The chairman of Forbes Travel Guide is digital media pioneer Jeff Arnold, who is the visionary behind Forbes Travel Guide and the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Sharecare, a digital health company he founded with Dr. Mehmet Oz that helps people manage all their health in one place.
In 2005, Arnold purchased the rights to Mobil Travel Guide, a well-known series of regional guidebooks that Mobil Oil had published since 1958. The guides provided independent ratings of hotels, motels and restaurants in North America. Arnold had the vision to transform the collection into a digital guide and globalize the Star Rating system, with a focus on luxury hospitality. By 2009, he evolved Mobil Travel Guide to Forbes Travel Guide, in partnership with Forbes Media LLC.
Prior to founding Sharecare and Forbes Travel Guide, Arnold was chairman and CEO of HowStuffWorks.com, an award-winning online resource used by millions of people each month, which he sold to Discovery Communications, where he served as chief digital strategy officer, as well as chief architect of The Curiosity Project until December 2011.
In 1998, he founded and served as CEO of WebMD, the first healthcare company to harness the power of the Internet to create a unified destination for consumers, healthcare institutions and physicians to find trustworthy medical information. Prior to WebMD, Jeff founded Quality Diagnostic Services (QDS), a cardiac arrhythmia monitoring company, one of the first companies to use the concept of telemedicine over 25 years ago.
Arnold has been honored for his innovative contributions to media, technology and healthcare, including the 2016 Blumenthal Award by Johns Hopkins University which recognized his exceptional ability to bridge business and technology. Additionally, he was inducted into the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, as an Honorary Member for his superior achievements and contributions to the advancement of nursing and health care on both a national and global level. Arnold also has been honored by the World Economic Forum; inducted into the Technology Hall of Fame of Georgia; named Entrepreneur of the Year, Southeast Region by Ernst & Young; and received the prestigious Phoenix Award, which recognizes companies and individuals who embody strength, tenacity and leadership in Georgia’s healthcare information technology industry.
Currently also chairman of Endeavor Atlanta, Arnold also has served on numerous boards for public, private and charitable organizations over the years.
During this time, Inzerillo has developed, positioned and operated some of the world’s most famous and successful lifestyle brands in tourism and entertainment.
In June 2018, Inzerillo was appointed by HRH The Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to be the first CEO of the newly created Diriyah Gate Development Authority. This authority is empowered to master plan the 67-kilometer UNESCO site of the first Saudi state into one of the great gathering places in the world.
As CEO of Forbes Travel Guide from 2014 to 2018, he was successful in the globalization from the company’s North American origins to more than 100 countries worldwide. The Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star Award is universally accepted as the Olympic gold medal of hospitality.
Inzerillo was president and CEO of IMG Artists, the global leader in artist management, performing arts and lifestyle events planning from 2012 to 2014. At IMG Artists, he directed global strategies for music, events, festivals, government consulting and artist and facility management businesses.
A well-respected, widely traveled, and assured leader in luxury hospitality, Hermann Elger brings a wealth of expertise and 30 years of global experience to his role as the chief executive officer of Forbes Travel Guide.
Serving most recently as executive vice president of travel, entertainment, and health security at digital health leader Sharecare, he led the successful launch of Sharecare’s health security verification program in partnership with Forbes Travel Guide, which now covers thousands of properties globally.
Prior to Sharecare, Elger was the managing director of Baccarat Hotel New York and chief operating officer of Baccarat Hotels and Resorts, leading the development of new properties and overseeing day-to-day operations and quality guest experiences for the flagship hotel. As general manager, he led Baccarat Hotel New York to its first Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star Award in 2018.
Elger has also served as general manager at other renowned Five-Star hotels across North America, including The St. Regis New York, Montage Beverly Hills (now The Maybourne Beverly Hills), and The Ritz-Carlton, Cancun. In nearly 18 years with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, he supported the development of new hotels as an opening team leader for The Ritz-Carlton Aspen Highlands, Philadelphia, Dubai, and Kuala Lumpur.
Born and raised in Mexico City, Elger followed his father into the hotel industry and earned a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from the University of Denver. From his humble beginnings as a doorman for The Brown Hotel in Denver, Colorado, this second-generation hotelier has established himself as an accomplished and innovative hospitality leader. His talents are recognized with honors including “Best GM in US and Canada” in the Travvy Awards and “Most Innovative GM” by American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts, both awarded in 2016. Elger also was named one of the “40 Most Influential Leaders in Tourism in Mexico” by Lideres magazine.
