In his role, Gutierrez will lead all food and beverage operations, including restaurants, bars, catering and banquet operations. This appointment comes at a pivotal time for the luxury property, as it is due to reopen its doors this December 2019.
The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas is set to reopen in December 2019 following a period of extensive enhancements. The all-encompassing $100 million project includes fully reimagined and redesigned public spaces, rooms and suites, event and meeting space, and dining venues inclusive of a new culinary concept.
The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas is pleased to announce the appointment of Akis Neocleous as General Manager. Neocleous will oversee the reopening of the resort later this year and head all operations. Most recently, he served as the General Manager of the W Panama, which opened to great fanfare under his direction.
The Ladies and Gentlemen at The Ritz-Carlton Club, St. Thomas located in the U.S. Virgin Islands welcomed their first Members and guests back to this extraordinary resort over the weekend. The resort has been closed since two extremely powerful Category 5 hurricanes, Hurricanes Irma and Maria, impacted the U.S. Virgin Islands, and specifically St. Thomas on September 6, 2017 and September 20, 2017, respectively.
Starwood Caribbean Hotels & Resorts strengthens its sales team with the appointment of Dawn Parisi as area director of sales and marketing and director of sales and marketing for The Westin St. John Resort & Villas. Having 18 years of hospitality sales and marketing experience in leading, developing and creating top notch sales talent, Parisi is an ideal fit for the Caribbean-focused role.
Wyndham Vacation Ownership (WVO), the world's largest vacation ownership company and a member of the Wyndham Worldwide family of companies (NYSE:WYN), and Margaritaville Hospitality Group broadly recognized as the hospitality industry leader in delivering fun and escapism, have jointly announced plans to redevelop the former Grand Beach Palace Resort, located on the northeast side of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Wyndham St. Thomas, a Margaritaville Vacation Club resort, is anticipated to open in late 2014 and will be the first resort of its kind in the world.
Most recently, Kuhlen served as General Manager at The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay, where he oversaw operations for the 261-room destination spa and golf hotel. He earlier spent five years at The Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort, Rose Hall, Jamaica, first as Hotel Manager and then as General Manager. Prior to 2005, Kuhlen served as Director of Food and Beverage for The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, where he played an instrumental role in hotel emergency and recovery efforts during and following Hurricane Katrina.
Frazer-Ellis is no stranger to St. John, or to the entertaining aspects of her new position, having spent the past three years as Director of Fun in charge of onsite leisure guest activities at Westin St. John Resort and Villas. She joined the Westin property as Wedding Sales Manager in July 2005. Prior to arriving in the Caribbean, Frazer-Ellis started her career with the Sales Department at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center in Gainesville, Florida in 2001. Active and involved within the community during her years on St. John, Frazer-Ellis has served as a member of the local Chamber of Commerce, and undertaken several volunteer projects. Born and raised in St. Thomas, Frazer-Ellis earned a Bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Parks and Tourism with a concentration on Event Planning from the University of Florida in Gainesville in 2001. Her expertise in the field of marketing and sales, along with her extensive local network of contacts, make Frazer-Ellis a natural fit for the position of Director of Catering and Conference Services within the management team.
Mike brings to the Westin St. John more than 20 years of experience with Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Most recently, he served as Senior Director of Operations for Starwood’s Franchise Division. Prior to that, he was the Regional Director of Six Sigma as a Master Black Belt. Mike has held a variety of hotel management positions, including General Manager, at such distinguished Starwood properties as the Tremont/Raphael Hotels in Chicago, the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers, Walt Disney World Dolphin, Sheraton New Orleans and the Members Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
With nearly 20 years experience in the hospitality industry, Knot began his career with Marriott in 2000 in Aruba where he served as the director of services for both the Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino and Marriott’s Aruba Ocean Club. From there, Knot quickly progressed to front office manager at the Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino. Three years later he was appointed to director of services for Marriott’s Aruba Ocean Club and Marriott’s Aruba Surf Club and soon advanced to director of room operations for both properties. In his most recent role, Knot held the position of general manager at Marriott’s St. Kitts Beach Club in the British West Indies where he successfully opened three phases at the resort, as well as earned the recognition as a “World Class Leader for the Florida-Caribbean Region” by Marriott Vacation Club International.