Alejandro Bernabé has been appointed Group Director,
AVANI Hotels & Resorts
Bangkok, 31 January 2017: Minor Hotels is pleased to announce the appointment of Alejandro Bernabé as Group Director, AVANI Hotels & Resorts. With over 20 years of global hospitality experience, Bernabé has an impressive management track record, along with years of practical operational and Food and Beverage experience in both city hotels and resort properties and is ideally qualified to lead Minor Hotels’ most youthful and contemporary brand.
Bernabé’s mandate is to drive performance of AVANI properties in terms of sales, distribution, marketing, PR, brand standards and guest experiences.
He started his career in F&B working in Switzerland, followed by South Africa, France and Sri Lanka, before joining Kempinski in 1998 as pre-opening F&B Manager at the Kempinski Hotel Plaza in Jakarta. Staying with Kempinski, for the next 16 years, Bernabé continued in F&B at the Grand Hotel Europe in St Petersburg, then at the Çırağan Palace Hotel Kempinski in Istanbul. He was soon promoted to Resident Manager in his native Spain, then General Manager in Kempinski properties in Malta, Kuwait and Jordan. Bernabé led Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates in Dubai to increasingly high levels of performance and quality standards and he was then transferred to manage the Siam Kempinski Hotel in Bangkok. There he reaffirmed the hotel’s strong reputation as one of the city’s most important leisure and culinary destinations.
Bernabé has several Bachelor degrees obtained in Spain and the USA, a Hotel Management degree from the Hotel Institute Montreux in Switzerland and a Master of Business Administration from Reims Management School in France.
Alejandro Bernabe, Group Director AVANI Hotels & Resorts comments: “I am delighted to join the team and to have the opportunity to take the vibrant AVANI brand to the next level across all areas of the business. AVANI is redefining the lifestyle space in hospitality. Our guests want to explore the cities where they stay. They want honest food. They combine business and leisure travel and want to connect with other guests and feel part of a community. Tech and social media take a central role in their day-to-day lives. In every way, the AVANI brand delivers the details that matter.”
AVANI Hotels & Resorts appeals to millennial-minded travellers. People who aren’t defined by age but by mind-set and common values. They share a love of design, technology and are adept at balancing work and play. AVANI is upscale but genuine. Stylish yet playful. And, entirely focussed on the details that matter to guests.
About AVANI Hotels & Resorts
AVANI Hotels & Resorts is the vibrant upscale brand from Minor Hotels. Offering relaxed comfort and contemporary style in city and resort destinations, AVANI was launched in response to an increasingly influential group of discerning travellers who appreciate stylish design and excellent service, but also demand great value. The brand currently has 17 properties in operation in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Seychelles, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Zambia, with a pipeline of further openings in Asia and the Indian Ocean. MHG has plans to grow the brand across Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Middle East.
