The Boutique Search Firm

THE AMERICAS

Barry Sternlicht has resigned as Executive Chairman of Starwood Hotels and Resorts and from Starwood’s Board of Directors. Sternlicht, who founded the company in 1995, retired as Chief Executive Officer last year with Steven Heyer taking over as CEO. Sternlicht will assume the title of Founder and Chairman Emeritus and will more fully focus on Starwood Capital, a real estate investment and private equity firm headquartered in Connecticut.

President/Managing Director Paul O'Neil of Kerzner International’s operations in the Bahamas, is retiring in early 2006. His position will be filled by George Markantonis who joined the Company as President/Managing Director of Atlantis, The Palm in Dubai, in February 2004. The Palm in Dubai will be handled by Alan Leibman, President/Managing Director of Kerzner's destination resort casino development, Mazagan in El Jadida, Morocco. Prior to joining Kerzner, Markantonis was Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

Lisa Impagliazzo has been named Executive Vice President of Operations for the Affinia Hotel Group. Impagliazzo was previously the General Manager and Regional Vice President for Le Royal Méridien King Edward in Toronto, with responsibilities for Méridien hotels in Montreal, Miami, St. Martin, Guadeloupe, Rio de Janeiro and Guyana.

Jeff Senior has joined Fairmont Hotels & Resorts as Senior Vice President, Marketing & Sales. Senior joins from InterContinental where he served as Vice President, Brand Management. He also held positions in both operations and marketing with Marriott, Doubletree and Kimpton.

James Franklin has been promoted to Divisional Vice President of Operations of the Boutique Division at Magna Hospitality. Franklin joined Magna Hospitality in 2003 as the General Manager of the Holiday Inn in Plantation, Florida.

Elizabeth Mullins has accepted the General Manager position at the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia. Mullins started her career at the Ritz-Carlton Boston as a Corporate Management Trainee in 1988 and worked in progressively challenging rooms division positions in New York, Washington DC, Hong Kong, Laguna Niguel and Kapalua. Mullins has held two General Manager assignments since 2001, at the Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage, followed by the Ritz-Carlton Cleveland.

Kirsten Dimond is the new Vice President, Hotel Operations at the Venetian in Las Vegas, replacing Peter Walterspiel who had left in November to join Wynn Las Vegas as Assistant Vice President, Hotel Operations. Dimond joined the Venetian two years ago as Director of Hotel Operations, after having worked for Ritz-Carlton for seven years in Boston, Sydney and Puerto Rico. She started her career in London at the Savoy. Walterspiel recently left Wynn Las Vegas.

Raul Salcido has been promoted to Hotel Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Santiago. Salcido has held the position of Executive Assistant Manager, Rooms Division at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes since February 2003. He joined the company in 1993 as Director of Guest Services at the Ritz-Carlton Cancun.

David Sharihari has been appointed General Manager of the Carmel Valley Ranch. He previously was with Marriott in a variety of leadership positions at resort properties in Aruba and Vail, as well as properties in Fort Collins and Houston.

Steven Smith is the new General Manager at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach. He was previously the General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Bellevue.

John Maibach has been appointed General Manager of the Black Point Inn in Maine. Maibach was most recently the Director of Operations for the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston. Prior to that, he served at the Plaza in New York for ten years, working his way up from Conference Services Manager to Executive Director of Rooms.

Steven Boswell has been appointed General Manager of the Ocean Key Resort & Spa in Key West. Boswell previously served as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Portofino Hotel & Yacht Club and as Director of Sales at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.

Karim El Raheb has been promoted at the Standard Downtown Los Angeles to General Manager after Laurent Fraticelli's transfer to Miami. Raheb joined the hotel in 2004 as Assistant General Manager after working as a pre-opening Consultant at Montage in Laguna Beach. He also spent time at the St. Regis and Ritz-Carlton in Houston.

Ian Pullan has been named General Manager for the Fairmont Orchid. Pullan, a native of Ireland, was most recently the General Manager of the Fairmont Kansas City at the Plaza.

H.A. "Skip" Hartman may have broken a record, for having been the General Manager of the Loews L'Enfant Plaza Hotel since the day it opened in 1973, until the Loews name was taken off the front door last week. The hotel, simply renamed L'Enfant Plaza Hotel is now operated by Crestline Hotels & Resorts.

