Raison d’ȇtre
PRESERVING
HISTORY HONORING
EXCELLENCE CONNECTING
GENERATIONS
DIGNITY and
Honor for inducted
Hall of Famers
The HoteliersGuild International Hall of Fame was opened in October 2016 in the presence of more than 200 luxury hospitality leaders from around the globe in the hall of Palacio Linares at the Villa Padierna Palace Hotel, Marbella, Spain, Oct. 14th and 15th. The HoteliersGuild International Hall of Fame has been conceived to celebrate brilliance in our industry. It is dedicated to recognise the people who are making outstanding contributions to the global luxury Lebensart, thus inspiring and educating a new generation of hoteliers and hospitality service providers. The owner of Villa Padierna Hotels & Resorts and HoteliersGuild’s trustee, Ricardo Arranz de Miguel, and his spouse Alicia, Marquesa of Villapadierna have benevolently offered their Palacio Linares to become the most exclusive International Hall of Fame for our industry, and there is, in fact, no better location in the world for such a noble institution. We feel that our industry and their leaders are very special. And now, we finally have a decorous setting to honor some of our most outstanding colleagues. The 2016 inductees ranged from renowned past innovators and creators such as Cesar Ritz and Bill Marriott, to living legends of Luxury Hospitality such as the inimitable Sol Kerzner, Natale Rusconi, Phillipe Starck and Peter Borer, who are being honoured and immortalised, with their portraits painted in oil with a short bio exclusively engraved on silver plaques, which are on permanent display. We are solemnly honoured by the unwavering support received from members of our Board of Governors and so many well established colleagues and companies from the luxury hospitality industry to whom we wish to express our thanks and special gratitude.
Frank M. Pfaller
Ricardo Arranz
Cher Monsieur Pfaller, C'est un grand honneur pour moi de recevoir votre invitation à faire partie de l'International Hospitality Hall of Fame, en reconnaissance de mon travail et contribution dans le domaine du design et de la création pour le secteur hotelier. Je vous remercie également chaleureusement pour l'invitation à assister au Gala d'Inauguration qui se déroulera le 15 octobre prochain, Je tiens à vous féliciter, à vous et à toute votre équipe, pour l'organisation de cet évènement prestigieux et vous prie de recevoir mes meilleures salutations. Philippe Starck
Presenting Board Governors our
of
President Frank M. Pfaller CoutureHospitalityConcept
Chairman & Custodian Ricardo Arranz de Miguel President, Villa Padierna Hotels & Resorts
Joseph Chong Managing Director, Peninsula Shanghai
Thomas Bühner CEO, The Chefs Academy
Beat Sigg CEO, Victoria-Jungfrau-Collection
Valeriano Antonioli CEO, Lungarno Collection
Lindsey Ueberroth President, Preferred Hotel Group
Michael Smithuis
General Manager Fairmont Le Montreux Palace Ingo Peters Regional VP & GM Fairmont Vierjahreszeiten
Duncan Palmer Managing Director, The Murray, HongKong
Sandro Fabris General Manager, Half Moon Bay Montego Bay
OnnoPoortier itMustBeNOOW! Co-Founder & Chairman
Frank M. Pfaller
President & Founder
HoteliersGuild Hall of Fame
Ricardo Arranz
Chairman & Custodian
Joseph Chong
Managing Director Peninsula Hotels HongKong & Shanghai
President of Villa Padierna Group
Lindsey Ueberroth
Onno Poortier
President & CEO Preferred Hotels & Resorts
former President Peninsula Hotels President of itMustbeNOW
Valeriano Antonioli
CEO Ferragamo’s Lungarno Hotels
Duncan Palmer
Ingo Peters
Former Managing Director The Murray, MarcoPolo Group
Managing Director Fairmont Vierjahreszeiten
Sandro Fabris
Beat Sigg
Michael Smithuis
Former Managing Director Jumby Bay, Antigua
CEO Victoria-Jungfrau-Collection
Managing Director Fairmont Le Montreux Palace
Thomas Bühner
CEO TB Chefs Academy
INAUGURATION at Palacio Linares The official ceremony by from left to right: Filip Boyen, CEO,Small Luxury Hotels; Princess Bhargavi Mewar from The House of Mewar, Executive Director of HRH Hotels; Frank M. Pfaller, President HoteliersGuild Hall of Fame and Ece Vahapoglu.
and the exclusive private event by from left to right: Frank M. Pfaller; Miguel Briones Artacho – Subdelegado del Gobierno; Ricardo Arranz, President of Villa Padierna Hotels; Isabel Borrego Cortes, Secretaria de Estado de Turismo; Margarita del Cid, Presidenta Mancomunidad Elias Bendodo , Presidente Diputación Málaga
Palacio Linares at the
Villa Padierna Palace Hotel is the perfect location to envelope and to uphold their legacy with their portraits painted in oil and memorabilia of accoladed winners.