As Forbes Travel Guide's President of Ratings, Amanda Frasier oversees all aspects of the Star Rating system on a global scale. Frasier directs the continual refinement of Forbes Travel Guide's service and facility standards and serves as the chair of the Standards Advisory Committee, which provides valuable industry input on trends in global hospitality. She also leads the production of FTG events such as the Luxury Summit, the official annual celebration of Star Award recipients, and spearheads the by-invitation-only Brand Officials program, connecting thought leaders in luxury goods and services with the Star-Rated community.
Executive Leadership
Previously having served as Microsoft’s Senior Executive for Travel & Hospitality and leading J.D. Power's Global Hospitality and Travel group, Greif partnered with many of the world's leading luxury brands. At J.D. Power, he led global strategy, business development and product development to establish new offerings that enabled companies to elevate their service delivery and customer experience. His strong background bringing innovative digital solutions to the travel industry spans his work with start-ups, prominent tech companies, top tier consultancies, VCs, and private equity.
Greif started his career at Accenture when it was still called Andersen Consulting and holds a MBA in Strategy and General Management from The Darden School at the University of Virginia. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
As Executive Vice President of Finance, Tony Hounshell brings nearly 20 years of executive leadership experience to work in guiding Forbes Travel Guide's overall financial strategy. His department oversees a breadth of functions, including accounting, finance, treasury and tax; financial planning, analysis and corporate development; human resources; and investor relations.
Hounshell began his career in public accounting at a Big Four firm, later moving into advisory services at that firm and other global consultancies. His advisory experience spans forensic, transaction, risk management and performance improvement services. He regularly assisted boards of directors, audit committees, management and their legal counsel to address significant and complex matters. Hounshell has worked in more than 25 countries across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. He is a Certified Public Accountant and an active member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Mocklar worked in key product positions at weather.com for 10 years before joining Forbes Travel Guide. She previously contributed to CNN.com in its infancy, serving as senior editor of lifestyle sections and later as director of product for the site.
Ratings
As Director of Ratings, Kaitlyn Jahelka oversees the compilation of Ratings data that determines the annual list of Star Award winners and manages global expansion planning, determining the best new properties and destinations to be Star Rated. Working alongside the Vice President, Ratings, Jahelka is responsible for providing recommendations and input to the President of Ratings. Jahelka also plays an integral role in the annual standards revisions process and provides expertise and consultation on standards applications.
Beginning at Forbes Travel Guide in 2012, Jahelka held various roles in Evaluation Operations and Reporting, including as a full-time evaluator, before joining the Ratings team in 2018. She has stayed in more than 200 luxury hotels across 40 countries and six continents, developing a deep understanding of trends in the global hospitality industry and today’s luxury guest.
Global Ambassadors
Before joining Forbes Travel Guide, Boyen served as CEO of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, overseeing a portfolio of more than 520 exceptional independent hotels in 80 countries.
Prior to that post, the Belgium native spent 18 years with Orient-Express, the famed precursor to the Belmond brand. Joining the hospitality company as general manager of Bora Bora Lagoon Resort in Tahiti, he rose to become executive vice president and chief operating officer of Orient-Express. In between, various roles included Group Vice President Operations; Regional Vice President, Africa, Australia & Latin America; and Managing Director, Hotels & Trains.
Boyen began his hospitality career as a commis chef and stayed in the food and beverage side of the business for 10 years, working in Michelin-starred restaurants in Belgium, France and England. He even did a stint under French master chef Joël Robuchon.
For more than 20 years, Hervé Houdré has been one of the foremost advocates of sustainable hospitality, a term that he coined in the early 2000s. Houdré established the model for sustainable luxury during his time managing distinguished properties such as Hôtel Plaza Athénée, New York; Hôtel de Crillon and Hôtel Plaza Athénée in Paris; Willard InterContinental in Washington, D.C.; and during his tenure as the chief operating officer for Kempinski Hotels.
Houdré’s efforts and passion to promote sustainability in his industry have been highlighted across a wide spectrum of media in the U.S. and abroad. He was recognized as the 2006 Independent Hotelier of the World by HOTELS magazine readers, and his leadership earned him the 2009 Condé Nast Traveler World Saver Award, the D.C. Downtown Citizen honor and the D.C. Chamber of Commerce 2009 award.
Matthieu Yamoum serves as Forbes Travel Guide's Global Ambassador of Wine, sharing his deeply informed perspective in the wine and hospitality industries.
Raised among the vines in France’s Champagne region, Yamoum applied his innate passion for champagne to his career. As the wine director of Baccarat Hotel New York, he curated one of the world's most extensive champagne menus.
Yamoum released his own champagne with Piper-Heidsieck in 2020 and launched an innovative concept wine store, Maison MURA, in Miami in 2022 to rave reviews.
