The St. Regis Mexico City has appointed Rodrigo Rizzi as general manager. Rizzi is an veteran hotelier with more than 22 years of experience in hospitality with such luxury brands as JW Marriott and The Ritz-Carlton Company. In his career at Marriott International, Rizzi has worked in 10 countries, participated in four hotel openings, and was recognized as the “Best General Manager of the Year” in Caribbean and Latin America.
In his most recent role, Rizzi served as general manager of the JW Marriott El Convento Cusco for four years, leading the hotel to its recognition as a number one brand and winner of the “Best Luxury Hotel in the Caribbean and Latin America.” With vast experience in operations, finance and business development, Rizzi has positioned himself as an innovative leader in the luxury hospitality industry.
“I am very excited to be part of The St. Regis Mexico City family and the legacy and modern sophistication evoked by the brand, which has defined the art of luxury hospitality in Mexico City,” said Rizzi. “I feel honored to join a team of talented professionals and continue strengthening the House of Astor by offering a unique, innovative and exquisite travel experience for our guests.”
St. James’s Hotel & Club Mayfair in London, part of Althoff Collection, named Francesco Sardelli as general manager. Originally from Puglia, Sardelli moved to London in I989 where he started out as a room service waiter at Grosvenor House. With 30 years’ experience in the luxury hospitality industry, he worked his way up to general manager, most recently at The Kensington Hotel-Doyle Collection. He has also held management roles at other top London hotels including The Baglioni, Brown’s Hotel and The Stafford.
“I am delighted to be joining St. James’s Hotel & Club, a hotel steeped in history and with so much potential for further evolution,” Sardelli said. “There is exceptional dining at Michelin starred Seven Park Place by William Drabble, elegant design and spacious rooms and suites. The location too is exceptional, being in a quiet cul-de-sac but so close to Green Park and the glamour of Mayfair.’
The Schoolhouse Hotel, a newly opened full-service boutique hotel in White Sulphur Springs, Va., with 30 guest rooms, a rooftop bar, and flexible ballroom space, has named its culinary team for its flagship Varsity Club restaurant and grill. The Varsity Club offers upscale southern staples such as crab cakes with lobster corn chowder, and shrimp and grits.
Leading the culinary team are father-son duo, Executive Chef Adeyemi Allen and Sous Chef Corte Allen. Chef Adeyemi Allen comes to White Sulphur Springs from the Ballantyne Luxury Hotel in Charlotte, N.C., where he served as the executive banquet chef since 2018. Chef Allen is no stranger to White Sulphur Springs or The Schoolhouse Hotel. He walked the halls of the school as a student years ago, and graced its basketball court in league games. After touring The Schoolhouse Hotel and the fond memories it brought him, Chef Allen was excited about the opportunity to come home and do creative things with the hotel. He has also worked under Chef Peter Timmins at The Greenbrier and served as lead chef at The Greenbrier for four years.
Sous Chef Corte Allen grew up in Staunton, Va., before graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. After graduation, Corte worked the country club scene in Baltimore, Md., before departing to The Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World. He later cooked at the Bay Colony golf and Country Club before joining the opening team at Rosendale Events in Atlanta, Georgia, where he worked under Certified Master Chef Rich Rosendale, as well as Steven Halliday, CEC. Sous Chef Allen brings a modern twist to southern comfort foods and is excited to bring his vision to The Varsity Club, as well as The Rooftop.
After just over a year serving as F&B director at Nikki Beach Dubai, Matthew Maynard has moved up to the position of general manager of the venue.
Nikki Beach Dubai is the flagship outlet of the wider Nikki Beach Resort & Spa.
Before heading to the emirate, Maynard spent much of his career in London, including a year as general manager of Plum & Split Milk, a trendy restaurant in King’s Cross. He has also worked with Fortnum & Mason as its restaurant development & training manager before moving up to new business & events operation manager.
In his new role, the venue described his duties: “Mathew aims to embrace the brand’s rich heritage and further enhance Nikki Beach’s six core elements of music, dining, entertainment, fashion, film and art. Guests can expect exciting culinary and entertainment updates, as Matthew works together with resident DJ Mademoiselle Sabah.”
Originally from Indonesia, Maya Damayanti lives and breathes her life as a health practitioner, valuing the importance of balancing body, mind, and soul, with a key focus on self-love and healing. She brings over 15 years of experience to Siyam World from her time working to develop spa brands and train staff at global luxury hotel and resort groups across Bali, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, and the Middle East. Damayanti was awarded ‘Best Spa Manager 2016’ by the Indonesian Spa Professional Association (IndSpa), the Indonesian Wellness Master Association (WMA) and Wellness & Healthcare Entrepreneur Association (WHEA).