Emmanuel Gardinier has been appointed General Manager of Little Palm Island Resort & Spa. Gardinier, a Lausanne graduate, most recently served as General Manager of Boyer Les Crayères in Reims, France. He also served as Operations Manager of Eden Rock in St. Barthelemy and General Manager of the Queen’s Gardens Resorts in Saba.

Frederik de Roode has joined the Sagamore on Miami’s South Beach as General Manager. De Roode, who had recently retired following a long and successful career with InterContinental, joined the Sagamore at the request of Thompson Hotels’ top-honcho (and former long-time InterContinental man) Steven Brandman.

Thomas Smith has been named General Manager of San Antonio's Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa. Smith was formerly the General Manager of the Hyatt Regency DFW.

Manfred Moennich is the new General Manager at the Parker Méridien Palm Springs replacing Charlie Robles. Moennich had been the General Manager at the Quail Lodge Resort and Golf Club and spent ten years with Nikko Hotels.

William Bouvier is joining the Mount Vernon Hotel in Baltimore as General Manager. Bouvier was previously the Revenue Manager at the Palms in Turks and Caicos, Hotel Manager at Strawberry Hill in Jamaica and Director of Revenue Management at Island Outpost in Miami.

Simon Chen has joined the Vail Cascade Resort as Hotel Manager. Chen had previously been with Ritz-Carlton for fourteen years. His most recent position with the group was that of Executive Assistant Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch.

InterContinental The Barclay New York has named Raymond Vermolen Hotel Manager. Vermolen was most recently the Food and Beverage Director of the InterContinental Phoenicia Beirut and previously the Food & Beverage Manager for the InterContinental Hotel Alexandria in Egypt and the Food & Beverage Manager at the InterContinental Vendome Beirut.

Christian Penassou has been appointed Project Financial Controller at Orient-Express’ Cupecoy Beach Resort in St. Maarten. Penassou, a Cornell graduate, previously spent many years with InterContinental as Regional Director of Finance for the Phoenicia InterContinental and the Vendome InterContinental in Beirut. He also held the position of Director of Finance at the Ivoire InterContinental in Abidjan and the Grand Hotel InterContinental in Paris.

Ashish Verma, an IHMI-Cornell-ESSEC graduate, is now the Assistant General Manager at Orient-Express’ Windsor Court in New Orleans. Following eight years at New York’s United Nations Plaza Hotel, he had also served as Executive Assistant to the President of Millennium Hotels for special projects.

Marco Scherer has been named Assistant General Manager for the Hotel Monaco in Chicago. Scherer joins from the Royal St. Charles in New Orleans, where he was the General Manager.

The Director of Food and Beverage at Hollywood’s Roosevelt, now operated by Jason Pomeranc’s and Steven Brandman’s Thompson Hotels, is Albert Charbonneau, lately of Shutters on the Beach.

Pete Koerner is the new National Director of Facilities at Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants based in New York. Koerner was most recently with Marriott International as a Regional Cluster Leader/Director of Facilities. Prior to that role, he was Vice President of Facilities, Operations with Sonesta International Hotels.

Alistair Ballantine is the new Director of Sales and Marketing, the Americas, for Orient-Express Hotels, Trains and Cruises. Prior to joining Orient-Express, Ballantine was involved in merging Shackleton International, a UK company, with Frontiers Travels headquartered in Pennsylvania. He also was the President of Abercrombie & Kent for twenty-five years.

Verdell Ekberg has been appointed Director of Marketing of the Shores Resort & Spa in Florida. Most recently Ekberg was the Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for the Procaccianti Hotel Group and also served as Corporate Director of Sales and Revenue Management for Interstate Hotels & Resorts.

Joe Massar is the Director of Sales and Marketing for the Melrose Hotel Dallas. Massar comes from the same position at the Wyndham Arlington Hotel in Dallas/Fort Worth.

Melissa Trench has been promoted to Director of Marketing for Couples Resorts in their Miami headquarters after only two years as Sales and Marketing Communications Manager. Prior to joining the company in 2003, Trench spent five years with Air Jamaica Vacations.

Gary Grant has been named Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hotel Orrington in Chicago. A long time Starwood man, he comes to the Orrington from the Embassy Suites Chicago O’Hare.

Brent Lavery is now at the Brookstreet Resort in Ottawa as Sales and Marketing Director. Lavery was previously at the Deerhurst Resort where he had been Director of Sales for the past two years.