He is a member of the Jurade of Saint-Émilion, the Confraria do Vinho do Porto and the Sommelier Society of America, and is certified by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
Partner Services & Industry Outreach
An industry veteran with over 30 years of experience in the travel and hospitality industry, Richard Lebowitz is building awareness of Star Rated hotels across the global luxury travel advisor community.
Lebowitz spent nearly 25 years with Hyatt Hotels & Resorts in various leadership positions, including his last role as regional vice-president of luxury, lifestyle and leisure of North America for the global sales office. He later served as senior vice president, hotel and resort program at Signature Travel Network, a member-owned travel agency cooperative serving more than 7,000 travel advisors and 1,000 hotel and resort global partners. Most recently, Lebowitz was vice president of strategic partnerships at Sharecare and rolled out the VERIFIED™ health security program to the hotel and travel industry.
Fradin joined Preferred Hotel Group in 2006, tasked with driving the organization's EMEA marketing programs. From 2009 to 2013, he headed up the London office as regional director. His broader commercial role focused on the overall relationship with member hotels, together with developing new business opportunities for Preferred Hotel Group. Joining Forbes Travel Guide in early 2015, Fradin established the European operation. Forbes Travel Guide’s coverage of Europe has grown to 30 destinations, across more than 15 countries and continues to develop. Fradin lives in London.
Prior to joining Forbes Travel Guide, Lodge founded and owned The Professional Guest, a performance evaluation company that specialized in building repeat hotel business through an enhanced guest experience. She also previously worked for Marriott, where she helped open new properties throughout Southern California and Arizona. Lodge was nationally recognized as Marriott's Sales Person of the Year.
She earned her degree in hotel, restaurant and institutional management from Michigan State University's school of business and traces her passion for the industry back more than 40 years, when she worked as a room attendant at a property along the shores of Lake Michigan.
Her background includes significant international exposure serving in a variety of senior management positions. Initially working with Best Western Australia in the role of National and International Sales and Marketing Manager, she later joined Accor and moved through the ranks from Director of Sales and Marketing, to Executive Assistant Manager, and ultimately General Manager. From there, Demeis resided in Korea and China while serving as Director of Business Development and Executive Assistant Manager for the Hilton Group.
Prior to Forbes Travel Guide, Hainlin held various leadership roles with Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Denihan Hospitality Group. In the latter part of her 14-year tenure with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, she launched the Starwood Resort Collection, Caribbean & South Florida. Most recently, she oversaw the expansion of The James brand in Miami and the launch of The James Royal Palm Miami-South Beach, after a $50 million renovation and reflag of this historic property.
Hainlin was born in Cuba and immigrated with her family to New York at an early age. The Florida International University graduate speaks fluent Spanish and has a working knowledge of Portuguese. She resides in Miami.
She began her career at Hyatt International Hotels, and subsequently served in management positions at brands such as Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Ian Schrager and Langham. Kane McGee was a director of sales during the opening and ramp-up of Gramercy Park Hotel and The Surrey, respectively.
Launching her career with Hyatt in 2000, Law was rapidly promoted into leadership positions within the corporate office. As Hyatt's Global Sales Director for the Asia Pacific region, she focused on increasing revenue across all segments and establishing new business, primarily for outbound opportunities in Hong Kong, Korea and Thailand markets. Law later became the Director of Corporate Business Development for Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, where she acquired extensive knowledge of the mainland China market. Born in Hong Kong, Law is a native Cantonese speaker, is fluent in Mandarin and English, and has a working knowledge of Korean.
Working as a guest relations hostess and tour guide at Disneyland during college sparked a lifelong interest in hospitality for Veden. She eventually found a home with Marriott International, leading in various disciplines and representing all 30 brands in the company’s portfolio.
As a national recruiter and global director of Marriott’s University Relations and Property Management Staffing team, she partnered with academic institutions across the country and led a group that developed 8,000 college graduates and interns to work across Marriott brands. Veden helped design and implement the award-winning Global Voyager Leadership Development Program, to prepare the next generation of Marriott leaders.
Most recently, Veden was the director of Learning & Engagement at The Broadmoor, where she led training initiatives for the longest-running Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotel.
Learning & Development
Torrance's passion for luxury hotels and service led to a degree in Hospitality Business and then a career starter on the food and beverage team at the Four Seasons. While working in Telluride, Colorado, she progressed onto a management path that brought her experience across every operational outlet, and included overseeing a resort-based Homeowner's Association (HOA). From there, Torrance welcomed General Manager and Residence Manager positions at Lake Placid Lodge, the Point resort, and Calistoga Ranch, an Auberge Resort.
