L-R Top: Gareth Long, Melinda Lampier, Erik Stuebe, Tim Smith and Mark Roth
L-R Bottom Row: Adam McDonald, Mauro Leone, Kahlia O'Shea and Matthew Simister.

IHG Hotels and Resorts has introduced eight high performing team members in their new roles following a raft of promotions and new appointments to hotels across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

Former Crowne Plaza Coogee Beach GM, Gareth Long, has relocated north to take up a similar role at Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley, coupling on duties as Area General Manager for Regional NSW. Long has been with IHG since 2005 and was a major ingredient in a successful renovation at Coogee Beach.

Long has been replaced in the Sydney beachside suburb by Melinda Lampier, who takes charge at Crowne Plaza Coogee Beach, also overseeing the company’s Salter Brothers portfolio. Lampier holds more than 20 years in hospitality experience and has worked in Vietnam and Thailand, where she joined IHG in 2010.

The lobby at the recently renovated Crowne Plaza Coogee Beach.

Moving south to Melbourne, IHG has appointed Erik Stuebe as General Manager at voco Melbourne Central, with the brand’s maiden location in Victoria preparing to open in the coming months. Beginning his career in Europe, Stuebe has worked for many different hotel groups in a career spanning several decades. He moves to the role from InterContinental Melbourne, where he has served for the past four years and ensured the property’s safe operations as a quarantine hotel for the Australian Government.

In place at InterContinental Melbourne comes Tim Smith, who moves south from his role as Hotel Manager at InterContinental Sydney. Smith brings 15 years in the accommodation sector to his role, with many years with Starwood and later, Marriott International.

An entrance rendering of the forthcoming voco Melbourne Central.

Remaining in Melbourne, IHG has installed Mark Roth as General Manager at Crowne Plaza Melbourne. Roth has recently returned to Australia after 25 years in hotels all over the world, including the past three years where he led the launch of IHG’s Staybridge Suites brand in the UK. He also played a major role in rebranding the Holiday Inn at London Heathrow Airport.

In regional Victoria, Adam McDonald has taken on pre-opening duties for the InterContinental brand’s newest Australian property at InterContinental Sorrento Mornington Peninsula. The 15-year IHG veteran has worked at properties in Bali, Kuala Lumpur and Hanoi, building his name before returning to Australia in 2016. McDonald is experienced as a pre-opening GM, having put the InterContinental Perth through its paces prior to welcoming its first guests in 2016.

Shifting to Papua New Guinea, IHG has transitioned Mauro Leone into the role of General Manager at Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, both in Port Moresby. Based in the PNG capital, Leone will also take on duties as Area General Manager for Papua New Guinea and Queensland including the Vignette Collection’s new Hotel X. He returns to PNG where he has worked in the past, most recently at Crowne Plaza Residences Port Moresby.

Hotel X in Brisbane is Australia’s first member of IHG’s new Vignette Collection brand.

Still in PNG, Kahlia O’Shea has been appointed to replace Leone as General Manager at Crowne Plaza Residences Port Moresby. O’Shea joined IHG in 2007 while studying and has grown within the company, working at hotels in Sydney, Alice Springs, Canberra and the Hunter Valley before shifting to New Zealand for stints at Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn in Auckland. She has progressed through the ranks while also benefiting from the guidance of IHG’s ‘Rise’ female mentorship program.

In New Zealand, Matthew Simister has been appointed to the General Manager role at Holiday Inn Queenstown Remarkables Park. After university, Simister joined InterContinental Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast and has progressed through IHG’s ‘Future Leader’ program, spending time in senior roles at properties in Adelaide, Sydney and also in the company’s head office. The Kiwi native returns to his homeland for his new role opening the region’s newest Holiday Inn location.