TWO KEY ADDITIONS TO LORE GROUP’S EXECUTIVE TEAM
Lore Group, the London-based hospitality company behind Sea Containers London, Pulitzer Amsterdam and the recently launched One Hundred Shoreditch, has appointed Matthew Thomas as chief operating officer and Fiona Morgan as global director of sales, marketing and public relations.
Thomas previously served as CEO at Timothy Oulton Hospitality Collection. He also worked for Soho House, where he held general manager positions in New York and Istanbul before being promoted to COO of Soho House for Europe in 2015.
Before joining Lore Group, Fiona Morgan previously operated her own consultancy company for a decade, working with notable hotels such as the Nomad London, The Standard and Chiltern Firehouse, as well as representing 14 independent hotels in locations such as Los Angeles, Miami and London. She also worked as Morgan’s Hotel Group’s London regional director of sales & marketing and as Como Hotels & Resorts’ global director of sales.
David Taylor, Lore Group’s CEO, commented: “I’m thrilled to have David and Fiona on board and look forward to working with them to shore up our existing hotels and operating platform, and position the group as we expand into new cities with additional properties. Their wealth of experience and reputation in their respective fields are a huge asset to our group.”
NEW GENERAL MANAGERS
Hotel Valencia Riverwalk has announced the promotion of Safet Dokara to general manager of the luxury boutique hotel on the San Antonio River Walk. He will now lead all aspects of operations, financial management and customer relationship management for the property.
Dokara has spent the last decade of his career working for the Valencia Hotel Group in different capacities. He was most recently the company’s corporate director of operations; before that, he worked as the director of operations at both the Hotel Alessandra and the Hotel Sorella in Houston. Dokara worked in hotel administration for Marcus Hotels & Resorts, Omni Houston Hotel Westside and Omni Houston Hotel before joining Valencia Hotel Group in 2013.
W New Orleans French Quarter has appointed Derek Tueller as general manager. In his new role, he will oversee all operations of the hotel, including its onsite restaurant 3rd Block Depot, as well as the upcoming renovation of the property.
Tueller comes to W French Quarter after working in several Marriott International brands and several U.S. markets. Before joining W French Quarter, he served as director of operations at W Aspen and The Sky Residences at W Aspen; previously, he held leadership roles at Salt Lake City Marriott Downtown, Eden Roc Miami Beach, Renaissance New Orleans Arts Hotel and Torrance Marriott Redondo Beach.
OTHER NEW ROLES
Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego has welcomed Megan Madrigal as director of marketing. Madrigal brings over 18 years of hospitality experience in leadership roles in San Diego. Most recently, Madrigal served as the director of marketing & business development for Simon Property Group’s international shopping destination, Las Americas Premium Outlets.
In her new role, she will be responsible for leading the marketing teams, overseeing integrated marketing and public relations campaigns, establishing new partnerships and more for Manchester Grand Hyatt and two more nearby Hyatt San Diego properties: Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine and Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina.
Arizona Biltmore, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, has appointed Michael B. Hoffmann as new managing director following the resort’s recent $150-million, property-wide restoration. Hoffmann will oversee the general operations and development of the resort. His experience in hospitality includes stints at the Four Seasons Resort in Dallas, Ritz-Carlton Hotels and Resorts, The Peninsula Group in New York, Hong Kong and California, Bacara Resort and Spa and Ocean Club, Paradise Island.