William Avitia’s passion for the hospitality industry led him into human resources and training early in his career. He has worked for Starwood Hotels & Resorts properties across the United States. As Director of Human Resources at The St. Regis Aspen Resort, Avitia developed an intensive seasonal staffing and training strategy thoughtfully aligned with brand and luxury standards. Most recently, Avitia worked with IHG Hotels & Resorts developing branded and operational service solutions that scaled across 16 brands globally.
Avitia is a certified Property Service Culture Trainer, and has certified other trainers as Service Culture Champions as well as led leadership simulations in region. He holds a degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, where he focused on special operations. Avitia plays an active alumnus role for the National Society of Minorities in Hospitality. He trains in both English and Spanish.
Josh Santos is a dynamic service culture evolution facilitator with over 25 years of hospitality experience and a strong emphasis on hotel operations and training. Having served extensively in leadership roles across a broad spectrum of brands and property types, he has developed a deep-rooted understanding of what it means to own the guest relationship and keen insights on how to effectively approach individual hotel training needs.
His career began at Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth, and then he joined Starwood Hotels, leading within rooms and food and beverage divisions and overseeing hotel department openings. While there, Santos eventually became a service culture trainer. Later, he took positions like director of rooms for The Beverly Hilton and regional director of training for Loews Hotels.
Since joining Forbes Travel Guide in 2017, Santos has trained in more than 20 countries across five continents. As the Manager, Learning and Development, he oversees the integration of new trainers and implements programs for the continued advancement of the Learning and Development team.
He is fluent in English and French.
With over a decade of luxury hotel experience, and two years as an Executive Trainer at Forbes Travel Guide, Summer Xiang has demonstrated her impressive ability to inspire properties to create exceptional experiences for guests and achieve their goals.
Driven by her dedication to delivering exceptional guest service, she became the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong's youngest management team member after only one year of management training. She attributes her strong product knowledge, frontline service and management skills to the rotation experiences at this flagship property.
Xiang transferred to Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai and transitioned into the learning and development field ––– leading successful corporate and tailor-made, local-focused training programs and employee recognition activities. During her tenure as the quality assurance manager, Xiang focused on operational training while overseeing the guest experience team, significantly improving the hotel's key guest experience metrics. She eventually moved back into food and beverage operations and held the role of food and beverage manager in charge of six outlets. Xiang held the same role at Fairmont Chengdu before joining Forbes Travel Guide.
Glenda Barnatan is a seasoned hospitality professional with substantial experience developing and leading teams at luxury hotels and resorts. Her background covers all aspects of food and beverage, as well as rooms division departments including housekeeping and guest services.
Barnatan began her career at The Ritz-Carlton, Naples working in conference services and banquets, and later became food and beverage supervisor at The Ritz-Carlton, Fort Lauderdale. For more than a decade following, she led in food and beverage and other management leadership roles at glamorous properties including 1 Hotel South Beach, Acqualina Resort & Residences on the Beach, Baccarat New York, and The Hermitage Hotel. She is a passionate coach; stays upbeat, positive, and shares a warm smile. Barnatan is trilingual in English, Spanish, and Hebrew.
Samira Charbonnier has built long-standing relationships in the hospitality industry by consistently demonstrating strong influence skills and success in coaching multi-cultural teams. She spent a decade offering expertise in advisory, operations and international training efforts while serving as director of learning and development for global hospitality consulting firm Minds in Motion SA.
Charbonnier worked with international consulting and real estate investment banking firms PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Eastdil Secured as an adviser focused on hotel development, marketing and sales. Prior to that, she spent four years as food and beverage manager at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in the United States and Canada. Charbonnier has a deeply-rooted passion for coaching and is a certified Quality Coach for the Swiss Tourism Federation, a qualification based on Six Sigma principles.
Hui has worked as a consultant specializing in customer service training and implementing revenue enhancement strategies for Four- and Five-Star hotels all over the world, including The Peninsula Hotels, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, One&Only Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, and Dorchester Collection.
For over 14 years, Kothavala served as the Director of Learning & Development for The Pierre, A Taj Hotel. During her tenure, the hotel earned the coveted Five-Star award in 2013, and consistently retained this status each year. As an Executive Trainer, Kothavala now shares first-hand experience of how to achieve and maintain Five-Star status.
Dupree also enjoyed a 15-year career with Four Seasons, holding management positions in both food and beverage and rooms divisions, in roles ranging from Assistant Executive Steward to Director of Rooms. While with Four Seasons, he lived and worked at properties in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Newport Beach and Austin.
In 12 years, Michael Conte successfully led three Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star spas in California. In addition to his work with these incredible resorts, he served on the FTG Standards Advisory Committee in 2018 and 2019. Conte has always had a passion for training and creating exceptional guest experiences.