It also has the air and all the right elements to ensure a unique and glamorous experience for discerning guests and visitors from around the world.
All inductees are prominently shown with their portraits. A permanent exhibition.
Hall of Famers are asked to provide memorabilia to be exhibited next to their curriculum
Distinguished Hall of Famers Voted by the esteemed members of the academy
from left to right:
Cesar Ritz Conrad Hilton Bill Marriott James Sherwood Conde de Villapadierna Juan Trippe Lord Charles Forte Hans Badrutt Natale Rusconi Sol Kerzner Philippe Starck
Palacio Linares at Villa Padierna Palace Hotele The perfect
location for an exclusive inaugural diner in the presence of the Spanish minister of
tourism and a delegation from the government.
Sharing some of the
Messages
industry leaders received from so and Hall of Famers from around the globe
Received from
Dear Frank, It is with the greatest honour and delight that I accept the prestigious “Industry Legend” award from TIHOF. My time in the hospitality industry, of over 50 years, has been made more remarkable by the huge pool of talented and passionate individuals that I have had the privilege and pleasure of working with across the globe. It is a unifying industry in so many respects and one in which I am proud to have made a contribution. Warmest personal regards, Sol Sol Kerzner
Cher Monsieur Pfaller, C'est un grand honneur pour moi de recevoir votre invitation à faire partie de l'International Hospitality Hall of Fame, en reconnaissance de mon travail et contribution dans le domaine du design et de la création pour le secteur hotelier. Je vous remercie également chaleureusement pour l'invitation à assister au Gala d'Inauguration qui se déroulera le 15 octobre prochain. Je tiens à vous féliciter, à vous et à toute votre équipe, pour l'organisation de cet évènement prestigieux et vous prie de recevoir mes meilleures salutations. Philippe Starck
Dear Mr. Pfaller, I am deeply honoured that your Board has voted me as an inductee for the International Hospitality Hall of Fame and that I will be presented with a “Signum Vertutis”, the most exclusive award in the luxury hospitality industry. This nomination not only concludes in glory my long career in the luxury hotel business, but also gives me the assurance that my work and its philosophy will be transmitted to the young generations who will choose one of the most satisfactory careers, which on a human scale allows them to meet many interesting and diversified characters and which in many cases enables them to make people happy as well. I also believe that the mission of a General Manager is to include the staff members, who are the motor of a hotel. The future of the hotel industry is especially nowadays under scrutiny by many observers. I personally believe that with the merging of chains such as Marriott and Starwood, there will be soon a great division between machine hotels and boutique hotels. I was in fact employed as Assistant Manager at the Gritti Palace Hotel in Venice, which had been previously the annex of the nearby Grand Hotel, in the early ’50’s. With the Gritti, CIGA Hotels created the first de luxe boutique hotel in Italy, and that was my school. Also the Cipriani, with less than 100 rooms, is considered still now to be a boutique hotel, as are many others of the Belmond group, formerly Orient-Exress Hotels, of which I was the Italian Vice President. I thank you for the honour given me and I look forward to seeing you soon in Marbella. As far as Jim Sherwood is concerned, he will be in Venice this coming Saturday, and I will speak with him about the Hall of Fame celebration in Marbella.
