Passionate about Hospitality
Twenty seven years of career allow me to say that I am a seasoned hotelier. I have worked in Caribbean's three most important destinations: Riviera Maya, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. To round up my experience, I have been in the Pacific coast, and now in the mountains of central Mexico.
Vista Playa de Oro, Manzanillo, Mexico.
Hotel Avándaro Golf & Spa Resort. Valle de Bravo, Mexico.
The Beginning
Climbing Up
Bigger Challenges
The Cuban Experience
In 2009 I joined Sol Melia Hotels, a Spanish owned worldwide hotel chain. It runs 27 hotels in Cuba. The Tryp seats in the natural park of Hicacos. A 580, five star property, it can hold up to 1,200 guests when full. Some of my accomplishments when running the Tryp were: Renewing the ISO 9001 Certification, move up seven positions in the Trip Advisor hotel ranking, from 14 to 7. Earned two distinctions from Trip Advisor, as a "Recommended" and "Excellent" hotel by former guests. The Tryp had a yearly revenue of 23.1 million Euro per year, with a GOP of nearly 49% in the last year of management. Satisfaction by guests was also far excelled. Keeping an excellent food variety was essential to achieve this goal. Tryp's "Chill Out Parties" each Friday were truly enjoyed. Restaurant renovations were conducted, including the two a la carte restaurants, enhancing the comfort, decor and also renewing the menus.
Mexico's Pacific Coast
In August 2010, I became General Manager at Vista Playa de Oro in Manzanillo Mexico.. A Charming 250 room all inclusive property, the hotel's main characteristic is it's devotion to family vacation, under a Pirate's theme and experiences. The hotel also boasts two in-property zip-lines. Manzanillo is also known for being the capital of Sail Fish. I successfully re-positioned this hotel, making it one of the most popular and most visited in the Guadalajara market.
Central Mexico. Valle de Bravo
As of July 2012, I am managing Hotel Avandaro Golf and Spa Resort. This hotel has a lot of tradition and it is quite iconic amongst the affluent of Mexico City. It has seventy seven bungalows, six fractional ownership homes, a charming spa and a restaurant that is very popular among the weekend residents in Valle de Bravo. Our eighteen hole golf course was designed by Percy Clifford, back in the 50´s, and it is quite challenging, but most of all, it is the place-to-be for a lot of very important business people. Recent celebrities that visited this resort include former USA President Jimmy Carter, who came to visit the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary that is located in this area.
- Right after college, I landed my first job at Posada del Capitan Lafitte, a 60 room seafront boutique hotel in the shores of Playa del Carmen. I managed this precious little gem from February 1994 to February 1997. This small hotel had always been run as a side business of a Yucatecan family, with no formal management instituted. I brought to Lafitte his recently acquired knowledge and training. Soon a PMS system was put in place, menus were redesigned while having in mind cost control, a planned maintenance schedule was placed. New promotional material was created, and Lafitte began to appear in tourism trade shows such as Tianguis de Acapulco and Caribbean Travel Market.
Climbing Up
- In 1997, I was invited to join Viva Maya Playacar, a 300 room all inclusive hotel, owned and operated by Italian-Dominican company, Viva Resorts. My initial position was Resident Manager. Duties included to act as Food and Beverage Manager, supervising the operation of the buffet restaurant, a beach restaurant, two bars and a disco. The hotel expanded in 1998 growing to 400 rooms. Alvar took care of coordinating the construction work with the hotel open and constantly full. As Resident Manager, I learned valuable skills in covering all aspects of the hotel operation and administration.
- By 2000, I was promoted to General Manager, with Viva's expansion in Mexico, (two more properties were added, the Azteca and Vallarta) my boss and mentor, Omar Estevez, was promoted to Regional Director. At the age of 30, I was one of the youngest large hotel general managers in the Riviera Maya area. Hiring and training was key during that time since Viva's philosophy was to train and foster future heads of departments and executive staff for the rest of the hotels, including the ones in Bahamas and the Dominican Republic. Important achievements were reached, with five consecutive years earning the "Gold Crown"award by RCI, the hotel's certification on HACCP procedures and a PRIMO distinction by German tour operator "Neckermann" in 2003.
Bigger Challenges
- I was promoted to run Viva's flagship and most successful hotel, the Dominicus Complex in Dominican Republic, Bayahibe. Holding two properties in one, (the Beach and the Palace) Dominicus was 980 rooms large, holding up to 2,200 guests when full. Dominicus revenue soared to 31.5 million USD per annum, with a GOP of about 33%. Upon arrival, signs of heavy use were evident, thus a 1.5 million USD renovation plan for two years was put in place, this included renovation of two a la carte's new furniture for the buffet restaurants, new walkways, better landscaping, a 400 room renovation and a new lobby for the Beach. Dominicus huge success was based on a sound food and beverage program and a superb entertainment staff, with more than one dozen different shows and guest participation programs.
The Cuban Experience
In 2009 I joined Sol Melia Hotels, a Spanish owned worldwide hotel chain. It runs 27 hotels in Cuba. The Tryp seats in the natural park of Hicacos. A 580, five star property, it can hold up to 1,200 guests when full. Some of my accomplishments when running the Tryp were: Renewing the ISO 9001 Certification, move up seven positions in the Trip Advisor hotel ranking, from 14 to 7. Earned two distinctions from Trip Advisor, as a "Recommended" and "Excellent" hotel by former guests. The Tryp had a yearly revenue of 23.1 million Euro per year, with a GOP of nearly 49% in the last year of management. Satisfaction by guests was also far excelled. Keeping an excellent food variety was essential to achieve this goal. Tryp's "Chill Out Parties" each Friday were truly enjoyed. Restaurant renovations were conducted, including the two a la carte restaurants, enhancing the comfort, decor and also renewing the menus.
Mexico's Pacific Coast
In August 2010, I became General Manager at Vista Playa de Oro in Manzanillo Mexico.. A Charming 250 room all inclusive property, the hotel's main characteristic is it's devotion to family vacation, under a Pirate's theme and experiences. The hotel also boasts two in-property zip-lines. Manzanillo is also known for being the capital of Sail Fish. I successfully re-positioned this hotel, making it one of the most popular and most visited in the Guadalajara market.
Central Mexico. Valle de Bravo
As of July 2012, I am managing Hotel Avandaro Golf and Spa Resort. This hotel has a lot of tradition and it is quite iconic amongst the affluent of Mexico City. It has seventy seven bungalows, six fractional ownership homes, a charming spa and a restaurant that is very popular among the weekend residents in Valle de Bravo. Our eighteen hole golf course was designed by Percy Clifford, back in the 50´s, and it is quite challenging, but most of all, it is the place-to-be for a lot of very important business people. Recent celebrities that visited this resort include former USA President Jimmy Carter, who came to visit the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary that is located in this area.
Go to the Contact Page, send me your information and I will send you a full resume.