When it opened in 2008, The Spa at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach garnered a Five-Star rating, with Conte serving as an integral part of the team. At Montage Laguna Beach, he served as executive director of spa for more than four years and was honored to be a part of the leadership team when the resort was awarded the coveted triple Five-Star rating for hotel, restaurant and spa. As executive director of spa and wellness for Meadowood Napa Valley, Conte opened the new all-suite spa, quickly receiving a Five-Star honor. He was instrumental in revamping and running the resort employee onboarding program, which led to the resort achieving a triple Five-Star award.
Conte combines this experience with creativity in his work as an Executive Trainer for Forbes Travel Guide.
Ewan Laing’s talent for creating authentic luxury guest experiences began at the age of 13 while working in a small Scottish countryside hotel and restaurant. Throughout his two-decade hospitality career, Laing has excelled in various operational and training roles.
Laing began his career as an assistant front office manager at Marriott International and Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club in Edinburgh before setting sail with Disney Cruise Line as an onboard guest relations manager. There, he realized his passion for training and joined DCL’s human resources team as a shipboard training officer.
Back on land, Laing fostered his expertise as the learning and development manager for Genting Casinos UK. He managed all training, leadership and career development needs for the company’s 42 casinos and digital gaming products, including some of the world’s most prestigious high-roller clubs, such as the original Crockfords in London.
Laing later returned to the seas as a learning and development consultant for Celebrity Cruises, where he enhanced leadership effectiveness across the fleet before joining the service excellence team to support the brand as it built a suite of learning and cultural programs.
He uses his passion for the hospitality industry to deliver engaging, memorable training experiences and shares his vast operational knowledge with Forbes Travel Guide partners.
Luxury hospitality expert Clarita Parra has a successful history of building and managing engaged, high-performing teams and helping them implement the Forbes Travel Guide standards. In addition, she spent a decade in leadership positions at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company's room division, where she gained critical executive operational experience.
Parra designed the training and development curriculum plans that achieved The Ritz-Carlton America's highest honors for excellence in productivity, guest engagement, cleanliness and profitability. Her leadership at The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay helped the property earn the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star award in 2020.
Most recently, Parra served as the director of operations at The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara. She has also lent her guidance as a trainer for various openings within the Marriott International umbrella, such as The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain; The Barcelona EDITION; and The West Hollywood EDITION. Parra is fluent in English and Spanish
Gabriela Manjarres’ 19 years of experience leading and developing luxury hospitality teams has only deepened an innate ability to inspire and develop generations of hoteliers.
Manjarres expanded her knowledge and grew her career within roles across the rooms division and operations as guest services manager at The Westin Diplomat & Resort, leader of the front office team at The St. Regis Atlanta and assistant director of rooms at JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa.
Most recently, Manjarres worked as a learning and development manager with Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. This position allowed her to spearhead the development and execution of training in Latin America and the United States, deliver customized training sessions in partnership with property-specific needs and provide training solutions for various brands, including pre-opening and transitions.
She brings this guest-centered and detailed training approach to all properties within the Forbes Travel Guide community.
With a history of leading human resources and training operations for luxury brands across the Americas, Vivian Liberman knows what it takes to build exceptional teams that deliver unparalleled service in the hospitality industry.
Liberman's passion for coaching toward extraordinary service began in her role as a training manager for Sofitel Legend Santa Clara Cartagena during the brand's transition, implementing butler service and luxury sales training that emphasized the story of the historic property. Liberman continued to lend her expertise, helping train newly hired staff teams in standards, customer service and behavioral-based interviewing.
She later served as a corporate training specialist at Sofitel and Accor Hotels and administered corporate and management development training. While there, Liberman focused on developing a leadership cultivation program that facilitated the transition of line-level talent to supervisory and middle-management roles. She has previously served at Forbes Travel Guide as an inspector, lending her immense insight into the company’s quality standards.
Susan Wang brings more than 15 years of hospitality experience at Marriott International and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts to her role as an executive trainer. She attributes her success to her passion for creating memorable customer experiences, training and developing staff service standards, and driving strategic execution plans to achieve goals.
Beginning her career as a front desk trainee, Wang was soon leading in various room division roles at hotels in Sydney. At Four Seasons Hotel Sydney, she earned the highest room upsell revenue globally. Her critical achievements at Pier One Sydney Harbour, Autograph Collection include increasing staff engagement by more than 30 percent.
In 2018, Wang took on the position of director of loyalty operations in Marriott International’s Hong Kong corporate office, launching the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program across 24 brands and more than 800 hotels in Asia Pacific. As director, she facilitated multiple in-person and virtual training workshops to deliver a shared vision and mindset on the new loyalty program and encourage member engagement across 16 markets. Wang’s involvement in this program led the continent to attain No. 1 in new member sign-ups globally while maintaining the highest member appreciation satisfaction score across all continents.
