Jeremy McCarthy has been announced as the new group director of spa for Mandarin Oriental. Based in Hong Kong, McCarthy will now manage the luxury hotel group’s global spa division. A well-known spa professional, he joins Mandarin Oriental with 25 years of experience.
The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa has welcomed Arielle Feinberg as the new spa director of the property’s 14,000 square feet Heavenly Spa by Westin™. Having managed some of the country’s most luxurious spa facilities, Feinberg brings a wealth of knowledge that she will use to lead the development of new well-being programming such as adding new treatments and amenities for guests and locals.
Bradford joined Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in early 2011, where she gained experience and expertise in several areas of the Hotel before joining the Spa. Prior to joining Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, Bradford worked in food and beverage at the Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York, helping to manage three restaurant outlets and supervising 30 employees. Prior to that, she worked as a human resources assistant at the Statler Hotel in Ithaca, New York, where she was an instructor in the training of more than 20 employees. She also worked in operations at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, where she helped to manage three upscale restaurant concepts.
A testament to Four Seasons’ commitment to wellbeing and on-the-ground coordinated leadership, the appointment of Luisa Anderson as the group’s first Regional Director of Spa (Bali, Langkawi and Maldives) comes at a felicitoustime, when personal wellness has never been more essential. Luisa’s personal journey has evolved and developed with her career and studies. In addition to a plethora of international qualifications in various spa related disciplines, she has been a social worker, nurse (including paediatric cancer care), midwife and therapist. More recently, she was Director of International Spa Development for ila-spa, one of the world’s leading natural and ethical wellness brands. And somewhere along the way, she found time to hold senior roles in some of the world’s most iconic spas.
Shelf brings to The Spa at Trump SoHo more than 15 years of experience including her most recent position as general manager of The Peninsula Spa at The Peninsula New York. There, Shelf oversaw management of more than 135 employees while exceeding business growth in overall revenue by $7 million in services and an additional 30 percent increase in retail sales. Previously, Shelf managed the national spa team of more than 15 spas and 500 employees at The Spa at Equinox, where she once again surpassed revenue expectations by $5 million dollars. Throughout Shelf's career, she has successfully implemented new business initiatives, directed renovation projects and provided education and productivity analyses.
Based in FRHI's regional office in Dubai, Andrew Gibson will be responsible for the development and execution of the company's spa strategy, including defining and implementing spa standards globally across all of FRHI’s leading hotel and spa brands. Gibson, who is British, brings over 25 years of international hospitality experience in the fields of spa, wellness and leisure to his new role. He joins FRHI from his most recent position as Group Director of Spa, Mandarin Oriental Hotels Group. Andrew began his career in England, where an early role was leisure centre manager at an airport hotel close to London Gatwick Airport, one of the first hotels in the UK to build significant leisure facilities. He then held progressive positions in the Middle East, with Abu Dhabi Intercontinental Hotel and the Al Bustan Palace Hotel in Oman. He also contributed to leisure services in Oman through tennis, squash, sailing and diving and helped design, build and project manage the first ladies only spa in Muscat.
Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa, the largest full-service beachfront resort on Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast, has announced the completion of renovations at their award-wining Serenity by the sea Spa, and the appointment of Rhonda Davis as the new spa director. A Tennessee native, Davis began her journey in the spa industry as a private practice massage therapist in Memphis in 2003. In 2007 she was presented an opportunity to work with The Spa at The Four Seasons in Miami, which launched career as hotel spa director. Prior to Serenity by the sea, Davis was spa director at Sports Club LA in Miami, Innisbrook Golf & Spa Resort in Tampa, Fla. and most recently, Spa Oceana at the historic Lowes Don Cesar Spa Oceana in St. Pete Beach, Fla. In addition to her spa experience, Davis has had more than 20 years of corporate retail experience in soft and hardline industries. She previously held positions of regional trainer, recovery trainer and district manager with companies such as Lenox China, Dress Barn and Stone Mountain Handbags.
Martirena is a Swiss native with an extensive spa background. She completed a commercial apprenticeship at the Wellness & Spa Hotel Ermitage in Schönried, Switzerland and, after gaining her Professional Baccalaureate, went on to become a qualified massage therapist. Her path led from working in this role on a cruise ship to becoming Spa Manager of the five-star Hilton in Barcelona. In 2008, the year of the Dolder Grand's reopening, she took on the role of Spa Treatment Manager in the new spa. She takes inspiration from her frequent visits to spa hotels across the world.
Sanders, who joined Mii amo as Spa Director in 2011, is now responsible for managing spa operations across Enchantment Group, including developing treatments, treatment menus, spa programming, events and new projects, and implementing programs with on-property management and spa teams.
