Here’s the people making this week’s moves.
Daniela Trava Albarrán was named onsite manager of the Grand Residences Riviera Cancun. Prior to joining Grand Residences, Albarrán held a role in the Investment Promotion Unit for Mexico’s Ministry of Economy.
Florida-based Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa appointed Chad Armistead as director of rooms and Wayne T. Stokes as director of front office.
The Thompson Nashville named Akshay Bahl as general manager. Bahl most recently served as general manager at The Hollywood Roosevelt in Los Angeles.
Wyndham Worldwide made executive leadership appointments for the new, publicly traded pure-play hotel company to be created by the recently announced 2018 spin-off from Wyndham Worldwide. Tom Barber will serve as chief strategy and development officer; Paul Cash will serve as general counsel; Mary Falvey will serve as chief administrative officer; Barry Goldstein will serve as chief marketing officer; and Bob Loewen will serve as chief operating officer.
Cliff House Maine appointed Andrew Bartlett as the property’s new director of rooms. Prior to joining Cliff House Maine, Bartlett was the GM at Harbor View Hotel in Martha’s Vineyard.
Angela Blackstock was named director of sales and marketing and Carla Schrock will serve as associate director of sales at the dual-branded “Hiltons on Canyon” currently under construction in Boulder, Colorado.
The Westin Perth, a 368-room hotel set to open in April, named Peter Brampton GM. Prior to joining Marriott, Peter had an established career with the Southern Pacific Hotel Group, working in various locations around Australia, as well as in Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and New Zealand.
Luca Brunelle was appointed executive chef of The Gideon Putnam in Saratoga Springs, New York. He previously ran the kitchens at Cornell’s in Little Italy in Schenectady, New York.
Santa Barbara-based Kimpton Canary named Patrick Bryant director of F&B. He joins Finch & Fork and Kimpton Canary most recently from the Las Vegas-based restaurant Vintner Grill, where he served as director of special events and catering.
Fabrice Collot was named GM of Banyan Tree Seychelles. Collot joined Banyan Tree in 2007 and served at Banyan Tree Al Areen Spa and Resort in Bahrain as executive assistant manager. He was promoted to hotel manager one year before being transferred to the Angsana Riads Collection in Marrakech, Morrocco and then promoted to GM at Banyan Tree Macau.
Tuscany’s Toscana Resort Castelfalfi’s named Isidoro Di Franco as general manager. Most recently, he was GM of Four Points by Sheraton in Bolzano, Italy.
McKibbon Hospitality hired Maxine Elleby as market director of sales for the AC Hotel and Residence Inn Charlotte City Center and Don Lockhart as general manager for the AC Hotel Charlotte City Center. The 22-story, dual-branded hotel tower in North Carolina is expected to open in early 2018. Lockhart joins from Prospera Hospitality, where he was building general manager for the SKYE Building. Elleby previously was director of sales, catering and marketing for the Le Meridien Charlotte and Sheraton Charlotte Hotel.
Jeana Fink has been appointed the new Director of Group Sales at San Francisco’s Westin St. Francis. Fink most recently served as Marriott International’s director of sales, large group and catering for the Western Mountain Pacific Region.
The Don CeSar in St. Pete Beach, Florida named Todd Gehrke as director of sales & marketing, Patrick Faas as director of food & beverage and Christopher Jennings as director of rooms.
Bradley Granger was named GM of the Residence Inn By Marriott – Cedar Bluff in Knoxville, Tennessee. Granger previously worked at the Homewood Suites by Hilton in Knoxville, where he started as a front desk associate and left as the Assistant General Manager.
Connie Hagston was named director of sales and marketing for the Chaminade Resort & Spa in Santa Cruz, California. Hagston was previously director of sales and marketing for The Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa.
QT Melbourne appointed an executive chef, Andrew Harmer, to oversee all F&B operations for the hotel.