Glenn Griffith has joined the Orrington Hotel as Director of Catering. Well-know in our industry, Griffith had spent nine years as the Director of Catering at the Four Seasons Chicago, prior to becoming the Director of Operations at the Union League Club of Chicago. For the past seven years, he has been the principal of Glenn Griffith, Inc. a boutique event planning firm.

Tiffany Boeckman has been named Director of Sales at Ocean Key Resort & Spa in Key West. Boeckman joins from the Grove Isle Hotel & Spa in Miami, where she was the Director of Catering and Conference Services.

Cindy Lew has been appointed Director of Marketing at the Loews Denver. She transfers from the Loews Santa Monica where she was Director of National Accounts and Creative Director. Prior to that she was the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Viceroy in Santa Monica.

Denise Hunter has been named Director of Leading Group Sales for the Leading Hotels of the World. Hunter had previously been Vice President at the Krisam Hotel Group and in sales at Trump’s Castle Casino Resort, Claridge Casino Hotel both in Atlantic City and began her career at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

Laura Gallagher has joined the St. Regis New York as Director of Travel Sales. Gallagher comes from the Ritz-Carlton Central Park where she was Manager, Business Travel.

Raquel Cainas, Director of Travel Industry Sales at the Fairmont Turnberry Isle was tragically killed in a recent car accident.

Rebecca Broderick has joined the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel as Director of Human Resources. Broderick was most recently Training/Employment Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Club Aspen Highlands.

Restaurateur Arnie Morton has died at age 83. He who gave his name to what has become the Morton steakhouse chain, was originally the Corporate Food and Beverage Director for Playboy Hotels and Clubs, prior to launching his namesake Arnie’s restaurant in Chicago in 1974. His son Peter Morton is now the owner of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and his daughter Pam Morton operates Morton’s restaurant in Los Angeles.

Mitchell Mehr has left China Grill Management to join the Kor Group as Vice President Restaurant Operations. Prior to his six years with China Grill, Mehr was a Director of Food and Beverage with Nikko, Sheraton and Hyatt.

Tony Angotti is the new Vice President Food and Beverage at the Mandalay Bay Resort. Angotti moves from the MGM Grand where he was the Executive Director of Food and Beverage. He also was a Food and Beverage Director at Bellagio in its early days. Mandalay Bay is now part of MGM Mirage.

Philippe Larrieu has been named Director of Food and Beverage at Delano. He was previously in the same position at the Four Seasons Great Exuma and has been assigned with Four Seasons to their properties in Hualalai and Nevis, having started his career as Assistant Restaurant Manager at the Four Seasons Hotel at Beverly Hills.

Erin Bellard, 28, has joined Soho House in New York as Director of Food and Beverage taking over from Marco Perry. Bellard joins following five years at Stephen Hanson’s B.R. Guest Restaurant Group.

Michael O'Donohue is the new Director of Food and Beverage at the W San Francisco. He was previously the Director of Food and Beverage Operations at the Willard Intercontinental in Washington, DC and also worked in a similar capacity at the Intercontinental Houston and Hilton Charlotte and Towers.

Peter Schreurs has transferred from the now-shuttered Plaza in New York to be the Director of Food and Beverage at the Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort and Club in Miami. Also joining the resort from the Plaza is Tim Herman as Hotel Manager and Mike Madigan as Director of Rooms.

Stéphane Lafon is the new Food & Beverage Director at the Swissôtel The Drake. Prior to his new position, Lafon operated and renovated the New Orleans Grill (formerly known as the Grill Room) and the Polo Bar and Lounge at the Windsor Court in New Orleans. In addition, he worked for the Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach as Executive Steward and Maître d’Hotel.

Laurent Boisdron is transferred to the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower as Director of Food and Beverage replacing Fredrik Nyborg who has left the company. Boisdron was previously in the same position at the Sofitel Chicago O’Hare.

Jacques Sorci has added the title of Director of Food and Beverage to his current responsibilities as Executive Chef at the Ritz-Carlton New York. Sorci has been with the hotel since 2001 and with the company since 1992 in Marina del Rey and Tyson’s Corner.

Vincent Cotte is the new Food and Beverage Operations Manager for Ottawa’s Brookstreet Resort. Cotte was formerly of the Vintage Inns in Niagara on the Lake.

Alain Piraux has joined the Ritz-Carlton Tyson’s Corner as Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage, replacing Thomas Meding. Piraux has been with Ritz-Carlton since 1997 in St.Thomas and Dearborn. He was previously the Executive Chef at the Indian River Plantation Resort and Marina in Florida for nine years.

