Press Releases for Kor Hotel Group's The Tides Riviera Maya
LUIS FERNANDES NAMED SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF HOTEL OPERATIONS FOR KOR HOTEL GROUP
International hospitality veteran joins Los Angeles-based Kor in newly created regional operations position
August 2006 (Los Angeles) - Brad Korzen, CEO and founder of the Los Angeles-based hotel, real estate development and management firm, The Kor Group, is pleased to announce the appointment of Luis Fernandes to the newly created position of Senior Vice President of Hotel Operations for Kor Hotel Group. In this new management position, Fernandes will oversee Kor's properties in Mexico, the Caribbean, Florida and the East Coast. He will be based out of the company's regional office in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
"Luis brings to Kor Hotel Group's management team an extensive knowledge of the operation and management of international properties," said Korzen in announcing the appointment. "His experience at a number of prestigious, high-end resorts around the world, including Las Ventanas, will be a tremendous benefit in operating Kor's international and east coast properties, as well as expanding our customer bases in each of those markets."
Born in Portugal and raised in South Africa, Fernandes joins Kor Hotel Group with a twenty-year-plus career in the luxury hospitality industry at high-end properties all over the world. Most recently he was Chief Operating Officer of Santa Barbara-based Ty Warner Hotels and Resorts, where he oversaw all operational aspects of the company's ten-strong portfolio of highly-rated international resort hotels.
Fernandes commenced his professional hotelier career with Southern Sun Hotels in South Africa, working his way through a series of ascending positions within the company. In 1989, he obtained the position of Food & Beverage Manager for Orient Express Hotels' famous Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town. Among numerous notable accomplishments exacted during his tenure there, he produced a wine list hailed by Diners magazine as the best in South Africa. In August 1992, he transferred to his first overseas position as deputy General Manger for the stunning colonial hotel Polana in Mozambique and a year and a half later to the distinguished Copacabana Palace, grande dame of Rio de Janeiro.
By then broadly recognized for his accomplishments and atypical vision, in July of 1995 Fernandes was recruited by the prestigious Rosewood Hotels and Resorts group to become Executive Assistant Manager for the renowned Hotel Al Khozama in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The multi-faceted and multi-cultural nature of the position prepared him well for his next role as a member of the opening team for Rosewood's Dharmawangsa in Jakarta. With an infectious personality and progressive management style, his credibility soon earned him the position of Managing Director for the opening launch of The Dharmawangsa. Under his direction, the property emerged as the country's top hotel and a social hub for Indonesia's society-elite.
In 2003 Rosewood appointed Fernandes Managing Director of Las Ventanas al Paraiso in Los Cabos, Mexico, the property which Andrew Harper's Hideaway Report dubbed "Top International Resort" for 2004 and 2005. The resort is known for pioneering amenities that are industry standards today, such as iPods and WiFi, dinners aboard yachts, personal butler services and luxury auto partnerships, many of which Fernandes was instrumental in implementing. In September 2004 the hotel was purchased by Ty Warner Hotels and Resorts, which hired Fernandes as COO a year later.
Fernandes leads with a philosophy grounded in the importance of relationships and of developing staff to become self-acting managers. He is a dedicated professional, a perfectionist by nature and a believer in persistently pushing service standards to the next level through a combination of unconventional strategies, creative thinking and technological innovation. He is fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch.
Interview arrangements and photography are available upon request. Please contact Kor Hotel Group or Hawkins International at the numbers listed above.
The Kor Group is a privately held real estate development and management firm with investments primarily in hotels and multi-family real estate. Kor Hotel Group, the hospitality division of Kor, holds a diverse property portfolio and manages both its own assets and non-owned hotels under third-party management agreements. Properties include Viceroy Santa Monica and Viceroy Palm Springs, Avalon Hotel and Maison 140 in Beverly Hills, Tides in South Beach, and Chamberlain, in West Hollywood, Campton Place in San Francisco and The Tides on Mexico's Riviera Maya. A new Resorts & Residences division unites Kor's hotel and residential expertise with ground-up broad-scale projects both nationally and internationally. Currently under development are two residential resort complexes in Miami, Viceroy Icon Brickell and Viceroy South Beach, two on Mexico's Riviera Maya, Viceroy Riviera Maya and The Tides Playa del Carmen, as well as Kor's initial overseas venture, Viceroy Anguilla in the British West Indies. A timely integration of Kor Hotel Group's residential and hotel development visions, these projects represent the next evolution of the Kor mission.