JEAN-JACQUES GAUER

GENERAL MANAGER , LAUSANNE PALACE & SPA , SWITZERLAND

GREGORY MEADOWS

GENERAL MANAGER , THE SUKHOTHAI , BANGKOK

GEORG RAFAEL

RAFAEL GROUP S . A . M ., MONACO ; VICE CHAIRMAN , ORIENT-EXPRESS HOTELS , LONDON

THOMAS SCHMID

DIRECTOR , THE DOLDER GRAND , ZURICH

Regarded as a creative , highly respected leader , Gauer has been running the Lausanne Palace since 1996 . He is perhaps best known for his chairmanship of The Leading Hotels of the World from 1990 to 2010 .

Today , Gauer also serves on the board of several Swiss hotels and manages sister properties , including Château d ’ Ouchy , Lausanne ; ‘ Lhotel Flon , Lausanne ; and Hôtel des 3 Couronnes , Vevey , Switzerland .

In the 1970s , Gauer worked at hotels such as the Hôtel de la Paix in Geneva and the Dolder Grand in Zurich . Later , the Swiss-born father of two worked as general manager of Gauer Hotels & Restaurants , which included four hotels in Greece , one in Spain and East Jerusalem , five in Switzerland , as well as five restaurants .

Meadows started his career shoveling coal into ovens in The Savoy kitchen in London , followed by stints as a waiter at The Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne , Switzerland , back to The Savoy as chef de brigade on the reception desk and then to the banqueting department at Grosvenor House .

While at The Park Lane Hotel , Kurt Wachtveitl offered Meadows a resident manager position . From there he helped open The Conrad Hong Kong via The St . James ’ Club , Antigua , then returned to Bangkok at The Delta Grand Pacific .

The Sukhothai beckoned for the first time in 1996 , then again in 2008 after Meadows left to open the Conrad Bangkok in 2001 .

When not attending to guests , Meadows enjoys opera and theater and struggles with golf .

Rafael ’ s career began with training at the Hotel Römerbad in Badenweiler , Germany , the Prince de Galles Hotel in Paris and the Hôtel du Rhône in Geneva .

In 1972 , Rafael joined Robert Burns to start Regent International Hotels . By 1976 , Rafael was overseeing operations in the United States and Europe and negotiating acquisitions that included The Dorchester , London .

In 1986 , he established Rafael Hotels , which he sold in 2000 to Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group .

Rafael then formed Rafael Group S . A . M ., which assists with the acquisition , development and repositioning of deluxe hotels . He also sits on the non-executive board of Orient-Express Hotels . Rafael also owns Georg Rafael Vineyards in California .

After closing its doors in July 2004 for an approximate US $ 440 million transformation , The Dolder Grand reopened in April 2008 with Schmid at the helm . He oversaw the legendary “ curhaus ” property renovation from the start .

Schmid held several management positions at hotels in Switzerland and abroad , including at the Montreux Palace in Montreux , Switzerland , and the Cipriani in Venice . Schmid was also deputy director of the Grand Hotel in Bad Ragaz , as well as sales and marketing manager at the Baur au Lac in Zurich .

More recently , Schmid spent two years as GM of the Tschuggen Grand Hotel in Arosa , Switzerland , beginning in 2001 , before joining The Dolder Grand as GM in the summer of 2003 .

6 HOTELS April 2012 www . hotelsmag . com