LONDON AND REGIONAL GROUP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Executive Director, Iconic Luxury Hotels
Andrew Stembridge runs Iconic Luxury Hotels, a collection of notable, individual and award winning hotels.
Andrew originally joined the L+R Hotels' team in 2006 as MD of Chewton Glen. With over 30 years' international experience, Andrew has held leadership roles in a diverse range of establishments, from the creation of new boutique city hotels to USA resorts, lifestyle brands and country house properties.
In 2010 Andrew was voted ‘Hotelier of the Year' and simultaneously appointed Chairman of the Master Innholders, where he created the MI Aspiring Leaders' Diploma. From 2010 -2018 he was an International Board Member of Relais & Ch teaux. Andrew is a Fellow of The Institute of Hospitality, Master Innholder and Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Innholders. He is an active mentor and a regular contributor at various industry events.
Andrew Stembridge graduated with joint honours in Hotel Management and Tourism from Strathclyde University, and has also attended the GMP at Cornell and BLP at Cranfield.
Andrew runs Iconic Luxury Hotels, a collection of notable, individual and award winning hotels.
Job Titles:
- As CEO of Americas, Charles Leads All Activities Related to Hotel Development & Acquisitions, Asset
- Chief Executive Officer USA
Charles leads all activities related to hotel development & acquisitions, asset management, operations, construction and design in the Americas. Charles served from 2016-2023 as CFO of BRE Hotels & Resorts (Blackstone), with responsibility for all financial functions in addition to data science, FP&A, risk management and transactions.
Previously, Charles was Vice President of Starwood Hotels where he developed and executed a comprehensive growth strategy to increase Aloft & Element brand development. Charles served multiple other roles across Operations, Brand Management and was Chief of Staff to the President of the Americas.
Charles holds a Masters in Business Administration from the NYU Stern School of Business, and a BA in Architecture from Colgate University.
Job Titles:
- Finance Director - Hotels
Christophe leads the Finance teams and Asset management activities for L+R Hotels. Christophe oversees hotel finance, treasury, compliance and policies across the portfolio. Additionally Christophe is a key member of the transactional team assisting in new projects, due diligence, on boarding and contract negotiations.
Desmond leads the L+R Hotels team and all activities related to Hotel Development & Acquisitions, Asset Management, Operations, Construction and Design.
Since joining L+R Hotels, Desmond Taljaard has led the acquisition of a number of hotels, including the Fairmont Barbados, Meridien Barcelona and the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort. He also led the acquisition of the Atlas Hotels Portfolio of 50 IHG and Hilton branded limited service hotels, together with a portfolio of resort hotels in Spain and the Balearics.
Desmond served from 2006-2012 as COO Europe for Starwood Capital, with responsibility for Asset Management and leading all hospitality acquisitions. These included the Golden Tulip Group, comprising 200 managed and franchised hotels worldwide, and the £300m+ acquisition of the Principal Hayley Group. Desmond also co-chaired the Starman JV which re-positioned 32 service Le Meridien hotels across Europe.
Previously, Desmond was M&A and Development Director for Whitbread Group plc, driving the exit from the UK Marriott business for c£1,000m, and the creation of a JV with Emirates Airlines to roll out Premier Inn in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Desmond also served as Global Head of Real Estate for Hilton International between 1995 - 2003.
Desmond is a Chartered Accountant and holds a BSc (Econ) Honours degree from LSE.
Job Titles:
- SVP Asset Management & Operations - Mediterranean
Elisa joins L+R Hotels from Le Méridien Barcelona in Spain where she has been the General Manager.
Elisa brings more than 24 years of experience in the hotel industry, Starwood and Marriott, where she held several key roles in Finance and Operations, including General Manager at the Le Meridien Lav in Croatia, General Manager of Le Meridien Penina in Portugal and General Manager at the Westin La Quinta Golf Resort and Spa in Marbella, among others. This followed a highly successful career with Starwood in finance, resulting in her appointment in 2001 as Regional Director of Finance, Spain and Portugal - a role she held for nearly 5 years, responsible 19 hotels.
Elisa therefore joins L&R with over 24 years of Starwood and Marriott experience and a Degree in Economics and a PDG from IESE Business School, Navarra University (2009)
Elisa joins L&R from Le Méridien Barcelona in Spain where she has been the General Manager.
Neil joined L+R Hotels in 2020 and currently oversees European and UK acquisitions as well as firm-wide Asset Management for owned and operated hotels.
Previously, Neil was a Director at Westmont Hospitality Group, and oversaw all transactional activity as well being involved in asset management and driving operational initiatives across the group's owned and operating assets. This included the acquisition of 24 mid-market IHG hotels across seven countries, 8 Hilton hotels across five countries as well as numerous single asset transactions throughout Europe. He brings over fifteen years of hotel investing and asset management experience to the team, having invested and managed assets through the last investment cycle. As well as direct asset acquisition, Neil has experience in NPLs, acquisitions through corporate administration processes and has been involved in the restructuring of several hotel businesses, most specifically the conversion of legacy hotel management agreements to franchise agreements. He has also has significant experience in bilateral joint ventures and regulated funds.
Most recently he worked as a Principal at Henderson Park, where he had responsibility for asset management of the company's growing hotel portfolio.
Neil began his career at KPMG where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant, he holds a BEng Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Nottingham.
Job Titles:
- Acquisitions & Business Development Director
Nikos joined L+R Hotels in 2014. He has focused on acquiring Hospitality and Commercial Real Estate assets, investments in Mixed Use schemes and implementing the company's asset management and business development initiatives, with an emphasis on Mediterranean and CEE markets.
Before joining L+R Hotels, Nikos worked with the Transactions and Asset Management team of AXA REIM in London.
Nikos holds an MBA from Imperial College London and an MSc in Real Estate Investment from Cass Business School. He speaks Greek and English.
Sean has been with L+R Hotels since October 2017, as CEO for the Atlas Group, our portfolio of UK select service hotels. Since joining us he has redesigned the core functions of Finance, Marketing, Operations, Commercial and HR. He has been involved in extension projects at five hotels, and a conversion and new development at two others.
Sean's main focus is the commercial area of our business, using Analytics and Insight to improve all aspects of our operation, particularly in Revenue Management.
Earlier in his career Sean developed core trading systems at TUI and led the coding of the algorithms at the heart of RCI. He was previously Managing Director of RCI EMEAI and James Villas holidays.
Sean spent over a decade in the Holiday Rentals and Exchange segment of Wyndham, working in New Jersey, USA for five years and for a similar amount of time in London. He also spent ten years with TUI, the tour operator, where he was Head of Planning, Trading, Yield Management and Aviation Planning, working in Spain and England.
Sean has conversational Finnish and Portuguese, alongside fluent Spanish. He has a First Class degree in Economics from Leeds and Santander Universities.