Top appointment for Lankan hotelier

Friday, 11 February 2011 01:06 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Ananda Arawwawela has been appointed as Managing Director at The St. Regis Singapore and Starwood Area Managing Director for Singapore.

Ananda is responsible for the continued growth of The St. Regis Singapore, as well as Starwood’s presence in Singapore, with the upcoming opening of properties like The W Sentosa.

Joining the luxury hotel from a 22-year career as the General Manager of the Sheraton Hong Kong and Area Managing Director for Hong Kong and Macau, Ananda hails originally from Sri Lanka. A 32-year veteran, he began his hospitality career in Finance as a Trainee F&B Controller at the Dubai Sheraton in the UAE. His initial career was in Finance, but in 1994 he switched to operations and became General Manager of the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers.

During his long career with Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, he has worked in Dubai, the United Kingdom, Beijing, Fiji and in Hong Kong for the past 15 years. He was promoted to Controller at Sheraton Hong Kong in 1991, and then to Managing Director in 1994. In 2006, he was promoted to Area Managing Director for Hong Kong and Macau.

Ananda has been instrumental in driving milestone initiatives for the Sheraton Hong Kong, and served the industry as a Board Member of the Hong Kong Tourism Board and Chairman Hong Kong Hotels Association.

Joining him to lead The St. Regis Singapore is the newly-appointed Hotel Manager, Thomas Schwall.

Thomas Schwall began his career in hospitality in culinary arts, with his first foray in various fine dining restaurants in Europe as an apprentice for Michelin-awarded chefs, as well as Maitre d’Hôtel.

An M.B.A graduate in Hospitality Management with Cornell University, the French national later moved into accounting and business development, where he gained insight on operational cost structure planning and restaurants development.

In 2002, Thomas joined Starwood Hotels and Resorts in Sardinia, Italy in Quality Management, following the projects for 4 Luxury Collection Resorts. He later completed his Executive Management Trainee programme at The Luxury Collection and The St. Regis Rome.

He then joined as the Front Office Manager in the legendary founding St. Regis New York in 2005 for two years, before joining the hotel from his previous post as the Executive Assistant Manager – Rooms at the Sheraton on the Park in Sydney Australia, where he took the helm of ensuring the smooth running of the 557 room property over the course of the 3 years that he was working there.

At The St. Regis Singapore, Thomas is responsible for the operational excellence of the day-to-day management of the hotel and staff, organising and directing the operation of all services, including front-of-house such as reception, concierge, security and reservations. He also takes oversees food and beverage operations, the signature St. Regis butler and VIP services and rooms operations.