Emmanuel Nony has left Hyatt Hotels after sixteen years to open his own restaurant in Chicago. Nony was previously at the Park Hyatt Chicago, Park Hyatt Tokyo, Grand Hyatt Seoul and Grand Hyatt Hong Kong in various management positions.

Bertrand Chemel has been promoted to Executive Chef at Café Boulud taking over from Andrew Carmelini who has joined the Marlon Abela Restaurant Group. Chemel rejoined Daniel Boulud in 2002 as a Sous Chef after a brief stint at Cello. He had been at Restaurant Daniel previously for two years in various positions.

Ashley James is the new Executive Chef at the Four Seasons Hotel at Beverly Hills. Most recently he has been the Executive Chef at the Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires. Prior to this he was the Executive Sous Chef at the Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita in Mexico where he was part of the pre-opening team. He began his Four Seasons career as Chef de Cuisine at Maxims de Paris at the Regent Singapore. In Beverly Hills, James takes the position left vacant when Conny Andersson transferred to the Regent Beverly Wilshire.

David Rosner has been named Executive Chef at the Standard Downtown Los Angeles. He was previously the Executive Sous Chef at Balthazar in New York.

Roy Lamberty has been promoted to Executive Chef at Swissôtel the Drake. Lamberty’s previous experience includes the Stanhope, Trump International, the Regency and the Omni Berkshire Place.

Bruno Giordano has been transferred by Orient-Express to the newly acquired El Encanto in Santa Barbara as Executive Chef. Giordano was previously in the same position at the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort and the Hotel Monasterio del Cusco. He started his Orient-Express career as the Executive Sous Chef at La Samanna.

Rob Boone, previously with Charlie Trotter, Norman Van Aken, and the Chef of Bambu in South Beach, has joined Executive Chef Marc Ehrler's culinary team to run Preston's South Beach, at the Loews Miami Beach hotel.

Jeffrey Armstrong has returned to Tim Goodell’s Domaine Restaurant Group as Executive Chef at the Roosevelt in Hollywood. Armstrong was previously at the Sam Houston Hotel as Executive Chef, where he established the restaurant, Seventeen, as one of the finest in the city. He had already spent five years with the Domaine Restaurant Group at Whist, Red Pearl, Troquet and Aubergine.

Mark Pollard has been named Executive Chef at Sunset Beach, André Balasz’ seasonal Shelter Island resort. Pollard comes from N9NE Steak House near Palm Springs where he was the Executive Sous Chef.

Truman Neal Jones is the new Executive Chef at Friday Harbor House in Washington. Jones has previously been Executive Sous Chef at Campton Place Hotel and Executive Chef at Fat Fish in Los Angeles.

Christophe Gérard has joined Fifty Five Degrees in Sacramento as Co-Executive Chef/ Partner. He joins forces with his former New York colleague Luc Dendeviel. Gérard was most recently the Executive Chef at the immensely successful Angèle in Napa.

Joel Huff transfers to the West Coast to be Chef de Cuisine of Silks at the Mandarin-Oriental San Francisco. Huff was previously a Sous Chef at Asiate at the Mandarin-Oriental New York. He also worked in the kitchens at San Ysidro Ranch, L’Orangerie and Juro Cho in Ventura.

Michel Keller has been named Restaurant Manager at the Peninsula Beverly Hills. Keller was most recently at Masa’s Echo Park as Partner and Smith Brothers in Bel Air as General Manager. He also was with the Patina Group for two years.

Nicolas Fanucci will be joining Thomas Keller’s French Laundry as General Manager. Fanucci is currently the Manager of L’Escalier at the Breakers in Palm Beach. He had joined the Breakers from Georges Perrier’s Le Bec-Fin in Philadelphia.

Bruno Vergeynst has joined Sunset Beach on Shelter Island as Restaurant General Manager. Vergeynst was previously the Director of Food and Beverage at the Hudson in New York for China Grill Management.

At the MGM Grand Las Vegas, Andreas Reich has been promoted from Director of Room Service Operations to Director of Casual Dining.

James Borowski is coming to the Four Seasons Newport Beach as Director of Engineering. Borowski comes from the Four Seasons Miami where he was the Assistant Director of Engineering.

Alberto Lausell is the new Director of Engineering at the Ritz-Carlton St. Thomas. He transfers from a similar position at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain.