With her result-focused, innovative approach, and eye for detail, Maya will lead the Veyo Spa team, oversee all spa operations, and be responsible for the development of spa marketing initiatives, treatment offerings, and promotional activities to eventually expand spa revenues.
Antonio De Luca has been appointed as the new bar manager at cocktail bar Off the Wall at Hotel Indigo Dubai Downtown. His role is to conceptualise the drinks menu and oversee all operations. Originally from Italy, his career as a mixologist has seen him travel across the globe as a bartender and gain a wealth of knowledge that he will be bringing to the property.
De Luca’s passion for mixology was sparked at an early age by his fascination with the combination of flavours in spirits and their massive potential to amplify the guest experience. This same passion led him to pursue his professional career by enrolling in mixology, cocktail, art and design courses at Planet One.
He then went on to continue his education and in 2016 obtained his diploma in bartending from the International Bartender School in Rome. To elevate his expertise even further, Antonio acquired a master’s degree in hospitality from the Flair Bartender School and another one in Bar Mastery from the Campari Academy.
His career began in 2015 as bar manager and head mixologist at Mediterraneo Palace Hotel, where his primary responsibilities included menu engineering, managing guests, and meeting financial objectives. This was just the beginning, as he then went on to further his experience throughout various prestigious venues including Hang Loose Beach in Italy and Mimi & Coco Speakeasy in China.
During his time in China, De Luca was given the opportunity to speak at the World Chef’s Art Summit, as well as collaborate with Noob Huang as a project partner, and continued to strengthen his portfolio working as head mixologist and bartender at Rosewood Guangzhou and Four Seasons Guangzhou, where they won number one bar and hotel bar of the year at the Drink Magazine Bar Awards, before relocating to the UAE to join Hotel Indigo Dubai Downtown.
Originally from Mauritius, Sindy delved into the hospitality industry as a secretary, and her fascination with the abundance of cultures she was exposed to led to a long career in the industry. Sindy is responsible for managing daily aspects of the Spa and Wellness of LUX* South Ari Atoll, ensuring excellence in spa operations and guest service.“With over 15 years of experience in the luxury resorts in Mauritius and Maldives, I have enjoyed the journey at every level and still have loads of passion and determination for what I do. In LUX* South Ari Atoll, we know that wellness aspect of travel is as important as accommodation and food service and we have created a sanctuary for health and wellbeing here. Our LUX* Me concept is all about a personalised approach to everything: be it a customised spa tretament, a personal training session, yoga, meditation, nutrition or a unique combination of everything. We offer individual consultations and tailored programmes to help you jump-start a guest’s wellness routine.After pandemic times, we see a lot of interest in holistic wellness. Guests are eager not only to relax during a massage but also uplift their spirit with a variety of invigorating practices. Our exclusive all-round packages RELAX, REBOOT, REJUVENATE, and RE-ENERGISE each offer a wonderful mix of treatments and training sessions, curated to target specific concerns of every guest.Another amazing example of complex approach is our famous Collectable Experiences. From “Eat, Sleep. Repeat” to “Digital Detox”, they all offer an exciting wellbeing journey, making one’s stay at LUX* South Ari Atoll truly unique and memorable. Both wellness packages and Collectable Experiences can be pre-booked prior to the guest’s arrival on at the property. And we are happy to help with picking the one ideally matching individual travel goals.”
Photo credits: Sindy Lagare
Karim is a native New Yorker that has over 24 years of hospitality experience in some of the renowned properties in the United States and the Middle East, such as The Plaza Hotel – A Fairmont Managed Property in New York City, The Ritz Carlton Central Park New York, Sofitel Legend Old Cataract, Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort and Spa, The Knickerbocker Hotel New York (the first luxury property in Times Square, NYC), The InterContinental Hotels Group in Dubai Festival City, managing three hotels and recently General Manager of InterContinental Al Jubail Resort in KSA. Karim has a strong background in the Food and Beverage and led a 5-star luxury and lifestyle hotels around the world with a great success rate and managed multi properties with multiple concept outlets, including Michelin star restaurants and very prestigious private dining functions, as well as huge meetings in thousands of meters convention centers with an impressive annual revenue returns.
