Grace Hotels makes two appointments
Grace Hotels has announced the appointments of Tim Williams as Group HR Director and Gary Schweikert as Head of Americas. This follows Robert Swade joining as Chief Executive Officer in September 2016 from the Jumeirah Group.
Williams takes up the newly created global role of Group HR Director, based in London, to oversee the growing team. He joins from the Aman Group, where he was Head of Human Resources and responsible for all people-related matters of the group, which comprises 31 luxury hotels and 9,000 employees in 25 countries. Williams brings to the role 25 years of international experience, with over a decade at Accenture before assuming roles at Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts and Minor International.
Schweikert holds over 35 years experience in executive roles, including 18 years at Hilton Hotels and a stint as Resident Manager of the Waldorf Astoria. Following this, he assumed the position of Regional Vice President of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and Managing Director of the 800-guestroom Plaza Hotel. In 2009, he became President of Jumeirah Hospitality and Leisure USA and simultaneously Managing Director of The Essex House, before joining Strata Hospitality Group as Principal. He joins from Trump Hotels where he was Regional Vice President and Managing Director of the two Trump properties in New York City.
Schweikert will be based in New York and responsible for the group’s operations across all its hotels in North, Central and South America. This portfolio currently consists of three hotels in the United States, Grace Cafayate in northwest Argentina, Grace Panama and La Dolfina Grace, under development near Buenos Aires. His remit will also encompass the substantial development pipelines for Grace Hotels on these continents.
Robert Swade, CEO of Grace Hotels, comments: “We are delighted to welcome such accomplished senior professionals with vast combined management experience of over six decades in luxury hospitality, operations and strategy. Gary and Tim join at a key moment in the global expansion of Grace Hotels and I look forward to working closely with them as we grow and develop the brand.”