Slavka Kmec has been named Rooms Divisions Manager at the Swissôtel the Drake. Kmec had previously worked at the hotel beginning in 1995 and after a short break from the hotel business, returns.

Guido Salvatori, a Cornell graduate, has been appointed Director of Revenue Management for Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts Americas Division. Salvatori previously worked in a similar capacity for Starwood Hotel & Resorts at the Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel & Towers in Mexico City and the Sheraton Lisboa in Portugal.

EUROPE

Olivier Sevestre returns to the Clarence in Dublin as General Manager taking over for Robert Van Eerde who has joined the Raleigh in Miami. Sevestre spent three years at the hotel in the past, prior to serving as the General Manager of the Cadogan in London and Cotton House in the Grenadines.

Gerold Held is the new General Manager of the Corinthia Nevskij Palace Hotel. He was previously the General Manager of the Arabella Sheraton Congress Hotel in Frankfurt.

Torsten Dressler is the new General Manager at the Grand Kempinski Heiligendamm in Germany. Dressler has previously been with Kempinski in China and Amman.

Alejandro Bernabe has joined the Kempinski San Lawrenz Hotel and Spa in Gozo-Malta as General Manager. Bernabe was previously the Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage at the Kempinski Estepona and the Food and Beverage Manager at the Ciragan Palace Hotel Kempinski in Istanbul.

Stefan Hilgers is the new General Manager at the Domina Inn Shodlik Tashkent in Uzbekistan. Hilgers joined Domina in 2004 as Hotel Manager of the Domina Oasis Hotel & Resort in Sharm El Sheikh.

Michael Walsh has been named General Manager of the Hotel Astoria in St Petersburg. Walsh adds the new responsibilities to his current duties as General Manager at the Hotel d’Angleterre where he has been since 2003.

Patrick Xerri has been named Controller for Althoff Hotels’ Vista Palace and Villa Belrose in the South of France. Xerri is a former Regional Controller for Méridien in the Caribbean region.

Ralph Mehrabani is the new Director of Sales at the Ritz-Carlton Penha Longa Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort in Lisbon. Mehrabani was previously the International Director of Sales at the Carlton InterContinental in Cannes. Prior to that, he had been with InterContinental for almost seven years and with Le Méridien for six years.

Heinz Hunkeler is the new Executive Assistant Manager at the Kempinski Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Munich. Hunkeler, a Lausanne graduate, joins from the Mandarin-Oriental Hotel du Rhône in Geneva, where he most recently occupied the position of Director of Food and Beverage. Prior to that, he worked for the Four Seasons New York and the Four Seasons George V in Paris in various positions.

Paris’ tony Hotel Pont Royal, home to Joel Robuchon’s Atelier, has a new General Manager in Sébastien de La Croix, who comes from the Villa Luxembourg also in Paris. At the Pont-Royal, de La Croix takes over from Patrice Arnaud.

Alexandre Rieunier has joined the Hôtel de Crillon as Director of guest Services, following three years at the Hôtel Bristol as an Assistant Manager.

At the Hotel Martinez in Cannes, Gitte Harder-Pecqueux has been promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing. She had originally joined the hotel two years ago, as Director of Sales. She takes the position left vacant when Philippe Parodi left in January to relocate to the United States.

Frederic Vincent has been named General Manager of the soon-to-open Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière in Paris, switching places with Jacques Horrent: Horrent takes over the Grand Hôtel Barrière, Les Thermes and the Hotel du Lac, all in Enghien Les Bains, from Vincent.

Hugues Besnier has been named Director of Food and Beverage at the Hotel Mirabeau in Monte Carlo, taking over from Vincent Rouard. Besnier joins from the Hotel Metropole, also in Monte Carlo, following four years at the Four Seasons George V in Paris in various departments head positions.

Colin Farndon has been named Spa Director at the Grove in Chandlers Cross, England. He had spent the past two years as the General Manager of the Retreat at Aphrodite Hills in Cyprus. Farndon also spent five years with Sanctuary Spas.

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Briton Symon Bridle has been promoted to the position of Chief Operating Officer for Hong Kong based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts. Bridle, whose career took him to South Africa, London and Bermuda before his move to Asia, has been with Shangri-La for several years. Named one of the group’s two Group Directors of Operations in 2001, he recently held the title of Vice President, Operations.

Mark Decocinis has been promoted to Regional Vice President for Asia and Asia Pacific for Ritz-Carlton. For the past two years Decocinis has been Vice President and Area General Manager at the Portman Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, a hotel he joined as General Manager in 1997. He originally joined Ritz-Carlton in 1989 in Boston.