Karim is a guest satisfaction enthusiast. He demonstrated the ability to increase guest satisfaction scores year over year, and with great hotel positioning in TripAdvisor’s ranking in his most recent hotel appointments. Karim completed his Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management at St. John’s University in New York City and Senior Hospitality Leadership Program at Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
Karim is American Citizen, married Parisian French lady Suzanne and with lovely kids, Adam and Jana. He loves to do horseback riding, is interested in water sports activities, and loves traveling while spending quality time with his family.
What was your first job in the industry?
My first job was as a Barista in New York City
What do you love the most about hospitality?
K.: Working with great people and crafting memorable experiences for our guests.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome on your way to success?
K.: Traveling the world and relocating to different cities and countries.
What makes one a true hotelier?
K.: The passion for the business and developing true leaders.
What would be your advice to beginners in the industry?
K.: Never quit or give up.
Budi Prihardjanto is the Resort Manager of the upcoming luxury Madifushi Private Island. However, in the Maldives, he would be known more previously as a Butler Trainer where he has trained many resort teams such as Westin Miriandho, Raffles Meradhoo, AmilaFushi and recently opened Ritz Carlton Maldives Fari Island. He's also trained in Ritz Carlton and St. Regis in Kuala Lumpur, Banyan Tree Phuket Rosewood Corniche in Jeddah Saudi Arabia, and some other beautiful properties in Antalya Turkey. Budi has more than 20 years of working experience in the hotel industry, including some well-known brands such as Regent, Rosewood, and One&Only resorts in the Maldives.
What was your first job in the industry?
B.: My first job was as a waiter at Regent hotel in Jakarta where I worked in the Banquet department then moved to the main restaurant and later moved as Concierge at Front Office Department. Later I started my Butler job with Rosewood hotel which really enriched my knowledge and values in the service field. I was the pre-opening Head Butler of One&OnlyReeethi Rah Maldives.
What do you love the most about hospitality?
B.: What I love most about hospitality is that it is all about happiness. It’s about bringing happiness to others, to the customer as the main business. However in order to achieve it, we have to bring happiness to our team first, a happy team will deliver happiness to the customer. And in the end, the business result will deliver happiness to all the stakeholder.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome on your way to success?
B.: I believe in anywhere we go in our career journey there is always be some challenges ahead of us, we just need to see it from another positive perspective, then deal with it and trust the process that we will grow from it.
What makes one a true hotelier?
I believe it’s someone who is considerate to others. From a leadership perspective, it’s someone who has a high level of understanding that in order to achieve the business goals, he/she need to take care of the employees first and provide necessary support in order for them to take care of the customer.
What would be your advice to beginners in the industry?
First of all, welcome to this beautiful industry, enjoy the journey and any challenges ahead of you.
Have a big dream, but work hard and stay committed to making it happen, it will happen.
Be an open-minded person, keep learning and grow, just like Steve Job say “Stay hungry, stay Foolish”
And most importantly, stay humble!
Andrew Jansson is the General Manager of Kurumba Maldives, whose hospitality career has taken him across the globe, starting in his home country of Sweden. He is a graduate of Les Roches Hotel Management School in Bluche, Switzerland, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Endicott College, Boston, MA. Over the last 20 plus years, his journey has taken him through 4 continents and 14 countries, working with well-known brands such as Hyatt International, Shangri-La Hotels&Resorts, One&Only Resorts and Minor International. Kurumba is his 3rd posting in the beautiful country of the Maldives.
What was your first job in the industry?
A.: My first job was as a part-time waiter at a small hotel in Stockholm, where I would work a couple of hours every weekend doing the breakfast shift at the main restaurant. Little did I know back then how my life and my career in this industry would unfold.
What do you love the most about hospitality?
A.: What I enjoy the most is interacting with people, on the guest side as well as the employee side. I have been lucky as well to travel and work in many great places around the world, and meeting people from so many different cultures has helped to shape the type of manager I have become. When you live with and immerse yourself in a destination, you pick up all the best parts along the way and as you make your way through your life and your career, all of these little pieces add to your story, and after so many years of travelling, meeting people, working in so many countries, all those memories is what makes it all so special.
What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome on your way to success?
A: Our greatest challenges become our greatest accomplishments. I have been part of a lot of large projects, events, hotel openings, and each has presented me with numerous challenges along the way. As long as you hold on to that end goal, then all of those obstacles and challenges can be overcome.
What makes one a true hotelier?
