Marriott International (NYSE:MAR) signed an agreement today with Sao Sang Nha Trang Co. Ltd. that will result in the opening of its first deluxe Marriott Hotels & Resorts-branded hotel in Vietnam in 2013 and its fifth property in the country. Construction is expected to start by year-end.
Vietnam’s largest international hotel operator, Accor, today announced the development of the Novotel Saigon Centre. The 350 room hotel is to be built in the city centre in District 1 and is scheduled to open in 2012.
Kai Speth, General Manager of the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi (Vietnam), has won the award for the Most Outstanding Hotel General Manager (upscale and luxury hotels) at the Worldwide Hospitality Awards 2009, organised by the French trade magazine HTR. Mr Speth will accept his award at the hospitality gala to be held in Paris tonight.
Excitement is building in the Vietnamese capital, with the soft opening ceremony of the new 4-star Best Western Muong Thanh in Hanoi set for October 10th, 2009. Located in the center of Bac Linh Dam community, this new 20-storey 168 room property will, for the first time, open its doors for a guided tour around the premises. Guests at the soft opening event will be given a glimpse of what will be among the most spacious and elegant hotel rooms in town, the conference and banquet rooms seating up to 200 guests, the food and beverage outlets and the signature Savasana Spa & Wellness Center.
Best Western International has launched an accelerated drive to open new hotels and resorts in major cities and tourist destinations throughout Vietnam. Eyeing Vietnam’s fast-growing tourist arrivals, with 5 million visitors expected in 2010, The World’s Largest Hotel Chain plans to take its Vietnam portfolio from 729 rooms currently to 2,050 rooms within 2012.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, today announces the opening of the 305-room InterContinental Asiana Saigon hotel and 260-apartment InterContinental Asiana Saigon Residences. This is the first international luxury hotel to open in Ho Chi Minh City in the last 4 years and the first residential property under the InterContinental brand in Asia Pacific.
Hanoi will welcome its first new internationally-branded 4-star hotel for over a decade, when Mercure Hanoi La Gare opens tomorrow (September 1, 2009).
Executive Chef Konstantin Elser’s timing in joining the team at Mövenpick Hotel Saigon could hardly be better suited to his creative instincts – and vice versa: The hotel recently undertook a phased but comprehensive renovation, including refurbishment of all its dining facilities and their menus. Having begun his culinary career at age 16, Elser’s youth belies a depth of expertise built on far-flung adventures in sophisticated cooking and menu planning. It began with a solid foundation in traditional German cuisine in his native country. He refined his skills at the Mövenpick Hotel Zurich Airport, followed by a stint at the Intercontinental Hyde Park in London. Elser expanded his repertoire during a world cruise on board the MV Europa, and further burnished his reputation by becoming one of the youngest executive chefs in Thailand.
U.S.-based hotel giant, Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) has signed a management agreement with a Vietnamese ownership group, Binh Minh Import Export Production and Trade Company, Ltd., to open a JW Marriott luxury branded hotel in Hanoi in 2012.
Mövenpick Hotel Saigon has appointed Mr. Stephan Faessler as the hotel’s Director of Food and Beverage. He studied English in New Zealand, worked in 5-star hotels in his native Switzerland and honed his F&B skills in Thailand. Now, Stephan Faessler is lending his talents and knowledge to Mövenpick Hotel Saigon, where he has taken on the role of Director of Food & Beverage. Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, an upscale hotel management company with 12,000 employees, is represented through over 90 hotels existing or under construction in 26 countries with a concentration in its core markets of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Anticipating a January 2010 Grand Opening, the Life Resorts Management Company has selected a team of seasoned general managers to spearhead the launch of the Life Resort Danang. The two managers — Michelle Ford and Cyrille Stegmann, both from South Africa — previously worked as the general management team at the Life Wellness Resort Quy Nhon. Cyrille Stegmann earned a degree in hospitality management with the prestigious César Ritz Hospitality Management School in Switzerland before moving on to work in top hotels and resorts in America, United Arab Emirates, Africa, Europe and Asia. His career spans hospitality postings in both city and remote locations. He has specialized in pre-openings.
Anticipating a January 2010 Grand Opening, the Life Resorts Management Company has selected a team of seasoned general managers to spearhead the launch of the Life Resort Danang. The two managers — Michelle Ford and Cyrille Stegmann, both from South Africa — previously worked as the general management team at the Life Wellness Resort Quy Nhon. After studying hotel management in South Africa, Michelle Ford embarked upon a management career in Africa, the Middle East, United Kingdom and Asia. At the Raffles Spa Academy, she studied spa management and later managed a groups of spas in Asia.
Two years after leaving Vietnam for a stint as general manager of the Sheraton Bandung Hotel and Towers in Indonesia, Scott Hodgetts has returned to launch the 281-room Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel and Spa. The veteran Sheraton executive expects to open the commanding, 30-storey tower on the Bay of Nha Trang in July as the first internationally renown 5-star hotel on the beach in Vietnam. In his first Vietnam post, Hodgetts worked three-and-a-half years at the Sheraton Saigon Hotel & Towers, initially as the hotel’s operations manager and then as the executive assistant manager. The Australian kicked off his hospitality career with Sheraton as an accountant at the company’s Hobart hotel, and subsequently rose through the ranks with additional postings in Australia, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong and New Zealand. He only relinquished his focus on financial analysis when he made the jump to EAM in Saigon. But he reckons his background as a controller is ever more important these days.
A veteran of the world-renowned GHM hotel management group, Laubichler-Pichler assumed the role of GM at The Nam Hai on Dec. 14, after spending three years in the same position at The Saujana in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — another GHM-managed property. Prior to that job, the Austrian worked in Europe for 20 years, a period that included executive management stints at Annabelle Hotel in Cyprus, Dorint Kongress Hotel in Germany and Hotel Schloss Fuschl in his homeland. “Herbert has overseen some of the premier properties in the world,” said Rick Mayo-Smith, CEO of Indochina Land, The Nam Hai’s developer. “He’s been instrumental in the success of them all, and we’re confident he will contribute in the same fashion at The Nam Hai.”