Cornell hotelier John Berndt has been named General Manager & Area Director of Marco Polo Hotels in Hong Kong. Berndt previously opened and managed several Ritz-Carlton hotels including the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, the Ritz-Carlton Seoul, the Ritz-Carlton Singapore and the Ritz-Carlton Dearborn.

Yoland Perras has joined the Kempinski Shenyang as General Manager. Perras previously held senior positions with Loews, Starwood, Hilton International and Swissôtel. For the past five years, he had been with Kempinski in Moscow at the Hotel Baltschug Kempinski and in Bulgaria where he last assisted in the opening of the Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko.

Martin Jones has recently been appointed General Manager of the Westin Kuala Lumpur. Prior to this, he was the opening General Manager of the W Seoul-Walkerhill.

Matthias Kann has been named General Manager of the Beijing Kempinski at Lufthansa Center. Kann was previously the General Manager of the Leela Kempinski in India, the Kempinski Goa and the Oberoi in New Delhi. Kann also was a Hotel Manager at London’s Savoy.

Taking over for Kann at the Leela Kempinski is Francois Cnockaert. Cnockaert was previously a Managing Director at Colony Capital in Tokyo, following a stint as General Manager at the Swissôtel Nankai. Cnockaert is a graduate of the Ecole Hotelière de Lausanne.

Herman Ehrlich is the General Manager of the Nagoya Hilton. Ehrlich joined Hilton International in 1988 and has spent time at the Cairns Hilton, Guam Hilton, Taipei Hilton, Hilton Yaounde and the Hilton Strasbourg.

Joseph Polito has been appointed General Manager of the Hotel de La Paix in Cambodia. Polito was previously the Director of Operations Thailand for AlilA Hotels and Resorts as well as the General Manager of the AlilA Phuket Villas. In addition, he was with the Royal Jimbaran Bay Resort as General Manager along with Director of Operations for Karma Resorts.

Jolyon Bulley is Director of Special Projects Asia Pacific for InterContinental. He was previously a Regional Director of Sales and Marketing Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific for the company. Bulley’s former position is taken over by Karin Nielsen who has been with InterContinental for almost four years, most recently as Director of Brand Management.

Michael Murphy has been appointed Hotel Manager of the Fuchun Resort in Hangzhou, China. Murphy joins from Cape Sol in Phuket and was previously the Executive Assistant Manager of the Lyford Cay Club in the Bahamas.

John Alexander Girard has been promoted to Vice President, Marketing & Operations of the Marco Polo Hotel Group. Joining the Group in 1992, Girard's most recent assignment was as General Manager and Area Director for the three Marco Polo Hotels in Hong Kong.

Brian Butterworth is the new Hotel Manager at Mauna Lani. Butterworth had previously been with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts since 1995, most recently at the Regent Beverly Wilshire.

Richard Yap has been appointed Executive Assistant Manager - Rooms for the Xianglu Grand Hotel in China. Yap was previously with Raffles International in Cambodia and Singapore.

Hunter Reynolds is the new Director of Food and Beverage at the Fortress in Sri Lanka. Reynolds was previously consulting for L'Auberge Des Cèdres and Executive Chef — Food and Beverage Manager for the opening of the Thalassa Hotel & Spa in Cyprus.

Matthew Siegel is the new Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Food and Beverage at the Kowloon Hotel. Siegel makes the jump from Lincoln, Nebraska where he was a Vice President Operations for the Wilderness Ridge Golf and Lodge. In addition, he has been the Director of Food and Beverage at Turks and Caicos Beaches, the Melrose Hotel Dallas and the Whitehall in Chicago.

Troy Clarry has joined the Ritz-Carlton Bali as Executive Assistant Manager in charge Food and Beverage. Clarry was previously the Food and Beverage Director of the Hyatt Regency Auckland and has worked in Food and Beverage Management at the Grand Hyatt Fukuoka and the Grand Hyatt Taipei. In Bali, he replaces Eric Pendaries who has left the company.

Richard Evans assumes the role of Executive Assistant Manager - Food and Beverage for the Xianglu Grand Hotel in China. Evans has extensive China experience with both Sofitel and Shangri-La.

Cyrille Carmona joins the Fuchun Resort in Hangzhou, China as Food and Beverage Manager. He was previously the Assistant Food & Beverage Manager with Banyan Tree in the Maldives.