Gregory Ng is a passionate and guest-centered hospitality leader with more than a decade of well-rounded operational and managerial experience in renowned luxury hotels all over the world. His extensive food and beverage expertise includes fine dining, bars and lounges, all-day-dining operations, banqueting and in-room private dining.
As part of Peninsula Clubs and Consultancy Services, he focused on its clubs and properties portfolio, eventually becoming assistant operations manager at The Repulse Bay Hong Kong. In the United States, Ng directed the food and beverage team at The Peninsula New York and was interim department head at The Peninsula Chicago as part of a task force. He returned to Asia to lead the restaurant and bar team at Sir Elly's, The Peninsula Shanghai's glamorous fine-dining outlet. Ng later became the food and beverage director of the wellness hospitality group Octave Institute. He championed its food and beverage transformation program and other new initiatives in the group's Shanghai portfolio.
With his wealth of knowledge and experience in operations, he excels at tailoring training programs and influencing teams to suit a brand or group's culture.
Rachel Butterfield brings a deep passion for service to Forbes Travel Guide with more than a decade of hotel operations experience at some of the world’s largest hospitality brands, including Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, MGM Resorts International and Waldorf Astoria.
At the beginning of her hospitality career, Butterfield worked her way to assistant front desk manager at MGM Resorts International and later moved into food and beverage as a manager at the resort’s entertainment space.
As the assistant hotel manager and part of the pre-opening team at Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas — downtown's first new, ground-up hotel in more than 40 years — Butterfield implemented luxury standard operating procedures for both the front office and front services and initiated a mentorship program for employees to grow into leadership roles. Here, she honed her training skills and found her niche in learning and development.
Butterfield then took on the training and quality manager role at Waldorf Astoria Las Vegas, where she oversaw all professional development and training for the hotel, created course content, facilitated workshops and implemented corporate initiatives, including a rebranding.
Withnearly a decade of experience, Jennifer Blagg is a dynamic hotel management professional committed to delivering exceptional guest experiences.
Blagg expanded her skillset by taking on Housekeeping and Front Office operations management roles while at the JW Marriott Chicago. Following the pandemic, her knowledge of both teams led to her success in a united rooms operation team as the city reopened to guests with limited resources. Additionally, Blagg refined her leadership abilities by obtaining leadership certifications, furthering her dedication to continuing education in the world of hospitality.
Most recently, Blagg worked as a Front Office Manager at The US Grant, A Luxury Collection Hotel, where she successfully spearheaded Marriott’s Breakthrough Leadership Training program and boosted company morale. Furthermore, she played an integral role in rebuilding her team, serving as an inspiration to her associates while fostering an environment of growth for those new to the world of luxury. Additionally, Blagg was elected as the field trainer for Marriott’s Brand and Service Excellence program, which featured a select group of hotel representatives that focused on elevating guest service excellence throughout Marriott’s luxury portfolio. Blagg received recognition for her efforts in the San Diego Market as a nominee for Marriott’s Awards of Excellence in 2022.
Blagg’s multicultural upbringing in Tokyo, Japan, has instilled in her a sense of appreciation for diverse cultures, and she is fluent in both English and Japanese.
Olivia Muller has nearly a decade of experience in hotel operations and has led both Rooms and Food & Beverage divisions. Her expertise in boutique, luxury, and convention-sized properties has given her an in-depth understanding of the intricacies and art of providing extraordinary service.
During her time as Front Office Manager with Hilton Hotels & Resorts and Guest Services Manager with Loews Hotels & Co., both teams consistently ranked at the top of the brand for guest satisfaction and arrival experience. As she worked in operations, her interest and passion for training deepened. She pivoted from a rooms division leadership position at Loews Kansas City Hotel to focus on teaching brand standards via a task force –––– leading the retraining of the front office team at the brands’ legacy resort in Arizona and opening the Loews Coral Gables Hotel as Task Force Director of Rooms. Known for her command of brand standards and ability to teach quality service, she represented 26 properties and the customer engagement center on a committee for leaders working on elevating the guest experience and promoting property productivity.
Muller brings her keen eye for detail, coaching management style, genuine passion for service, and comprehensive understanding of training and goal setting to the Forbes Travel Guide team.She is known for her ability to create training and development plans at both the team member and property levels. Muller’s expertise allows her to confidently guide any team to excel in luxury hospitality with tailor-made training plans to suit the brand of any culture.
Gayani Wasalathanthri’s formative years in Sri Lanka informed her commitment to upholding her culture’s value of hospitality throughout her nearly two-decades-long career.
