PEOPLE update Nov. 12, 2019

Red Lion Hotels Corporation president and CEO, Greg Mount, has resigned his position with the company and the company’s board of directors, following disappointing financial results. Bob Wolfe, chairman of the board, stated, “The board recognizes the operational performance of the company has not progressed as anticipated. Action was necessary, starting with a search for a new CEO.”

RLH Corp. has Canadas Best Value Inn and Knight's Inn hotels in Canada.

The board of directors will be engaging an executive search firm as soon as possible to conduct a search for a new chief executive officer. The board has appointed a search committee, and Frederic F. (Jake) Brace, an independent director on the company’s board, has been appointed as the committee chair. Until the company appoints a new chief executive officer, a management committee comprised of executives will oversee the operations of the company, reporting to the board, with Jake Brace as board liaison to the management committee. The members of the management committee include Gary Sims, EVP and COO, Julie Shiflett, EVP and CFO, and Thomas L. McKeirnan, EVP and General Counsel.

Radisson Hotel Group has announced the appointment of Aly El-Bassuni as chief operating officer in the Americas. El-Bassuni previously served as senior vice-president, Franchise Operations for the Americas at Radisson Hotel Group. In this newly created role, he will be responsible for driving operational strategies across the Americas for Radisson Hotel Group's franchised and managed hotels. He will continue reporting to Ken Greene, president, Americas, Radisson Hotel Group. El-Bassuni will continue to lead the Franchise Operations, Owner Relations, Retention Services, Guest Experience, and Safety and Security functions across all brands in the Americas. Together with his teams, they are responsible for improving hotel performance and the guest experience by engaging key stakeholders with the company's resources.

Following David Goldstein's recent departure, the board of directors of Destination Canada has announced that Anwar Chaudhry, current senior vice-president, Finance and Risk Management and chief financial officer has assumed the role of interim president and CEO effective November 2. Chaudhry will be supported by an elevated role for all of Destination Canada's vice-presidents.

CBRE Hotels is pleased to announce that Corbin Staniloff has officially relocated to Vancouver, rounding out their geographic presence with a point person on the ground on the West Coast and covering all of Western Canada. Staniloff, who joined CBRE in 2018 as a senior associate, will focus on working with private investors and sellers for hotel assets under $20 million, from primary to tertiary markets, and he will assist the team with larger mandates. Staniloff boasts a wealth of industry experience, coming to CBRE from a national commercial real estate services company, where he worked as an associate in the hotel investments group. Prior to that, he worked as an underwriter and analyst for Largo Capital in Toronto, and as a development associate with MasterBUILT Hotels in Calgary.

Guillaume Robin, executive chef at the St. Regis Toronto, a position that includes overseeing the award-winning LOUIX LOUIS restaurant, is leaving the Toronto hotel. He has accepted a new position in Florida as executive chef at the JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort & Spa, which is under construction and nearing completion. Robin has been executive chef for the St. Regis since July 2017. Before that, he worked for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Naples, Fla., for seven years, starting as banquet chef and ending as executive sous-chef responsible for 117 line staff and 15 managers. Robin has also worked at The Setai, a luxury hotel in Miami Beach, Sonesta Hotels in St. Martin, Celebrity Cruises, and The K Club, a five-star luxury hotel in Ireland.

Monica Stewart-Bittner has joined Avendra as field consultant and customer service manager for Western Canada based in Calgary. Stewart-Bittner is an experienced general manager with a demonstrated history of working in the hospitality industry, skilled in negotiation, budgeting, sales, hotel management, and customer satisfaction. She comes to Avendra following six-and-a-half years with MasterBUILT Hotels, working as general manager for two different hotels. Before that, she worked for Dal Holdings for more than 10 years, and she has also held positions as rooms division manager for Westmont Hospitality and reservation supervisor for Hotel Blackfoot in Calgary.

True Key Hotels & Resorts has announced the appointment of Tony MacDonald as the new area general manager – Sooke. His role will be to manage the True Key properties located in Sooke, B.C., including Sooke Harbour Resort & Marina and SookePoint Ocean Cottage Resort effective Nov. 1, 2019. As a hospitality industry veteran with over 25 years of experience at hotels and resorts in Vancouver, Whistler, Osoyoos and Sun Peaks, MacDonald is well-versed when it comes to operations, administration, guest services, reservations, revenue management and housekeeping. Prior to working with True Key, MacDonald worked with large branded chain hotels including Four Seasons, Hyatt Regency, Pan Pacific and Hilton. He also spent more than seven years working in resort communities where he favoured working with independent branded hotels.

Paul Cannings is the new general manager of The Westin Bayshore in Vancouver. Cannings arrives in Vancouver from Malaysia, where he was General Manager at the Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel — a 5-star Marriott property boasting 921 rooms, eight food and beverage outlets, and 43,000 square feet of meeting space. A native Australian, Cannings' hospitality career began in 1998, when he joined the Renaissance Sydney Hotel as assistant front office manager. Since then, he has risen through the ranks at various Marriott properties in Australia (Melbourne, Surfers Paradise Resort & Spa, Courtyard by Marriott Sydney-North Ryde) and Seoul, Korea, as well as Kuala Lumpur. Canning has received numerous awards throughout his career, including the Asia Pacific Leadership of Excellence Award (2017), a Restaurant of the Year Award (2017), TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice Award (Seoul Market; 2014), and the Silver Circle Award (2016).