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People on the Move: Accor, Hilton, Fontainebleau Las Vegas

Accor has appointed Omer Acar to the position of CEO of Raffles & Orient Express, effective March 1. Acar, a luxury hospitality veteran, will be based in New York and work on the Luxury & Lifestyle Executive Committee directly under Accor CEO Sebastien Bazin. He will be working closely with other brand CEOs of the same division and representing Accor in the North American market to enhance the company’s reach and recognition in the U.S.   

Acar began his career at Four Seasons, where he held various operational positions across multiple hotels in the United States and Egypt. In 2005, he became group director of food and beverage at Harrods in England, and in 2006, he was named general manager of the Ritz in Paris. In 2011, he took the same position at the Royal Monceau Raffles. 

He joined Katara Hospitality as managing director for Europe and the Americas in 2014, where he supervised 18 hotels, including the Plaza in New York, Peninsula in Paris, Carlton in Cannes, Excelsior in Rome, Grosvenor House, and Savoy in London.  

From left to right: Colleen Birch (Fontainebleau Las Vegas), Omer Acar (Accor), Stephen Singer Fontainebleau Las Vegas) and Stacie Michaels (Fontainebleau Las Vegas).

Bill Fisher has been appointed general manager of the 1,100-room Hilton London Metropole, Hilton’s largest hotel outside the U.S. Fisher has worked at more than 18 hotels in his career, in the U.S., Singapore, Thailand and China.    

St. Ermin’s Hotel, Autograph Collection in London has named James Clark as its new manager. He has worked with Hyatt Hotels for 13 years in high managerial positions, leading both the Andaz London Liverpool Street and Great Scotland Yard Hotels. He moved from The Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel, a member of The Red Carnation Hotel Collection, to St. Ermin’s.     

Fontainebleau Las Vegas has announced its leadership team that will oversee the 3,700-room, 67-story gaming hotel when it is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2023: 

Colleen Birch has been named COO. She will be in charge of the daily performance and all operations at Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Previously, she worked for The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for 13 years, opening the hotel in 2010 and holding the position of senior vice president of revenue optimization. She has more than 25 years of experience in customer relationship marketing, revenue optimization and hotel operations.  

Stephen Singer has been named CFO. Singer will oversee operational strategy, content and programming, financial reporting and analysis, revenue optimization, processes and controls and profitability for Fontainebleau Las Vegas. He was formerly Fontainebleau Development’s senior vice president of acquisitions and capital markets. He was instrumental in Fontainebleau’s relationship with Koch Real Estate Investments and their acquisition of the resort in 2021 because of his expertise in the property and his capacity to demonstrate its value and potential.  

Daniel Espino has been named chief people officer. Espino will be in charge of developing the organizational cross-brand human capital strategy for Fontainebleau Las Vegas, working in direct partnership with executive leadership to design the organizational culture and growth objectives. He has also served as the regional director of human resources for the Morgans Hotel Group and Ian Schrager Hotels, as well as the executive vice president of human resources for Crunch Fitness, the Mandarin Oriental Group and Crunch Fitness.  

Marc Guarino has been named chief technology officer. For over 25 years, he has been involved in the development and advancement of hospitality and gaming technologies. He was most recently senior vice president and chief information officer of Brookfield Asset Management’s Atlantis Paradise Island, as well as in global and regional senior positions for Alon Leisure Management, sbe, Cenium Hospitality, Colony Resorts, and Wynn Resorts.  

Stacie Michaels has been named general counsel. She will oversee all legal matters for the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, including contracts, negotiations, and compliance, in addition to providing legal advice and strategy to the executive team and advising members on legislation and legal rights affecting the property. Michaels was most recently a partner at Argentum Law in Las Vegas, where she began as corporate counsel and rose to the roles of senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary.  

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