Wasalathanthri got her start in guest services at various properties in Sri Lanka, including Galle Face Hotel, the country’s oldest property, and Taj hotel group, executing a rebranding of one of its properties and implementing new business strategies.
Next, Wasalathanthri began developing her passion for leadership as a corporate trainer at Crown & Champa Resorts, guiding her team to deliver luxury hospitality standards. She then joined Marriott’s flagship W resort, W Maldives, providing essential learning and development support aligned with the brand’s distinctive style of luxury hospitality. During her time at Marriott, Wasalathanthri also received certifications that allowed her to conduct service-related training and employee career development across the brand.
Most recently, Wasalathanthri held the position of director of human resources at Bandos Maldives. In this role, she directed business strategy and supported employees at all levels, including performance management and career development.
With nearly a decade of experience in the luxury hospitality industry, and a Master’s Degree in International Hotel Management, Amrapali Gokani has demonstrated her exceptional ability to cultivate relationships and craft memorable experiences for clients and guests.
Gokani spent six years in various management positions with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, successfully implementing regulatory compliance across her departments, conducting weekly standards testing and participating in Forbes Travel Guide training to deliver service of the highest standard.
Gokani further broadened her industry experience at Chandon, part of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, assisting a team as they rebranded, resulting in elevated offerings and service. She then worked for Forbes Travel Guide Brand Official, LATHER, building and maintaining relations with multiple properties and providing luxury wellness in-room amenities that would enhance and elevate the guest experience.
Gokani has created step-by-step training guides, standard operating procedures, and foundational materials for inaugural roles. Her attention to detail, empathetic listening, interactive management style, and passion for enhancing the guest experience give her the confidence to guide teams to excel in luxury.
Ingrid Orezza brings over 14 years of experience developing and leading teams at luxury hotels to her role as an executive trainer and a demonstrated knowledge of the critical luxury components for memorable guest experiences.
Orezza’s experience in learning and development roles for world-renowned luxury brands and properties ––– The St. Regis Mexico City, Rosewood Mayakobá, Disney´s Hilton Head Island Resort and the One&Only Palmilla ––– equipped her with a variety of tools to set up leadership teams for success.
In 2018, Orezza joined Montage Los Cabos’ executive team for their opening, followed by subsequent leadership positions for property openings and task force teams for Pendry Park City, Pendry Manhattan West, Pendry Washington DC, and Montage Deer Valley.
Next, Orezza joined Montage’s dedicated Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy group to guide and implement the practices for Montage Laguna Beach and Montage Kapalua Bay. Most recently, as Director of Learning & Sustainability, she successfully led and implemented Montage’s sustainability strategy.
Orezza approaches developing, auditing and implementing standards, procedures and learning initiatives with remarkable passion, thoughtfulness and thorough attention to detail.
Cristobal Bernal brings a wealth of hotel operations and people management experience, working at some of the world's most notable hotel brands.
Bernal experienced his first large-scale casino hotel at Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, leading the high-pace front desk team to create memorable moments through individual guest interactions.
Bernal went on to serve as Hotel Operations Manager and Guest Relations Manager forTheNoMad Hotel in Las Vegas.In these roles, Bernal oversaw various departments such as front desk, concierge, guest services, bellmen and door attendants, ensuring that all departments worked cohesively to foster brand awareness and guest loyalty.
Continuing his upward trajectory, Bernal joined ARIA Sky Suites, ARIA Resort & Casino and Vdara Hotel & Spa as the Luxury Operations Learning Partner. He was tasked with training, developing, and growing a team of 8,000 employees, and ensuring that every team member received proper training that maintained Forbes Travel Guide standards, excellence in service delivery and guest satisfaction. Through his guidance and expertise,Bernal constructed and facilitated training plans that led both hotels to maintain their prestigious Four-Star and Five-Star Forbes Travel Guide ratings as they emerged from the global pandemic.
Bernal’s unwavering commitment to creating a nurturing and hospitable atmosphere for guests and employees reflects his deep passion for training and development. His approachability and relatability enable him to forge meaningful connections with team members, allowing him to deliver impactful coaching and support that empower staff to create lasting impressions.
With experience in both hotel operations and food & beverage within the luxury hospitality industry paired with a major in Business Administration, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Grace Collins brings a passion for anticipating the discerning guest's needs.
Collins held various leadership positions with Relais & Châteaux, where she developed the skill set necessary for work with boutique hotels and resorts, such as The Ivy Hotel and the Five-Star Forbes Travel Guide-rated resort,ThePoint Resort in The Adirondacks.
