Hoteliers On The Move, August 2016
by Mary Gostelow /The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills. Photo: .
Editor's Note: We know one of the values you bring to your customers is the personal relationships you've developed with leading hoteliers around the world. To help you keep up with your favorite GMs and hotel executives as they move around and open new properties, Mary Gostelow offers up a monthly update of who's doing what. Gostelow is founder and editor of Gostelow Report, a subscription newsletter read globally by hotel owners and executives and a contributor to Hotels magazine, as well as moderating panels at numerous conferences for hoteliers.
Christian Clerc is president of the Four Seasons (Vince Parrotta becomes president Americas Four Seasons) • Jean-Gabriel Pérès is president/CEO Kerzner • Olivier Chavy is CEO Mövenpick • Akira Moreno is CEO Anandi Hotels • Foiz Ahmed is president Arlo Hotels • Grace Leo heads Ledunfly's unnamed brand • Ben Gottlieb is principal, John Pritzker's Geolo Capital • Peter French leaves Raffles • Omer Acar is now Katara Hospitality's md Europe (except Switzerland, under Bruno Schöpfer) – and is Andrew Humphries moving to Doha • Michael Purtill heads Starwood Capital's Project 1898, named for the opening date of London Russell) • Yngvar Stray heads Sino Hotels • Marc Dardenne to be coo Jumeirah – and Shafi Syed heads development • Arnaud Champenois is SVP brand and marketing Belmond • Kathleen Shea is cmo Canyon Ranch • Cliff Atkinson is SVP hotel strategy MGM Resorts International • Thierry Douin is SVP ops Dusit.
Neil McFarlane opens Russian steel billionaire Alexander Abramov's 10-room Auckland, New Zealand, Helena Bay • Neil Bierwagen opens 148-room Miami W Brickell • Jeff Smith opens 300-room Frisco TX Omni, next to Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters • Troy Cuthbertson opens 188-room Melbourne, Australia, QT Hotel • Damien Legarde opens 9-room Lima, Peru, Atemporal • Manish Nambiar opens 269-room Accra, Ghana, Kempinski Gold Coast City • Burkhard Wolter opens 113-room Ajman, UAE, Oberoi Al Zorah • Omer Subasi opens 214-room Tbilisi, Georgia, Biltmore, on the site of the former Institute of Marxism and Leninism • Thomas Schwall opens 88-room Langkawi, Malaysia, St Regis • In Barcelona, Irene González opens 88-room Room Mate Carla, and Victor Morales opens 81-room Room Mate Anna • Pim Wolfs opens Alan and Angela Harpers' 18-room Snowdonia, Wales, Palé Hall, SLH, built 1871 • Frank Heller (temporarily) opens the Al-Issa family's 146-room Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Rocco Forte Asilla • Thomas Voss opens 1,000-room Austin TX Fairmont for Manchester Texas Financial Group.
Graham Kiy, as rvp China, opens Zaha Hadid-designed 250-room Nanjing, China, Jumeirah • Olivier Lenoir opens 150-room Singapore Andaz • Cristiano Rinaldi opens 150-room Bangkok, Thailand, EDITION • Emborg Sanne opens 504-room Dubai, UAE, Lapita, Autograph Collection • Jerome Colson opens 150-room Bahrain One&Only Seef, owned by Kerzner and Sevens Holding • Ashley Mahon opens 150-room New York Hyatt House Manhattan Chelsea • Luigi Romaniello opens 170-room Montecito CA Rosewood Miramar Beach, on the site of Doulton's 1876 hostelry.
Janet Lim opens 3,000-room Macau Parisian ($950m of Sheldon Adelson's investment is complemented by over $1.5bn bank loan) • Brian Connelly, gm Phuket, Thailand, Angsana Laguna, adds 48-room Phuket Angsana Villas Resort, formerly Outrigger • Jahmed Mills puts 100-room Eleuthera, Bahamas, French Leave into Autograph Collection • Marie-Christine Albini transforms 19-room St-Barth François Plantation into Villa Marie, a Sibuet hotel • Peter Mikkelsen flags 305-room Cologne, Germany, Rudolfplatz as Steigenberger • Derek Flint brands 654-room Singapore South Beach as JW Marriott • Ian Pullan deflags 400-room Dana Point CA St Regis, now Monarch Beach Resort.
Other md/gms: Clyde Min Honolulu Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort (and area gm) • Marc Landgraf Koh Samui, Thailand, Outrigger • Daniel Zink San Jose CA Fairmont • Ian Cameron Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Royal Ambarruk • Robert Lowe Miami Mandarin Oriental • Richard Hotter New York Manhattan NYC • Geoff Gray Phoenix AZ Royal Palms • Samuel Wong Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, St Regis • Glenn Sampert Boston MA The Liberty Luxury Collection • Brett Schoenfield Hot Springs VA Omni Homestead • Arturo Schwarz Cusco, Peru, Belmond Monasterio and Belmond Palacio Nazarenas • Marco Zanolari Bad Ragaz, Switzerland, Grand Ragaz • Mark Briskin Washington DC Watergate • Thomas Bechtold Andorra Sports Hotels • Thomas Salg Hong Kong Marco Polo (3 hotels) • Christoph Hoeflich Shenzhen, China, Marco Polo • Chris Jones San Francisco Scarlet Huntingdon • Amit Majumder Maldives Jumeirah Vittaveli.
Hermann Elger New York Baccarat • Randy Taormina New York Dream Midtown • Ross Cooper Tokyo, Japan, Andaz • Shadi Omeish Miami Beach 1 Hotel South Beach • Jean-Philippe Simonet Los Angeles Mama Shelter Hollywood • Morgan Bailey Chicago Talbott • Nick Saltmarsh Mt Pleasant SC Charleston Harbor • Michael Gordon Ponte Vedra FL Beach Resort • Pietro Addis Maldives COMO Maalifushi • Burnell Goldman Providence RI Omni • Tarik Temucin Shanghai, China, Portman Ritz-Carlton • Bernd Kuhlen Moscow, Russia, Ritz-Carlton • Mike Kass Kapalua HI Ritz-Carlton • Michel Volk Mauritius Four Seasons.
Blaise Montandon Marrakech Four Seasons • Ronen Aviram Scottsdale AZ Hotel Valley Ho • Steven Greenwood Bangkok, Thailand, Crowne Plaza (and IHG area gm Thailand-Laos) • Stephen Gould Wellington, New Zealand, Sofitel • Mark Wilkinson Noosa Heads, Australia, Sofitel Noosa • Mark Kirk Shanghai, China, Pudong Shangri-La • Antje Sahling Dubai, UAE, Marina InterCon • Jason and Loraine Trollip Sumba, Indonesia, Nihiwatu • Sebastien Mariette adds Aqaba, Jordan, Kempinski • Juan Uribe Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Burj Rafal Kempinski • Gerhard Mitrovits Cairo, Egypt, Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski.
©Mary Gostelow 2016 (Mary Gostelow has been producing the monthly Gostelow Report market intelligence newsletter since 1992, gostelow@aol.com)