Amelia Hill was named area spa director of Florida Keys properties, the Little Palm Island Resort & Spa and Ocean Key Resort & Spa. Prior to Little Palm Island, Hill served as spa director at Sunset Key Cottages in Key West, as well as spa supervisor at Pier House Resort and Caribbean Spa.
Rosewood Hotel Group appointed Irene Hoek as vice president of development, Europe. Most recently, she served as the managing director of real estate development at Aman Hotels & Resorts.
A Dutch national, Marcel N.A. Holman was named GM for The Sukhothai Shanghai, a contemporary design hotel managed by The Sukhothai Hotels & Resorts, scheduled to debut in December. Prior to joining The Sukhothai Shanghai, Mr Holman was formerly the General Manager of Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel Taipei.
The Omni Dallas Hotel named John Imaizumi as managing director. Imaizumi joins the Omni Dallas Hotel from Zoom Golf LLC, where he was founder and served as chief executive officer.
Chicago-based Arbor Lodging Management named Vasileios Ioannou as the company’s first-ever corporate director of F&B. Vasileios previously served as the director of operations for F&B at the Chicago Marriott Schaumburg.
Jason W. Jonilonis was named director of food and beverage for Stonewall Resort in Roanoke, West Virginia. Jonilonis previously owned and operated a successful food and beverage consulting business, specializing in enhancing culinary quality.
General Manager of the St. Regis Bal Harbour, Oliver Key, was promoted to area general manager at the hotel. Before joining The St. Regis, he served as opening general manager of the St. Regis Abu Dhabi.
Set to open in December in San Pedro, Belize, the Mahogany Bay Resort & Beach Club, Curio – A Collection By Hilton, named Niklaus Leuenberger as general manager and veteran sales person Edward Donaldson as director of sales & marketing.
Loews Hotels promoted two managing directors: John Maibach will take over the reins at the Loews Regency New York Hotel in Midtown Manhattan and Derek McCann as managing director will oversee the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group named Charles McKee as senior vice president and chief commercial officer for the Americas. He’s previously served as chief marketing officer of Delta Hotels and Resorts and Air Canada, and commercial executive vice president of lastminute.com.
Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino named Michael Murphy general manager. Murphy has worked with Hyatt for over twenty years, starting with a career at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C.
The Willard InterContinental Washington, D.C. named Markus Platzer as general manager. Platzer previously served as area general manager for IHG in Japan, based at the InterContinental Tokyo. His position at The Willard will be his first in the United States.
The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe named Bruce Seigel general manager. Seigel joins the luxury mountain resort with more than three decades of hospitality management experience, including nearly eighteen years with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. Prior to joining The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe, he served as area director of sales and marketing of The Ritz-Carlton’s Caribbean and Mexico region.
Urbahn Architects, a national and international hospitality, commercial, and civic architecture and planning firm based in New York City, promoted Ranabir Sengupta to associate principal.
The Hilton Santa Fe Buffalo Thunder in Santa Fe named Robert Swenson general manager. Swenson, who has over 35 years of experience in various top-level management roles, was previously an industry consultant to several hotel corporations including Boxer Properties.
Palm Springs, California-based Ingleside Inn and Melvyn’s Restaurant named Jennifer Town as executive chef to lead property-wide culinary operations, menus and programming. Most recently, Town served as executive chef of the Purple Room Supper Club.
Effie Tsavalias was named GM of Pod Brooklyn, opening this September in New York. Most recently, she served as director of housekeeping at The Maritime Hotel.
The Chase Park Plaza, A Royal Sonesta Hotel in St. Louis named Matthew White director of F&B and Gunter Weber as executive chef.
Dave Wheeler was named regional vice president of operations for Stonebridge Companies. Wheeler was most recently area director of operations for TMI Hospitality.
Margaret Yeung was appointed vice president of brand management and communications for Rosewood Hotel Group. Most recently, she was partner and director of Kalli Strategic Consulting.