Executive Team Prepares St. Regis Resort in Sanya for November Opening

The St. Regis Sanya Yalong Bay Resort has appointed the Executive Team that will spearhead the opening of South China’s first St. Regis resort in November 2011.

The team is led by General Manager Sunny Heng and includes: Matthias Y. Sutter, Hotel Manager; Mitsuru Itabashi, Director of Food and Beverage; Tom Feng, Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Human Resources; Richard Chan, Director of Finance; Andreas Lorenz, Director of Kitchens; Anny Tan, Director of Sales and Marketing; Cathy Li, Director of Rooms; Jean Wei, Director of Revenue Management; and Daniel Zhou, Director of Engineering.

“Our team is looking forward to welcoming visitors to the region’s first St. Regis resort,” said Mr. Sunny Heng. “The St. Regis Sanya Yalong Bay Resort will redefine luxury for this resort area and introduce the St. Regis signature white-gloved services and amenities to discerning travelers from near and far.”

A veteran hotelier with more than 30 years experience, Sunny Heng joins the St. Regis after several years as Complex General Manager at The Westin Tianjin and Sheraton Tianjin Hotel. Mr. Heng began with Starwood Hotels and Resorts in 1991 as Director of Food and Beverage at the Sheraton Langkawi Beach Resort. Born in Malaysia, Mr. Heng received his degree in Business Management at Australia’s prestigious Bond University.

Supporting Mr. Heng will be Hotel Manager Matthias Y. Sutter, who has years of experience gained with luxury hotels such as the Peninsula Group and Hyatt International (Park and Grand Hyatt). Mr. Sutter was most recently at The Peninsula Tokyo and, before that, the Executive Assistant Manager at the Capella in Singapore. He received a Master’s Degree in Hotel Management from the prestigious Zürich Belvoirpark and a Master’s Degree in Economics from the Lorange University of Zürich.

Mitsuru Itabashi will serve as Director of Food and Beverage. The Japanese national comes from a highly regarded restaurant family with more than 100 years in the business. Before joining the St. Regis team, Mr. Itabashi was Director of Food and Beverage at Four Points by Sheraton Shenzhen, while, at the same time, providing direction for several Starwood Food and Beverage projects including W Retreat & Spa Maldives, Sheraton Tokyo Bay Hotel and Sheraton Incheon Hotel. Prior to that, he helped open W Seoul-Walkerhill, the first W hotel in Asia. He began his Starwood career as an assistant manager at The Westin Stamford and The Westin Plaza Hotels Singapore before moving to the InterContinental Singapore.

Tom Feng will serve as Executive Assistant Manager in charge of Human Resources. Mr. Feng was as a member of the pre-opening team for Raffles Tianjin, where he served as Director of Human Resources. Prior to that position, Mr. Feng held a variety of positions at the Sheraton Shanghai Hongqiao Hotel, accumulating rich experience in Food and Beverage Operations and Human Resources.

Richard Chan will serve as Director of Finance. He has more than two decades of experience in finance in the hotel industry, most recently with the five-star properties of Raffles, Hilton and IHG.

Andreas Lorenz will be the Director of Kitchens. In this position he will be responsible for menu design, food promotion and presentation as well as food hygiene and food safety for The St. Regis Sanya Yalong Bay portfolio of restaurants. An important member of Starwood’s culinary team, Chef Lorenz helped to open The Westin Dublin, Europe’s first Westin, in addition to working in the kitchen operations of other Starwood hotels in Munich and London. where he ran the kitchen of Pascal Proyarts award winning One-O-One Restaurant. His love of travel and exploring international cuisines led him to Guam, where he ran the kitchen of The Westin Resort Guam as Executive Chef and Director of Kitchens.

Anny Tan will serve as Director of Sales and Marketing. Her responsibilities will focus on all domestic and international sales and marketing responsibilities, as well as business development. She has an impressive track record with Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts group. For the past 8 years, Anny worked in the Middle East.

Cathy Li has been appointed as the Director of Rooms, and will be responsible for the pre-opening development of the Rooms Department, Front Office, Housekeeping, Concierge/Transportation, Guest Relations, Spa/Fitness Center, Telecommunications and Business Center. A Starwood veteran, Ms. Li has been a member of The St. Regis Sanya Yalong Bay Resort pre-opening team since April 2011. Prior to this, Ms. Li accumulated rich experience at the Westin Tianjin Hotel’s Rooms Division Operations.

Jean Wei will serve as the Director of Revenue Management. The Taiwan national joins The St. Regis Sanya Yalong Bay Resort from Sheraton and Westin hotels in Tianjin, where she was the Complex Director, managing revenue systems. Ms. Wei launched her Starwood career as the Revenue Manager at Sheraton Xiamen Hotel, before moving on to serve as the Director of Revenue Management for The Westin Guangzhou. She received her degree in hospitality management from the prestigious Ecole Hôtelière in Lausanne, Switzerland.

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