jim Root has been appointed Director of the Spa at Miraval. He previously held the same position at Meadowood, where he stayed for four years.

Nicolas Sangros is the new Restaurant Director at Joel Antunes’ restaurant in Atlanta where he replaces Frédéric Serol who is moving back to France. Sangros just completed two years as the Director of Restaurants at the Sofitel Lafayette Square in Washington, DC.

Grant MacPherson has been promoted to Executive Chef at Wynn Las Vegas. He previously served as Executive Chef developing launch plans for the upcoming Wynn Resort Macau. Previously he opened Bellagio in Las Vegas and for five years oversaw its culinary operations. MacPherson was the Executive Chef at Singapore’s Raffles Hotel and at the Datai in Langkawi.

Also at Wynn Las Vegas, Frédéric Robert has been appointed Executive Pastry Chef. Robert has spent the last twenty five years working side by side with Alain Ducasse.

Christian Delouvrier is back on the scene of one of his first successes as the new Chef at Alain Ducasse New York (where he replaces Didier Elena who went back to France). He plies his trade in the very location where his award-winning Les Célébrités was launched. From there, Delouvrier had moved to the now-shuttered Lespinasse at the St. Regis New York. His first hit in New York was the also shuttered Restaurant Maurice at the Hotel Parker-Méridien, which was opened in 1981.

Michael Bilger is leaving the Lodge at Sonoma where he had been the Executive Chef since May 2002, to be the opening Chef at the Nord Family Wine Garden, set to open in June in Yountville. Bilger had also worked as a Sous Chef at Boulevard and Moose’s, both in San Francisco.

Denis Jaricot is the new Executive Chef at Rosewood’s Little Dix Bay. He was previously the Executive Chef at the CuisinArt Resort and Spa in Anguilla.

Anthony Keene is the new Executive Chef at Little Palm Island. Prior to that, Anthony had held Executive Chef positions at the Ojai Valley Inn, the Paradise Valley Country Club and at several Ritz-Carlton properties.

Dennis Leary has left Francis Ford Coppola’s wine- friendly Rubicon after four years. His replacement as Executive Chef is Stuart Brioza, formerly of Tapawingo in Ellsworth, Michigan, and one of Food & Wine magazine's top 10 American chefs of 2003.

Richard Bies is the new Pastry Chef at the Chanler in Newport. He most recently worked at the Fairmont San Francisco as the Executive Pastry Chef, a position he also held at the Four Seasons Atlanta and the Omni Atlanta.

Eric Damidot has been appointed Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Atlanta. Damidot was previously at France’s plush new Palais de La Méditerranée in Nice as its Chef de Cuisine. Damidot also worked in Las Vegas at the Rio Hotel and Casino as Executive Sous Chef and at Bellagio as Executive Banquet Chef. Damidot had worked with Ritz-Carlton before at their San Francisco and Palm Beach properties.

Thomas Ryan is the new Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove. Originally joining Ritz-Carlton Hotels in 1990 in Marina Del Rey, Ryan left six years later to join Rosewood Hotels. He also opened hotels for Omni and the Grand America in Salt Lake City for the 2002 Olympics. His return to Ritz-Carlton came in 2002 in Atlanta.

Lewis Butler is the new Executive Chef at Rancho Bernardo Inn. He was previously the Executive Sous Chef at the Four Seasons Los Angeles. Originally from Canada, Lewis had worked with Four Seasons in their Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver and Atlanta properties before moving to Los Angeles.

Ryan Johnston was briefly named Executive Chef at Beaucoup in San Francisco. He replaced Bruno Davaillon who left to become the Executive Chef at Alain Ducasse's Mix scheduled to open in September at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Johnston held his position for a month or so before Beaucoup was shuttered by its owners, San Francisco’s Real Restaurant Group.

Christian Haug has been appointed Pastry Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Naples. He was previously the Assistant Pastry Chef at the Ritz-Carlton Cleveland. Haug also worked at the Ritz-Carlton Tyson’s Corner.