A.: I believe first and foremost you need to be a people person. We are in the business of creating memories for people, and this is what we should aspire to. It is not about service, and simply serving people, it's about wanting all of those individual and specific interactions to combine into one memorable experience. In city hotels, people can become just numbers and simple transactions, in and out. But in resorts, where I feel I have accomplished so much more, it’s never just about a number, it’s all about knowing the expectations of your guests, and making sure your team and your product is able to exceed those expectations. It does not matter how much money they spend, but it’s about what they take away from those experiences.
What would be your advice to beginners in the industry?
A.: Be prepared for setbacks, difficulties and long hours. This is the nature of our business and of our lives when you are a hotelier. You need to be prepared to be constantly on. That does not mean that you are physically present and work 24 hours a day, but you need to be able to schedule and prioritize your day so that you are able to cope with all of the eventualities that arise. Also, you need to continually learn, adapt and evolve. What we learned at school may be obsolete within a few years, so sticking to what you were once taught might not apply anymore. Trends, technologies, guest expectations, even the guests themselves are always changing and evolving, and as hoteliers, so must we must also do the same. As a beginner in this industry, I would also say that it is important to find a few role models, a few strong mentors who will help guide you along the way. I was lucky to have worked with some great bosses and to this day they remain a strong part of my network.
Photo credits: Andrew Jansson
Fernando Horta, the General Manager of Hotel de Bourgtheroulde, Autograph Collection, is sharing his insights into travelling and working in hospitality.
Tell us a little about yourself:
Fernando Horta, Portuguese, 62 years young, married, 3 daughters, currently serving as General Manager of Hotel de Bourgtheroulde, Marriott Autograph Collection, Rouen, France.
I have worked in Portugal, Spain, Angola, United Arab Emirates, Cameroon, Morocco and France, 13 hotels so far, some of the iconic properties like the St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort in Abu Dhabi or the Pine Cliffs Resort, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Albufeira, Portugal, just to mention two.
I have sailed all the Oceans and Seas, visited 52 countries so far, and am fluent in Portuguese, English, French and Spanish. I consider myself, a citizen of the World.
What was your first job in the industry?
F.: After University and 8 years working for the Oil industry, I started my career in the hotels as Assistant Chief Engineer at the former Le Meridien Lisbon (Portugal). Currently Intercontinental Lisbon
What do you love the most about hospitality?
F.: People. Be it the external guests or the internal ones, getting to meet people from other backgrounds, countries, regions, and so on, is the main reason for me to love our industry. Having worked so far in 7 countries from 3 continents helped me enlarge my view of the world, helped me grow as a person and as a professional and has helped me to develop my Emotional Intelligence, which in turn helps me in my day-to-day life.
What was the bigger challenge you had to overcome on your way to success?
F.: The biggest challenge was moving from a purely technical background into operations. It’s not very common in our industry, and after so many years people still ask me how I was able to do it. They rarely ask the same from someone who started in Sales, Front Office or Finance. But for an engineer, that’s a different story.
What makes one a true hotelier?
F.: A true hotelier is driven by the passion for service, a keen eye for the smallest detail and above all a Leader of others. We all know the expression that says “don’t take care of your guests. Take care of the people that work with you, and they will take care of the Guests”. Being there for them, understand that they might be away from their families, their countries, often speaking on a day-to-day basis a foreign language, listen to their needs, is instrumental in what we do. The passion I mentioned before makes all this so simple.
What would be your advice to beginners in the industry?
F.: My advice: Be yourself, ask questions, copy the good examples you see at the job, surround yourself with good people, put passion in everything you do, and if you find a good mentor, absorb everything you can. The rest comes naturally.
JOALI BEING is the first and only nature immersive wellbeing island retreat of its kind in the Maldives. With 68 villas, each with its own butler or “Jadugar”, the island aims to create wellbeing experiences tailored to individual lifestyles and goals and the man tasked to deliver this concept is the General Manager Ozgur Cengiz. No stranger to the JOALI brand, he has been in post since February, however, he was the resort director of JOALI Maldives and resort manager before that since 2016. Prior to this, he was director of Spa in charge of wellness at One and Only Reethi Rah.
Before landing in the Maldives, he took on wellness roles and led pre-opening processes at Jumeirah and Ritz Carlton abroad and in his native Turkey. Ozgur holds a diploma from Marmara University in Turkey with a Bachelor degree in Physical Education and Sports Academy, and his passion to wellbeing also made him chosen as a Global Wellness Day Ambassador for the Maldives. As JOALI BEING gets closer to its launch later this year, he looks forward to utilising his vast background at the world’s top immersive retreats.
