Movers and Shakers October 2008

ASSA ABLOY Hospitality, a leader in hotel security technology with brands including VingCard, Elsafe and TimeLox, has named Don Jensen senior vice president of sales and marketing for North America. With more than 20 years of sales and management expertise serving the hospitality industry with advanced wireless solutions, Jensen will oversee all sales and marketing initiatives in North America for the company’s leading security brands.

For Hamid Salimian it is all about cooking. He works as executive sous chef at the Westin Bear Mountain Victoria Golf Resort & Spa. He competes in culinary competitions. And when not doing these things? “I cook,” laughs Salimian, 32.  “I cook. I do cooking experiments. I read cookbooks for relaxation. It’s pretty simple: If you love what you do, you do it.” Born in Tehran, Iran, Salimian came to Canada and was formally trained at Vancouver Community College where he graduated at the top of his class. His apprenticeship was at the Five Diamond Sutton Place Hotel, where in 2002, he was named Apprentice of the Year. He then moved into the kitchen of Diva at the Met, the Metropolitan Hotel’s Four Diamond award-winning restaurant, where he remained until early this year when he joined The Westin Bear Mountain Victoria Golf Resort & Spa.  He has also been a member of gold medal provincial and national Culinary Olympic teams.

Luis Clavel has moved into the executive chef role at the Holiday Inn Harbourview. He leaves behind the same job at a trio of Halifax restaurants, McKelvie’s, Salty’s and Quincy’s. The hotel restaurant, Café 101, serves everything from snacks to casual meals to fine dining menu choices.

Graeme Barrit, president of Coast Hotels & Resorts, is pleased to announce the appointment of Scott Roberts as executive director of sales for the hotel chain. A hospitality veteran with more than two decades of industry experience, Roberts was most recently director of sales for Western Canada for Transat Tours Canada. Previously, he served as general manager of Gray Line West, overseeing the company’s operations in Vancouver. Roberts has also held executive positions with Air Canada and Canadian Airlines International. In his new position, Scott will be responsible for leading the Coast Hotels & Resorts’ sales team, responsible for 24 owned, managed and franchised hotels in Western Canada, as well as expanding existing client relationships and exploring new opportunities including generating room sales from conventions, conferences and corporate events.

Paul Methot has been appointed chairman of the 2009 CRFA Show Advisory Committee.  Methot is vice president operations for Pizza Pizza Limited. The Advisory Committee is made up of 26 CRFA Show exhibitors who provide feedback and guidance to CRFA staff as they plan for the 2009 CRFA Show, March 8 – 10 at the Direct Energy Centre in downtown Toronto.

Munir Chaudhary is the new general manager of the Crowne Plaza Toronto Airport, a 489 room full service hotel with 12,000 sq. ft. of banquet facilities. He comes to the Crowne Plaza from a position as general manager of the Cranberry Resort & Atoka Golf Club in Collingwood, Ontario. Chaudhary has had an extensive career in the hotel and resort industry in North America, the South Pacific, Central Asia, the Far East and the Middle East, focusing on the development, financing and feasibility analysis for new hotel acquisitions.

Joining Chaudhary as director of sales and marketing at the hotel is Angelina Malik.  Malik has over 14 years of hospitality management experience with a proven ability to increase RevPAR and to establish, develop, and maintain excellent business relationships with clients and co-workers.  Her most recent position was as corporate director of sales and marketing for Mantiff Management Inc. in upstate New York, which has 10 full-service branded hotels with a combined inventory of 1,495 rooms.

Murray Kelsey has been named general manager of downtown Toronto’s Delta Chelsea Hotel, Delta Hotel’s flagship property and Canada’s largest hotel.  For the last four years, Kelsey was GM of Delta Vancouver Suites in downtown Vancouver.  With close to 30 years’ industry experience, Kelsey has spent 11 of those years with Delta Hotels.  In 1997, Kelsey joined the Delta Meadowvale Resort & Conference Centre in Mississauga, Ontario as director, food & beverage.  In 2000, he moved to the Delta Halifax as the director of operations and then hotel manager.  In 2001, he returned to Whistler to become general manager of the Delta managed Tantalus Resort Lodge.

Beverly Horii is the latest addition to HOK Advance Strategies in Toronto.  As vice president, she will lead the Canadian Advance Strategies Team in its work to align clients’ business strategies with their workplaces, real estate, facilities, and information services to master change effectively.  Both an architect and interior designer, she is experienced in guiding organizations through their complex business issues, and her knowledge and insight will complement HOK’s design service offerings across Canada.

Interval International, a leading provider of vacation services, recently announced the promotion of Ivonne Garcia to assistant vice president of operations research. In this role, she oversees operations research in the United States and United Kingdom, and will now be responsible for the resource planning management department.  In addition to providing information, analysis, forecasts and budgets, this new combined area focuses on identifying opportunities for increased efficiencies within Interval’s Member-Services Center operations.

Michael Sabourin has resigned from his position at Saliken, Eagle Ranch Resorts in Invermere, BC.

Mary Sistilli has joined OTEC as manager, business development. Sistilli’s experience includes progressive positions over 20 years within the hotel industry with various roles at Canadian Pacific Hotels’ L’Hotel and then Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Fairmont Royal York, Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello, and most recently as director of sales, eastern region, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. Sistelli’s broad occupational experience within the hotel sector will contribute to OTEC’s expertise in providing occupational skills development and training support at many levels.

Sol Melia has appointed Juergen Stuetz as new vice president for the area of global leisure sales, a position from which he will lead the company’s strategy oriented to the leisure segment, improving the positioning of Sol Melia in the feeder markets, such as USA, Canada, Latin America, North, South and Central Europe.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. has appointed Mike Tiedy as senior vice president, brand design & innovation. Tiedy, 48, will oversee all creative and design resources worldwide for Starwood’s nine brands including Le Meridien, Westin, Sheraton, W, St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft and Element. In this newly created role, Tiedy’s responsibilities include graphic design, interior design, environmental design and events. He reports to Phil McAveety, Starwood’s chief brand officer. Tiedy brings to Starwood more than 20 years of design and brand-building experience. Most recently, Tiedy was vice president, creative design for Nordstrom.




Being recognized for your hard work can make people green with envy, and a local hotel has done just that. The Quality Inn Halifax Airport was recently recognized for its hard work and commitment to environmental performance with a 3-key rating in the Hotel Association of Canada’s Green Key Eco-Rating Program. “Making sure we operate efficiently, effectively and productively are keys to our success,” says Doug Amirault, director of operations, shown here with his “green team” (shown above).