A native of Australia, Mr. Porteous joins the hotel with over 17 years of experience in the hospitality industry. He first established his career in accounting and finance with different hotels and resorts.
Amidst a landscape of swaying coconut palms, in a paradise where the sea meets the sand dunes, Anantara is entering truly exotic new territory with the opening of its first Vietnamese property in the autumn of 2011 - Anantara Mui Ne Resort & Spa.
Mr. Shigley will guide the pre-opening, grand opening and operations of all aspects of the resort, the first integrated resort in Vietnam and the first property in Vietnam to carry the legendary MGM Grand brand. MGM Grand Ho Tram is the first of five resorts being developed by Asian Coast Development (Canada) Limited on the Ho Tram Strip in Vietnam, and will be managed by MGM Hospitality. Mr. Shigley is a seasoned gaming executive with extensive management experience in operations, marketing and finance. He has recently been supporting MGM Resorts International's Asian gaming interests, primarily in Macau, while also serving as Executive Vice President of Operations for MGM Grand Las Vegas. Previously, he served as the Chief Financial Officer for MGM Grand, responsible for the planning and execution of the resort's overall financial strategy. Mr. Shigley joined MGM Resorts International in 2002 as Executive Vice President for New York-New York Hotel & Casino. He has also served as a property president for both Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and Primm Valley Resorts and has held executive positions at Caesars World and Caesars Tahoe.
Six Senses Resorts & Spas is delighted to report that its 13 year legacy of managing and promoting its resorts in Vietnam has now been added to with the immensely successful launch of Six Senses Con Dao, in the Con Dao archipelago, which opened to great acclaim in December 2010.
Already under construction, the 226-room, new-build Hilton Da Nang will be located in Da Nang City, a major port city in central Vietnam and the third largest city in the country. Located on the East Coast of Vietnam on Bien Dong (the South China Sea), Da Nang serves as a vital trade hub in the region and is a thriving commercial centre. The six main industrial parks in greater Da Nang house over 4,200 industrial companies. Da Nang is considered a strategic gateway city to Central Vietnam and also to other important Asian cities as the city has direct international routes to such key cities as Bangkok; Singapore; Seoul, Korea; and Osaka, Japan.
The city’s first new five-star debut since the 1990s, the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra melds classic European design and contemporary Cambodia elegance. Wooden floors, high coffered ceilings and wooden lattice are tone setters in one of the region’s most eagerly awaited properties.
IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) is increasing its presence in Vietnam with the signing of two Holiday Inn Resorts. An agreement with Lucky Star Joint Stock Company to manage Holiday Inn Resort Phu Quoc Duong Dong Beach, and another with Thinh Vuong Joint Stock Company to manage Holiday Inn Resort Cam Ranh Bay increases the momentum of IHG's growth of Vietnam's new tourism hotspots.
A native of the United Kingdom, Anthony Gill's appointment comes at a high-water mark for this riverside resort in Hoi An's Old Town. In September, Conde Nast Traveler readers hailed this Life Resort as one of the top-ten resorts in Asia, a distinction it shares with internationally renowned brands that charge 15 and 20 times as much per night.
Patrick Basset, Vice President of Operations for Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan and South Korea says, “ibis is Accor’s worldwide economy hotel brand and is ideally suited to expansion in Vietnam. The brand stands for international quality accommodation with modern facilities and amenities along with friendly and efficient services.”
A native of Italy, Massimiliano “Max” Binda started work at Hanoi’s landmark hotel this month after nearly two years as director of rooms at the Mandarin Oriental, Marrakech. Prior to that appointment, he’d served two years as assistant director of rooms at a Mandarin property in Geneva. And prior to that, he was with Mandarin in Hong Kong. Binda’s rise in the hospitality is straight out of a storybook. His career in hospitality began more than two decades ago when he graduated from a tourism institute in Italy. His first post-graduate post was as a waiter. He quickly advanced to management, supplementing on-the-job experience with courses in Italy and at the famed Lausanne Hotel School. From 2000 to 2004, he was a member of the Reservation, Room Division and Revenue Managers Advisory Board for the Leading Hotels of the World. In addition to Italian, Binda speaks English, German and French fluently.
Hired in September as the new seaside property’s executive chef, the 34-year-old Frenchman has spent the better part of the past decade in Southeast Asia, including two stints in Vietnam.
The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) has announced that its newest international master licensee is Elite Hospitality Group Ltd., which will serve the hospitality education and training needs of Vietnam's hospitality industry as an AHLEI Hospitality Education Program (HEP) provider.