Stéphane Massarini has been named Assistant Food and Beverage Manager of the Bora Bora Pearl Beach Resort. Massarini was previously the Operations Banqueting Manager at Le Méridien in Nouméa after being promoted at the resort from Assistant Operations Banqueting Manager and Restaurant Manager.

Fabrice Canelle has been named Director of Culinary Operations at the Pudong Shangri-La. Canelle was previously at the Kempinski Ciragan Palace as Executive Chef for five years and the Executive Chef at the lamented Russian Tea Room in New York.

Paul Pairet has been named Chef de Cuisine for the fusion restaurant at the Pudong Shangri-La. Pairet, who is known for his avant-garde culinary style, has been a culinary consultant for the Frères Costes in Paris. He had opened CAM, the bold restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton Istanbul, and the short-lived Mosaic at the Relais Carré d’Or in Paris.

Paul Hutt has been named Executive Chef of the Hotel de La Paix in Cambodia. Hutt previously established the Food and Beverage Division (Culinary Training School) of the Shinta Mani Hotel & Institute of Hospitality.

Peter Soo is the new Executive Chef at Fuchun Resort in Hangzhou, China. Soo was previously Executive Chef at GHM's Lalu Lake property in Taiwan. A CIA graduate, his culinary background includes Le Cirque 2000, Restaurant Daniel and the Ritz-Carlton New York.

James Yap has been appointed Front Office Manager at the Fuchun Resort in Hangzhou, China. He comes from the Ritz-Carlton Kuala Lumpur.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

Thorsten Ries has transferred as General Manager to the Ritz-Carlton Doha, where he held the position of Hotel Manager before his promotion to General Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Sharm El Sheikh in 2003. Ries joined Ritz-Carlton in October 1999 as Regional Director of Sales and Marketing for the company at the International Sales Office in Frankfurt. Ries started his hospitality career with Marriott International in 1997 and spent time with Hilton International and Four Seasons in Toronto and Berlin.

Peter Mainguy has been promoted to General Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Sharm El Sheikh. Mainguy was previously Hotel Manager at the Ritz-Carlton Dubai, where he joined the company as Director of Sales and Marketing in December 2002.

Michael Metaxas has been named General Manager at the Anassa in Cyprus. Metaxas comes from managing the Thalassa Boutique Hotel and Spa also in Cyprus and was previously at the Aphrodite Hills InterContinental Hotel. He worked for InterContinental for eighteen years.

Jean-Philippe Hubau has joined the Hotel Concorde Bellepierre as General Manager. Hubau was previously the General Manager at Les Barmes de L’Ours in Val d’Isère and Le Manoir de Beauvoir. The Concorde Bellpierre is located on Reunion Island, off the Eastern Coast of Africa.

Ulf Karow is the Director of Sales and Marketing of Le Méridien Fisherman's Cove and Le Méridien Barbarons in the Seychelles. He previously worked in a similar capacity at the Regent Schlosshotel and as Director of Sales at the Hotel Adlon Kempinski in Berlin. Previous experience also includes three years with Orient-Express as Regional Director of Sales and Marketing in Frankfurt.

Chris Watson has been named Vice President Human Resources Middle East, Africa for InterContinental. Watson was previously the Senior Vice President Human Resources for Jin Jiang International. He had also been a Regional Vice President of Human Resources for Raffles International. Many years ago, Watson had been a Senior Consultant for our competitor Profile of London.

Axel Jarosch is the new Executive Assistant Manager at Le Prince Maurice in Mauritius. Jarosch leaves his position as Director of Food and Beverage at the Andaman Langkawi after five years. His replacement there is Matthias Welzel.

Edited by Benoit Gateau-Cumin & Lisa Leroy

Born and raised in France, Benoit managed to scoop up a French law degree prior to studying Hotel Administration at Cornell University. Upon graduation in 1975, he engaged in an eleven-year hotel management career which took him to Chicago, New York, Washington DC, San Diego, Istanbul, Jamaica and Hawaii. He held positions with Omni, Hyatt, Hilton International, ITT Sheraton and Méridien, as well as Honululu's unique Halekulani, consistently rated as one of the world's best. Benoit was bit by the "headhunting" bug in 1986, and has not relented yet. He founded "The Boutique Search firm" in February 1992. His motto: small is beautiful. Benoit loves to mountain bike, cook and write short (and long) stories.

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