People ~ May 2010

Mark Munn is now general manager at the Adara Hotel, Bellstar’s stylish Whistler boutique hotel. Munn brings over 15 years of hospitality experience in North America’s number one resort destination to the Bellstar management team. Originally hailing from Ontario, Munn turned a two-month cross Canada road-trip into permanent residency in Whistler. In the early 1990s Munn moved up the ranks of hospitality management while working with Starwood Hotels and Radisson Hotels before joining the Pan Pacific Hotels team in 2000. Following his time with Pan Pacific, Munn spent five years with Delta Whistler Resort & Spa Whistler where the management team led a $64 million renovation, rebranding and re-opening of what is now known as the Hilton Whistler Resort & Spa.


Bellstar Hotels & Resorts has also hired Ralf Strub as vice president of operations. Bringing over 28 years of international and Canadian hospitality industry experience to the executive team, the addition of Strub is one more step towards achieving Bellstar’s long term structured strategy for growth throughout North America. Strub was born and raised in Switzerland, where he started his hospitality career. His early career history included management roles in food and beverage, sales and marketing and turn-arounds of hotels and resorts in Switzerland, Canada, Republic of Maldives, Austria, South Korea, Italy, Germany and Russia.


Stephen P. Joyce, president and chief executive officer of Choice Hotels International, Inc. has been named national chairman of the U.S. Travel Association, the 1,500-member national organization representing every segment of the U.S. travel community. Joyce, who has served as first vice chair of the non-profit organization, succeeds Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of the California Travel and Tourism Commission, who guided the organization during the past two years.
 

Doug Andrews has taken the helm as the new general manager of the 155-room Coast Inn of the North in Prince George, BC.

Andrews is no stranger to Coast Hotels & Resorts. He was manager of the Coast Sundance Lodge in Sun Peaks, BC for the last three years, where he established and built the hotel into a leadership position in the marketplace. He first joined Coast Hotels & Resorts in March 2002 as night audit/front desk agent at the Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel & Marina.


There are some new beginnings at the Coast Inn of the West in Terrace, BC. Joachim Striegan, certified hotel administrator, will guide operations as the general manager of the 58-room hotel. Striegan is a catalyst of positive change and as a hotelier with over three decades of experience, has made strides toward a vision of offering the best accommodation in Northwest BC.

As a further step in the right direction, The Coast Inn of the West has welcomed the addition of Shawn Sterner as the kitchen and restaurant manager. Sterner is a Red Seal chef with an impressive history in the culinary arts scene. His new menu sets the standard for hotels in the area.

The Coast Inn of the West Hotel also has meeting and banquet rooms, a restaurant, lounge, liquor retail store, and nightclub. Renovations are scheduled to conclude at the end of the year and aim to position the Coast Inn of the West as a mega-hotel and key player involved in supporting the community of Terrace, BC.

John V. Histed will fill Doug Andrews’ shoes as the new manager of the Coast Sundance Lodge in Sun Peaks, BC. Histed has worked with Coast Hotels & Resorts for four years, most recently serving as front office manager at the Coast Sundance Lodge. He started with Coast Hotels & Resorts in May 2006 in the Catering and Banquets department of the Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel & Marina before joining the hotel’s award winning Blue Crab Bar & Grill seafood restaurant as server. He was appointed manager on duty at the Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel & Marina in May 2008, responsible for guest relations and managing the operation of the hotel’s various departments.


Conrad Wangeman, a 30-year hospitality industry veteran, has been appointed area vice president, operations – Northeast, for Hilton Worldwide’s managed properties in the Northeastern U.S. and Canada. The territory currently includes Hilton, Doubletree and Embassy Suites hotels in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, and the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick. In his new role, Wangeman will work with general managers and their teams, and on new hotel openings and conversions in the Northeast. Most recently, he served as general manager of the 1,980-room Hilton New York, Hilton’s New York City flagship property.


Gerald Hendry has joined Travelodge Canada in the position of senior director, franchise sales & development. Most recently on contract with Realstar Hospitality as director, franchise development Canada, Hendry brings with him over 10 years experience in the hospitality sector, along with nearly 20 years in a sales and marketing role. His work includes seven years as director, franchise development, Western Canada with Choice Hotels Canada as well as spearheading the prototype Cambria Suites for Choice Hotels International as director, franchise development Canada.


Jack MacDonald will retire from his job as CEO of Compass Group Canada, in October this year, after 14 years heading the company. No word yet on his successor at the foodservice and support service company that had revenues of $1.25 billion in 2009. However, he will not be disappearing from Compass offices. He will stay on as chairman until September 2012 to help the new CEO.

MacDonald is also the latest winner of the We Care Hall of Fame award, for his “significant contributions to the growth and development of the foodservice and hospitality industry.” The award was to be presented at the We Care Gala held in Toronto May 1.


Kevin Ward has been promoted to vice president-furniture operations for the Kohler Co. Interiors Group, reporting to group president Rachel Kohler. He assumes this newly created position immediately and will oversee operations in all three furniture businesses: Baker, McGuire and Mark David. Ward had been serving in the role of president, Baker Knapp & Tubbs since 2006. A global search is underway to identify a new president for Baker. Until a candidate is identified, Rachel Kohler will serve as interim president. Ward will continue to be headquartered in the Baker executive offices in Hickory, North Carolina.


Well known chef, author, and television star Scott Conant will be opening one of his Scarpetta restaurants in the Thompson Hotel in at 550 Wellington St. West, Toronto, which is scheduled to open in late May. Like its counterparts in New York and Miami, Scarpetta (Italian expression for “Little Shoe”) will be serving up Italian-inspired dishes. Thompson Toronto will rise to 16 floors featuring 102 guestrooms. Conant told the Toronto Star that he “promises everything will be ‘modest, humble and approachable,’” when it comes to the Toronto restaurant, which will feature the cuisine of his Scarpetta restaurant in New York. The restaurant will seat 150 people, and is designed by Studio Gaia of New York, designers of Scarpetta’s New York location.