Prior to arriving in Quy Nhon, Quin was based in Vanuata in the South Pacific. He has also worked in Fiji, Dubai, Qatar and Canada. Life Resorts owns and operates two resorts in Vietnam and manages a third. On Vietnam‘s central coast, the 94-room Life Heritage Resort Hoi An evokes the colonial splendor of a bygone era on a quiet stretch of the Thu Bon River within walking distance of the trading port‘s world-famous downtown. On the south-central coast, the 63-room Life Wellness Resort Quy Nhon is dedicated to the tenets of wellness, from yoga, tai chi and Pilates to an ample range of spa treatments and anti-stress and detox programs. Four hours from Ho Ch Minh City, Life manages the 84-room Blue Ocean Resort, featuring a 153-meter private beach, a 26-meter swimming pool and lush tropical grounds. The Dutch resort company is also developing a property on Halong Bay, scheduled to open later in 2010.
Australian Shane McKirdy takes the helm as general manager of the Life Resort-managed Blue Ocean Resort. McKirdy spent the previous 12 months as GM just up the coast at the Life Wellness Resort Quy Nhon. Life Resorts owns and operates two resorts in Vietnam and manages a third. On Vietnam‘s central coast, the 94-room Life Heritage Resort Hoi An evokes the colonial splendor of a bygone era on a quiet stretch of the Thu Bon River within walking distance of the trading port‘s world-famous downtown. On the south-central coast, the 63-room Life Wellness Resort Quy Nhon is dedicated to the tenets of wellness, from yoga, tai chi and Pilates to an ample range of spa treatments and anti-stress and detox programs. Four hours from Ho Ch Minh City, Life manages the 84-room Blue Ocean Resort, featuring a 153-meter private beach, a 26-meter swimming pool and lush tropical grounds. The Dutch resort company is also developing a property on Halong Bay, scheduled to open later in 2010.
Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Asia announced today that it has signed an agreement with developer Vietnamese American Hotel and Resort Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of American company ITC Spectrum, LLC, to co design and manage a luxury resort to be built along the central coast of Vietnam. The Outrigger Vinh Hoi Bay Resort and Spa will be part of the fully integrated Vinh Hoi Bay Golf Resort being constructed on 325 hectares with four other hotels along a 2.7 kilometer secluded white sand beach 29 kilometers north of Quy Nhon in Binh Dinh province .
Slot the Sheraton in Nha Trang into the latter category. Evidence is in the first purpose-built Cooking School in Vietnam, as well as the international management brand's inaugural Steam 'n Spice, a dim sum dining concept not yet offered at Sheratons in China -- the cuisine's birthplace.
Marriott International will introduce its moderately-priced Courtyard by Marriott brand in Vietnam, under a management agreement announced today with CY – Ham Tan Resort Limited Company. When opened in 2012, the property will be the first high-quality, internationally-branded mid-tier hotel in the area.
A bustling, vibrant and ostensibly young city of more than 9 million people, Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam and boasts an eclectic mix of Asian and French cultures.
The Windsor Property Management Company manages several hotels, including The Windsor Plaza and Sherwood Residence, as well as several extremely popular restaurants in the District 1 area. In January 2010, the group selected and began cut over to Procure.NET, supplied by Xn Hotel Systems Pte Ltd, to manage group procurement and stock control operations on a centralised basis, including Food & Beverage and General supplies to assist it control its Purchasing and Stock Control management operations for the group.
As the first implementation of Procure.NET in Vietnam, Xn Hotel Systems and development company Ankerdata Systems worked together to ensure a successful adaptation of the application to Vietnamese standards.
Part of this involved translating the application into the Vietnamese language.
Beneficiary of a CV glowing with names like Crowne Plaza, Shangri-La and Marco Polo, Ma is well positioned to take the reins at the Caravelle, a five-star hotel that has been at the forefront of Ho Chi Minh City’s hospitality industry for half a century. The first hotel in the city with air conditioning, the Caravelle was home to numerous news bureaus in the 1960s. A Hong Kong native, Ma was educated in the US and the UK, and began his career with sales positions at high-end Hong Kong hotels. A seven-year stint as director of sales at the InterContinental Grand Stanford in HK gave Ma unparalleled experience in increasing sales and developing eye-catching promotions, as well as superb business management skills.
Accor, the largest international hotel operator in Vietnam, announces today its strategic expansion plans for Vietnam. This plan includes additional hotels within the Novotel, Mercure hotel brand, launching of the ibis brand and MGallery label and the ambitious goal of doubling the number of rooms under management in the Vietnam by 2012.