She then joined world-renowned Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, leading the Guest Experience team atTheCarlyle, A Rosewood Hotel in New York City, where she implemented training initiatives that helped maintain their Four-Star rating with Forbes Travel Guide. During her tenure with Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, Collins also served as Task Force Director of Guest Experience for the Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star resort Las Ventanas al Paraíso, A Rosewood Resort in Los Cabos.
Collins' meticulous attention to detail and dedication to excellence shines through her training. Her personalized coaching style and ability to connect with people fosters an inspirational and positive environment.
Service Quality & Development
Before joining Forbes Travel Guide, Silvia Nauta worked in some of the best hotels in the world. Nauta began her career at the iconic Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane and held various management roles in both housekeeping and front office departments. She later took the front office manager position at Acqualina Resort & Spa in Sunny Isles, Florida, where she concentrated on standardizing quality delivery in the division and developing a service program for the residential component of the resort.
Nauta served as guest relations manager on the pre-opening management team at Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas. Later as learning and development manager there, she focused on the hotel’s vision of obtaining three Forbes Travel Guide Five-Stars, which was achieved in 2012. As director of training at The Breakers Palm Beach, she was integral in establishing the training department and company service quality cycle and restructuring the overall service focus. Nauta’s latest appointment was at The Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, where she held the role of director of human resources and strategic planning.
Working at The Ritz London and Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris equipped her with the knowledge required to create and implement new learning initiatives informed by the highest level of luxury service.
Most recently, Van Elsalande served as Baccarat Hotel New York’s director of food and beverage. Her oversight and dedication to quality and excellence in guest service contributed to Baccarat Hotel New York obtaining its Five-Star award in 2017, just two years after opening.
In every role, Van Elslande established a culture of best practices by emphasizing service requirements as a means of top performance and has proved herself instrumental in leading hospitality teams in applying Forbes Travel Guide standards.
Operations & Engagement
As Senior Vice President, Evaluation Operations, Theresa Tellock oversees the quality, execution and delivery of evaluations. She supervises Forbes Travel Guide’s international team of evaluators, is responsible for upholding the integrity and accuracy of the evaluation process and manages the complex logistics behind the global evaluation schedule.
With the company since 2011, Tellock held several operational roles related to producing reports reflective of the luxury guest experience. She developed custom standards for clients across a variety of verticals, including airlines, golf courses, private residences, medical practices and luxury retail. Tellock personally executed hundreds of evaluations at hotels, restaurants and spas around the world, making her an authority on global luxury standards and the evaluation process.
As the vice president/executive editor at Forbes Travel Guide, Jennifer Kester oversees the editorial department. Kester covers everything that touches upon luxury travel — food and drink, culture, wellness and, of course, hotels. She has visited hundreds of luxury hotels, and her travels have brought her everywhere from Toronto to Tallinn to Tokyo to Tasmania during her more than two-decades-long career. One of the leading hospitality journalists, Kester has been an editor and writer for Forbes Travel Guide since 2008, serving as executive editor since 2015.
As the Director of Client Success, Amy Zeller is focused on driving client experience and engaging with Forbes Travel Guide clients to address their needs. She also oversees the team and systems FTG uses to communicate with clients.
Zeller is a PMI-certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with an extensive background in partner engagement, sales and marketing, operational systems, and product and project management. She has been with Forbes Travel Guide for more than seven years and has shaped all aspects of supporting clients with the graciousness, expertise and responsiveness for which FTG is known.
Center for Excellence
Before overseeing Forbes Travel Guide’s Center for Excellence, Philippe Abraham spent 10-plus years in the cruise and hospitality industries. Abraham rose through the ranks of Club Med, serving as general manager for properties in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Japan. He then advanced to his position as director of product and development for Club Med China, successfully integrating the brand into the Chinese market and working with the local government to develop tourism in the region.
In Abraham’s following role as the director of the Club Med Cruises Department, he oversaw all operations, ensuring the passenger experience met luxury hospitality standards.
Afterward, Abraham, a passionate enologist, lent his expertise to the wine and spirits industry as a consultant.
During Ksenia Mauxion’s four-year tenure as team leader at Le Logis for Grey Goose (the Center for Excellence’s predecessor), she oversaw the property’s operational and commercial sectors. Prior to that, she was a trilingual tour guide and then manager of the team at The Royal Chateau of Cognac. In her latest role, Mauxion continues to use her expertise to help guests plan stays and events at the state-of-the-art corporate retreat.
Bastien Gardrat offers 10 years of experience in the spirit industry, working for brands like the Martell cognac house. The bartender and educator served in client-facing roles—crafting cocktails and leading tastings and hosting events as Bacardi’s Head Bartender—and as a consultant for a variety of spirit companies, designing drink and spirit digital marketing strategies and growing brand awareness.