Prior to joining Turnberry Isle Miami, Pahel’s spa industry experience included work at 4- and 5-star spas, such as Nemacolin Woodlands, The Spa at Arizona Biltmore, Caesars Palace, New York Hilton, Aroma Wilshire Spa, Loews Miami Hotel, St. Andrews Country Club & Spa, La Torretta Lake Resort & Spa, Cinzia Spa at North Beach Plantation and Deer Lake Lodge & Spa.
Urgo Hotels and Resorts announces today that their Palm Beach spa-concept, SiSpa, will open a second location in their Fort Lauderdale Marriott Pompano Beach Resort & Spa property. The hotel, which opened in July of this year, marks the 32nd property in the hospitality groups' portfolio.
W Fort Lauderdale welcomes Starwood spa veteran Joan Bowden as the new director of its iconic bliss spa. Bowden’s responsibilities as director of spa will include overseeing marketing and promotions, retail initiatives and operations of the 4,000 sq. ft. facility featuring a luxe nail lounge, pampering treatment rooms, men’s and women’s lounges that open on to an outdoor terrace, a retail boutique and a legendary brownie buffet.
Las Ventanas al Paraíso, A Rosewood Resort, is pleased to announce the appointment of Maxime Cormier as Spa Director of the resort’s renowned Spa at Las Ventanas. In his new role, Cormier will be responsible for overseeing the overall spa vision, creating and developing innovative treatments and services, product selection and the management of staff members.
Benchmark Hospitality International®, a leading U.S.-based hospitality management company, has appointed Deborah Berlingeri spa director for Bonaventure Resort & Spa. Jim Mauer, general manager for the property, a Benchmark Resort® located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, made the announcement. Deborah Berlingeri was previously senior account executive for Harbor Beach Marriott Resort and Spa, located in Fort Lauderdale. During her tenure there, Ms. Berlingeri held several positions of increasing responsibility in the spa, events, and sales departments. She began her career in hospitality as front office manager for the Raleigh Crabtree Marriott Hotel in Raleigh, North Carolina. Ms. Berlingeri is a graduate of Georgia Southern University, where she earned her Business Administration Degree. She resides in Weston, Florida.
Bjurstam, who co-founded Raison d'Etre in 2000 (see Spa Business issue 3, 2006, p66), became sole owner of the company in May 2011. She will spend the majority of her time (around 75 per cent) with Six Senses but will still be involved with Raison d'Etre. To assist this, Raison d'Etre has appointed a new managing director - Annika Jackson.
Montage Beverly Hills today announced that Nicole Weigand has been appointed to the role of Spa Director. In this role, she will oversee day-to-day operations, spa and fitness programming and development of a team of over 40 associates.
The Bordelais Spa Manager joins Grand Hôtel de Bordeaux & Spa from Hôtel Majestic in Cannes. With 17 years of experience in the industry, David Lestelle has previously managed luxury hotel spas on the French Riviera including Hôtel du Cap Eden Roc, Château Saint-Martin & Spa and the Hôtel de Paris in Monaco. He will bring this high level of experience to his work at Les Bains de Léa spa.
Stewart joins Spa L'Auberge from the Kohala Spa at Hilton Waikoloa Village on Hawaii's Big Island where she was spa manager overseeing nearly 50 employees. Prior to that, she was the Spa Operations Manager at Golden Door Spa at Waldorf Astoria in Park City, Utah. Other experience includes massage instructor at Healing Mountain Massage School in Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as spa positions at Lake Austin Spa Resort, Texas; and Red Mountain Spa, Utah. Stewart is certified in Thai Massage, Shiatsu, Reflexology, Lomi Lomi, Hot Stone and Ayurvedic treatments and has studied different modalities throughout Asia.
McGinnis has enjoyed an extensive career in spa and wellness. She arrived at the Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa from InSPAration Management, a Florida-based firm specializing in spa and salon business development, advanced education and management. At InSPAration she specialized in delivering a full spectrum of solutions to ensure business success for owners and operators of luxury resort and day spas as well as medical spas. Previously, McGinnis also served as Executive Vice President of Operations at Innovative Spa Management, a North Carolina based company, developing turn-key solutions to meet the needs of hospitality, spa and fitness clients. At Innovative Spa Management, she oversaw daily operations of more than 10 resort spa locations. McGinnis got her start in the spa industry, working over a decade with Arnold Palmer and IMG, specializing in high end locations and later opened one of the first themed spas on the East Coast, the legendary Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa in Asheville, NC.
Today, The Assistant Company, Europe’s leading provider of Activity Booking and POS solutions to resorts and clubs globally, announced the appointment of Susanne Rode to the position of Senior Manager of Solutions Implementation. In this position, Ms. Rode is responsible for implementation project management for new and existing TAC clients. Additionally she will be providing advanced customer care services across The Assistant Company’s entire international client base.