Summer has arrived, so hotels and resorts in main vacation destinations in the U.S. and internationally have announced new general managers. Here are some names to know for the busy season and beyond.
AVA Resort Cancun
RCD Hotel Group appointed Fernando García Rossette general manager of the AVA Resort Cancun, a new all-inclusive destination with more than 1,600 ocean-facing rooms. Having worked for more than 30 years across Mexico, the Caribbean and the United States, García Rossette will oversee all operational aspects of the new resort.
A native of Mexico City with multinational experience, García Rossette joins AVA Resort Cancun from UNICO 20˚87 Hotel Riviera Maya (also part of the AIC Hotel Group portfolio), where he was GM for more than seven years. Before his tenure with UNICO, García Rossette was the managing director at Grand Velas Riviera Maya, where he oversaw the pre-opening and opening strategies and all aspects of operations of three hotels under one umbrella, including 491 suites, food and beverage and function space. In Mexico, he held leadership roles at Las Palomas Beach & Golf Resort and Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit.
Burton House Beverly Hills
The Burton House Beverly Hills, A Tribute Portfolio Hotel, appointed Steve Dodaro the new GM. In this role, Dodaro will be responsible for all hotel operations, leading the management team and spearheading new programming and activations.
Dodaro most recently was the opening complex general manager at H Hotel-Homewood Suites Dual Brand at LAX and oversaw operations at The Courtyard LAX. Before moving to Los Angeles, Dodaro worked with the PVI Hotel Group. He was responsible for daily operations at The Holiday Inn Express in Northern California and was promoted to area general manager in 2004, overseeing a full-service Radisson Hotel as well as the Airport Holiday Inn Express in the Bay Area. He began his hospitality career with Marriott International as a banquet manager at Tysons Corner Marriott Hotel in Virginia.
Dodaro earned his bachelor’s degree in restaurant and hotel management from Penn State University Hotel Management School.
The Gabriel South Beach
Hotel management company Highgate appointed Ryan Rauscher general manager of The Gabriel South Beach in Miami.
Before joining The Gabriel South Beach, Rauscher worked with hospitality groups like Davidson Hospitality Group and HEI Hotels. He played a key role in updating the Kimpton Brice Hotel in Savannah, Ga., and managed the opening of The Ryder Hotel in Charleston, S.C., during the pandemic.
Rauscher also held senior positions at Playa Largo Resort & Spa, an Autograph Collection property in the Florida Keys and The Resort at Longboat Key Club in Sarasota, Fla.
Grand Hyatt Deer Valley
Anthony Duggan will be the debut GM of the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley when it opens in November.
Duggan has more than 25 years of experience at companies like InterContinental Hotel & Resorts, Fairmont Hotel & Resorts, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, Aman and now Hyatt Hotel Corp., working on the Alila Hotels and Miraval Resorts & Spas verticals.
Kimpton Grand Roatán Resort & Spa
In Honduras, the Kimpton Grand Roatán Resort & Spa, part of IHG Hotels & Resorts’ luxury and lifestyle portfolio and Roatán’s first international branded hotel offering, appointed Diego Padula general manager.
Originally from Montevideo, Uruguay, Padula joins the leadership team at Kimpton Grand Roatán Resort & Spa with more than 20 years of experience in opening and managing lifestyle hotels across Latin America, the Middle East and Europe. Padula most recently was GM of Soho House Mexico City and Mondrian Mexico City Condesa, where he spearheaded the grand openings of both brands' inaugural Latin American properties. Before these roles, he spent six years in the Middle East contributing to the grand openings of the W Muscat in Oman and the W Dubai Mina Seyahi in the United Arab Emirates.
La Bahia Hotel & Spa
Ensemble Hospitality has appointed Markus Krebs GM for La Bahia Hotel & Spa, scheduled to open on the Santa Cruz, Calif., waterfront next spring. Krebs will be establishing the pre-opening offices and working with the project managers on the construction of La Bahia.
From 2021 to 2024, Krebs was GM at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort in Hawaii, a KSL Resort, overseeing the renovation, repositioning and reopening of the 658-room hotel that included event space and three restaurants, a VIP lounge, Hawaiian cultural center, nine retail boutiques and an exclusive membership program.
Before Outrigger, Krebs spent four years at Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, Calif., a KSL Resort, starting as resort manager and later promoted to general manager. He held senior hotel management positions with Shutters on the Beach, InterContinental, Raffles, Fairmont, Anantara and Waldorf Astoria.
Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara
Bradley Cance is the new GM at The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara, Calif. Cance’s career in luxury hospitality has covered more than three decades and includes general manager roles at The Ritz-Carlton, Tiburon in Naples, Fla.; St. Louis; Palm Beach, Fla.; Pentagon City, Va.; and Washington, D.C. Cance oversaw a $125 million renovation of The Ritz-Carlton in Palm Beach.
Cance was GM at the Bethesda Country Club and National Sales Director for Avendra Clubs and held positions with the Four Seasons in Seattle, Vancouver, Chicago and The Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach, Va. Cance was recently named a board member for Visit Santa Barbara.
Sky Rock Sedona
In Arizona, Sky Rock Sedona, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel by Marriott, appointed Maureen Huffman the new general manager.
Huffman has more than 26 years of hospitality leadership experience, including several outdoor adventure and leadership companies, including Quest, Corporate Institute and Upward Bound. Before her role at Sky Rock Sedona, Huffman was general manager for more than a decade at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle Tacoma International Airport and was influential in the market as the board chair of the Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority.
Snow King Resort
Troy Mathews, vice president, operations, for Benchmark/Pyramid’s luxury and lifestyle division, appointed Anne Buckland general manager for Snow King Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Buckland brings more than 17 years of hospitality experience to Snow King Resort where she was initially hired as a sales manager and most recently was director of sales and marketing.
Before joining Snow King Resort in 2015, Buckland was group sales and catering manager for The Vero Beach Hotel & Spa, in Vero Beach, Fla., and was a group sales and marketing manager for Aramark, Togwotee Mountain Lodge Moran in Moran, Wyo.
Buckland received her bachelor's degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
The Westin San Francisco Airport/Aloft San Francisco Airport
Christopher Holbrook is the new complex general manager of the Westin San Francisco Airport and the Aloft San Francisco Airport.
Holbrook will oversee daily operations at the 418-room Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel and 298-room Aloft San Francisco Airport hotel.
After graduating from the University of Delaware with a bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management, Holbrook began his career with Hyatt Hotels and then Kimpton Group, holding several management and operational roles. Before his complex general manager appointment, Holbrook was hotel manager at InterContinental Boston and general manager at Hyatt Union Square New York and Hotel Adagio in San Francisco. Most recently, Holbrook was general manager at the San Mateo Marriott San Francisco Airport for eight years, where he oversaw a two-year renovation.
He currently serves on the SF Peninsula (CVB) Board of Directors and The San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.