New roles for the industry’s movers and shakers
InterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort
Ashis Rout has been appointed as executive chef at the InterContinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort, which will open in October 2015. He will oversee all culinary activities at the resort and will be responsible for three highly distinctive restaurants. Having worked at the Park Hyatt in Milan and at The Grand in Bangkok, his cuisine reflects the various cultures which has influenced his creative approach to cooking over the years. He started his career with The Hyatt in Kolkata. He was also responsible for developing and revamping the culinary concept at Ananda-In The Himalayas.
The St. Regis Mumbai
Chef David Watson is the executive chef of The St. Regis Mumbai. In this role, Chef Watson is leading the culinary realm of all restaurants and bars including The Drawing Room, The St. Regis Bar, Seven Kitchens, The Sahib Room & Kipling Bar, By the Mekong, Yuuka, Li Bai, EXO and Anais (to open in 2016) at The St. Regis Mumbai. He forayed into the Starwood Hotels & Resorts seven years ago, and in his previous assignment he was the executive chef at the flagship Sheraton in the Park Sydney, Australia.
Crowne Plaza Jaipur Tonk Road
Ashwani Goela joins as general manager of Crowne Plaza Jaipur Tonk Road. His key role will include overseeing complete operations and ensuring the hotel is set up for a successful launch. Goela comes to Crowne Plaza from Crowne Plaza Okhla, where he was working as an executive assistant manager. Prior to this, he has served in hotels like Crowne Plaza Gurgaon, Radisson Delhi, The Imperial and InterContinental The Grand.
Aloft Bengaluru Cessna Business Park
Chef Sandeep Kumar has been apponted as executive sous chef of the hotel. He is a seasoned chef with over 10 years of experience serving in various hospitality, food and beverage positions around the globe. He started his career in 2003 as a training chef de partie with The Leela Goa where he spent three years developing his love for Italian cuisine at the famed Italian fine dining restaurant, Riverside. After gaining experience at the Carnival Cruise Line, Chef Kumar went onto work at The Orient Express at The Taj Palace. He joined the Starwood bandwagon in 2010 as the chef in charge of the then pre-opening Westin Gurgaon. His success with the pre-opening of Westin Gurgaon eventually brought him to Westin Shona as the chef de cuisine (2014-2015) and finally to Aloft Bengaluru Cessna Business Park.
InterContinental Hotels Group
InterContinental Hotels (IHG) has appointed Arindam Kunar as area general manager, South India and Greesh Bindra as area general manager, North India. In his new role, Kunar is responsible for driving the performance of IHG’s hotels in South India. This includes the company’s two hotels in Kochi: Crowne Plaza Kochi and Holiday Inn Kochi; Crowne Plaza Bengaluru Electronics City, and the latest addition to the IHG family, Holiday Inn & Suites Bengaluru Whitefield. The company’s two hotels due to open in Chennai over the next year, InterContinental Resort Chennai Mahabalipuram and Holiday Inn Chennai Tidel Park, will also fall under his remit. He will continue to be based at the newly opened Crowne Plaza Chennai Adyar Park where he was previously general manager.
While Bindra will support IHG’s growth in the northern Indian markets and oversee the performance of the company’s hotels in the region, including Crowne Plaza New Delhi Rohini, Crowne Plaza New Delhi Mayur Vihar, the Holiday Inn hotels in Mayur Vihar, Pune and Amritsar and the recently opened Holiday Inn Chandigarh Panchkula. He will continue to be based at Crowne Plaza Greater Noida where he was formerly general manager.
Marriott International
Marriott International has appointed Neeraj Govil as market vice president for South Asia. Govil will be replacing Rajeev Menon, who has moved to a new role as chief operating officer Asia Pacific (excluding Greater China). Prior to this, Govil was general manager at the Shanghai Marriott Hotel City Centre, China. In his new capacity, and as part of the core Asia Pacific leadership team, Govil will be responsible for creating and executing a strategic road map that will focus on establishing brand positioning and effectively expanding market share of the Marriott portfolio in South Asia.
Novotel Hyderabad Airport
Novotel Hyderabad Airport has appointed Roshan Rajpal as executive assistant manager for marketing. She will also be looking after the hotel’s marketing strategies and plans. She recently finished hotel operations training at Sofitel BKC in Mumbai. In her career of 24 years she has worked across hotels like IHG, Carlson, Accor etc. Her last role was that of the head of sales and marketing at Novotel Bangalore Techpark. At Novotel Hyderabad Airport, she will be responsible for overlooking the marketing and sales activities and making sure that the same runs smoothly.
