June 2006
A GREAT HOTELIER TO REMEMBER...
Hotelier Giles Shepard, has died of cancer in London. He had guided the Savoy Group through its battle against takeover by the Forte Group, and then moved in the mid-1990s to the Ritz London. He had retired from the Ritz in 2004.
COURT APPROVES TAKEOVER OF FAIRMONT HOTELS
An Ontario Superior Court judge approved a Saudi firm's $3.3-billion takeover of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. yesterday after dissent debtholders withdrew their objections when the deal's bond payout was increased.
Justice Peter Cumming issued the final order for the sale to affiliates of Kingdom Hotels International and Colony Capital LLC, saying it "looks like a good deal for all of the shareholders and the noteholders."
The group is led by Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal. Fairmont's shareholders overwhelmingly approved the deal, valued at about $4.5 billion Cdn including debt, on Tuesday but several U.S. debtholders stood against it, saying they deserved an additional $34.2 million US from the deal.
DEMAND FOR EUROPE CONTINUES STRONG AS U.S TRAVEL TO EUROPE INCREASED
According to the latest figures from the US Department of Commerce , a total of 7,463,000 US citizens traveled to Europe by transatlantic air through July. Compared to last year’s July figures, which registered 7,236,000 US visitors to Europe, US travel to Europe is up more than three percent. In fact, in 2005 every month except February saw an increase in US visitors.
MODERN USES OF TOMATOES
Tomatoes are now eaten freely throughout the world. Today, their consumption is believed to benefit the heart. Lycopene, one of nature's most powerful antioxidants, is present in tomatoes and has been found to be beneficial in preventing prostate cancer, among other things.
Botanically a fruit, the tomato is generally thought of and used as a vegetable: it's more likely to be part of a sauce or a salad than eaten whole as a snack, let alone as part of a dessert (though, depending on the variety, they can be quite sweet, especially roasted).
Tomatoes are used extensively in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines, especially Italian ones. The tomato has an acidic property that is used to bring out other flavors. This same acidity makes tomatoes especially easy to preserve in home canning as tomato sauce or paste. Unripe green tomatoes can also be used to make salsa, be breaded and fried, or pickled.
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HRCI NEWS
With new Hotels development in East Europe and a fast growing economy along with a more stable political situation, HRCI is planning to open another office in Moscow or St Petersbourg around mid 2007.
The final location has not been chosen yet but will be announced on our website.
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JOB OF THE MONTH
(small selection)
all jobs available here
Financial Controller, Germany
F&B Manager, Dubai
Resident Manager, Maldives
General Manager, Indonesia
Restaurant Manager, Moscow
Executive Pastry, Lebanon
Revenue Manager, South East Asia
Human Ressource Manager, Italy
Executive Sous Chef, London
STAFF MOVEMENTS
Stefan-Peter Buchs is the new General Manager at the Millennium Mayfair in London. He was most recently the General Manager at the Radisson SAS Hotel Praha where he started as the Director of Sales and Marketing.
Patrick Brizio will be the opening General Manager at Discovery at Marigot Bay on St. Lucia. The soon-to-open property was originally managed by Sonesta but is now part of Grace Leo Andrieu's GLA Hotels.
Michael Wale has been promoted by Starwood to Senior Vice President Operations for Le Meridien. Based in London, he will also continue to be the Area Director of Operations for the group's twenty-one hotels in North Western Europe.
Eric Dupaix has accepted the position of Director of Food and Beverage at the Westin Times Squarein NYC. He comes from the same position at the Essex House also in NYC. Mr Dupaix also served as Food and Beverage Director at Rosewood's Carlyle for three years.
Franka Holtmann has rejoined the Dorchester Group as General Manager of the Hotel Meurice, taking over from long-time General Manager Dominique Borri. Holtmann had left the Plaza-Athènèe after three years as Hotel Manager to become the General Manager of the recently sold Hotel de Crillon.
Jean-Francois Sicallac is leaving famous restaurant La Tour d'Argent in Paris to open his own restaurant, La Coquille in Concarneau. He had been the Chef de Cuisine at La Tour d'Argent for the past six years.
Guillaume Flament has been promoted at the Westgate in San Diego to Director of Food and Beverage. He had joined the hotel in 2001 as the Banquet Manager from his position at the Ritz in Paris where he was the Catering Sales Manager.
Frédéric Castan will be joining the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort and Spa as Executive Chef. Mr Castan was most recently in the same position at the Sofitel Water Tower in Chicago.
Richard Blamey, who had joined Conrad in 2001 as Vice President Marketing, is promoted to Senior Vice President and Brand Manager and gets to move to Watford in UK.
Regis Monges has transferred as Pastry Chef to the soon-to-open new Le Cirque in New York City. He had been the opening Executive Pastry Chef at Le Cirque Mexico City.
Isabelle Husser has transferred as Wine Director from Le Cirque in Mexico City to Le Cirque in New York City. She used to be the Assistant Chef Sommelier at Le Cirque 2000.
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