Sincerely, Natale Rusconini
Dear Frank, It is with great pride for me to be inducted into the International Hospitality Hall of Fame. When Eva and I first started, we had no idea our personal vision of a locally crafted villa and environmentally responsible lifestyle would form the basis of a successful collection of worldclass resorts. We started a trend for back-to-nature luxury holidays, and watched the Maldives turn from a three-star high volume destination into the luxury destination it is today. At Soneva, we strive to “inspire a lifetime of rare experiences”. This started with our now ubiquitous chocolate, ice cream, cheese and charcuterie rooms, followed by the outdoor Cinema Paradiso, our observatories, and now our glass studio at Soneva Fushi, among many other things. We hope that as we continue to grow, we will continue to inspire the international tourism industry to integrate luxury with sustainability, as these two things do not compete – they actually complement each other. While I am proud of what we have accomplished, there is much more that we, not only as a company but as an industry, can do to improve the communities in which we operate. With warmest regards, Sonu Sonu Shivdasani | Chairman & CEO | SONEVA
Dear Frank, I am deeply honoured to have this prestigious award bestowed upon me. I am sharing this accolade with many people who have and continue to inspire me. It has been and continues to be a great privilege to work in the hospitality industry. An industry which unites people from all over the world. Kind regards, Peter Peter Borer COO The Peninsula Hotels
Dear Frank, 'I would like to formally accept this induction into the International Hospitality Hall of Fame and to sincerely thank the Board of Advisors for their support and votes. It is an honour to be recognised alongside so many exceptional individuals and I am proud to have contributed to the hospitality industry for so many years.’ My best regards, Geoffrey Geoffrey Gelardi Managing Director
Dear Frank, When I received word to be included in the International Hospitality Hall of Fame, you put me in the right mood - 'Down Memory Lane'. My private and professional life was scripted by 'follow your heart' and several mentors who were always present like Guardian Angels. The early trails of my personal life began in 1960, as if written in Folks Tales, young German - hotelier-to-be, met and fell in love with a Thai student in Lausanne. She returned to her homeland, found him a job at a little seaside inn in Thailand - early assimilation into Thai culture, two years later they moved to the Oriental in Bangkok. Today, we are married fifty years with three wonderful children. A real love story! In the early seventies, the Thai owners decided to enlarge the Oriental to 400 rooms, requiring a Management Company. The obvious choice was the Mandarin in Hong Kong and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group was born. Peter Stafford was the General Manager of the Mandarin Hong Kong and he took it upon himself to train hundreds of Oriental employees from one to six months in Hong Kong. As for myself, I was dispatched to the Savoy in London for one month...polishing my manners! Highlights over the past forty years : . The Oriental Hotel Apprentice Programme was set up . The Professional Thai Chef Programme . The South East Asia Writers Award to honour the many famous writers who stayed over the years. . The nostalgic Legends of Indochina . The Royal Project in Chiengmai where our Chef, Norbert Kostner, introduced new varieties of vegetables and fruits, which were imported at high cost from Europe - not an easy task to reproduce in tropical climate. Today, most hotels/restaurants all over Thailand recognize real value in this brand. Whatever we undertook, we tried to connect these stories with a society who surrounded us and ultimately became our loyal customers. Most of the 1200 staff members dedicated their services an entire life to the Oriental, which allowed us to maintain and nourish a personalized service. Because of the close relationship between our staff and guests - guests felt at home. When the Oriental was named for the first time 'Best Hotel in the World', the Thai employees lifted glasses of champagne for a photo shoot and a few minutes later, returned to their work place, continued their jobs as diligently like as if nothing has happened. Thais display a great sense of humanity, supporting each other, whenever the unexpected occurs. In the end - what is life? Warmth - and I had plenty in both private and professional life! Warm regards! Kurt Kurt Wachtveitl former General Manager of The Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Dear Frank, It is with great pride that we accept your invitation for us to be inducted into The International Hospitality Hall of Fame. Both our careers have been entirely in some part of the hospitality industry – travel agent, tour operator, incentive travel, airline, People to People Travel and now Preferred Hotels and Resorts. This industry is one that brings the world together and has been part of many innovations and programs that other industries adapt. To be thought of as a leader of this fabulous and growing industry is indeed an honor that we will cherish. Our warmest personal regards! John and Gail John & Gail Ueberroth Founders, Preferred Hotels & Resorts
Dear Frank, I thoroughly enjoyed your glorious celebration of the art of hospitality. What a party and what a turn out, impressive! Many congratulations! Kind regards & thank you so much for the gracious invitation! Filip
Filip Boyen Chief Executive Officer Small Luxury Hotels of the World
Our gracious Hosts We are expressing our gratitude to Don Ricardo Arranz de Miguel, owner of Villa Padierna Hotels & Resorts
Honourable Chairman and 1st. Custodian of HGIHOF, and
and to his wife,
Dña. Alicia Padierna Countess de Villapadierna - Klein.
Our
chivalrous
Supporters
honoured by the unwavering support received from so many well established colleagues and companies from the luxury hospitality industry. We are solemnly
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