ACCOR’S APPOINTMENTS WITHIN LUXURY & LIFESTYLE DIVISION
Accor has announced the upcoming additions to its luxury & lifestyle division team, all effective January 1st, 2024. Gilda Perez-Alvarado, who was named Accor’s group chief strategy officer in August, will also be the CEO of Orient Express.
Perez-Alvarado started her career at PwC before joining JLL in 2004. In her most recent role as Global CEO of JLL Hotels & Hospitality, she was responsible for overseeing the global investment sales, debt and equity placement, strategic advisory and asset management services throughout the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific. Notably, Perez-Alvarado holds board and membership positions at several high-profile organizations, among which are Accor’s Management Board, Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc., Cornell University Board of Trustees, World Travel & Tourism Council and IREFAC.
Joining Orient Express as well is Maxime d’Angeac, who has been appointed artistic director. D’Angeac is a member of the French Architect order and has worked with Hilton McConnico on the scenography of numerous Hermès exhibitions in Paris, the new Lanvin concept and the Le Tout Paris restaurant on the roof of the Samaritaine. In 1992, he got his Architecture degree and founded his own agency.
Additionally, Omer Acar has been appointed CEO of Fairmont. Omer Acar will remain the CEO of Raffles, a position he has held since March. Acar started his career at Four Seasons in various operational positions at several hotels in the United States and Egypt. He moved to Harrods in England as group director of food & beverage in 2005, was appointed general manager of the Ritz in Paris in 2006 and then moved to the Royal Monceau – Raffles Paris in the same capacity in 2011. He joined Katara Hospitality in 2014 as managing director for Europe and the Americas, where he supervised 18 hotels, including The Plaza in New York, Peninsula in Paris, Carlton in Cannes, Excelsior in Rome, Grosvenor House and The Savoy in London.
NEW GMs
Dorsett Hospitality International has appointed Harmesh Singh as the new general manager for Silka Maytower Kuala Lumpur and the 347-room Cosmo Hotel Kuala Lumpur located in Leboh Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Singh has over 20 years of experience with a focus on sales and marketing as well as operations. He began his career in 1999 with Mandarin Singapore. Later, he moved back to Malaysia to further advance his hospitality career with the Ritz Carlton Kuala Lumpur and then with Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur. Most recently, Singh was the director of sales & marketing for WEIL Hotel, a 5-star hotel in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia, a position he held since 2018.
Sage Hospitality Group and The Rally Hotel, located in Denver’s McGregor Square, have named Marie DeLibero as general manager. DeLibero has held leadership positions at Denver hotels under Sage Hospitality Group, including at The Oxford Hotel, The Crawford Hotel and Denver’s Union Station, before being part of the opening team at The Rally Hotel in 2021.
MORE MOVES
Olga Schuster has been appointed as the cluster director of sales & marketing of Rosewood Vienna, which opened in August 2022, and Rosewood Schloss Fuschl, slated to open in 2024.
Schuster spent almost a decade at Park Hyatt Viena in roles ranging from senior sales manager to director of sales & marketing. Schuster also worked at Hilton Vienna, several Hyatt properties throughout Central Europe and Hyatt Regency Johannesburg, among others.
Timbers Company, a developer and operator of boutique luxury resorts and private residence clubs, has appointed Darrin Griffin as chief development officer.
Griffin brings over three decades of experience in real estate and construction, holding leadership roles with RMC Property Group and Kelsey Construction. Before these roles, he served in the US Navy as a radiological controls supervisor on the USS Norfolk, a fast-attack nuclear submarine, and as an instructor in the prototype training unit.