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The Sacher Corp . has been run by the Gürtler family since 1934 , when it took over Hotel Sacher Vienna . Today , the Sacher is one of very few privately owned 5-star luxury hotels left in the world and is now run by a family team : Elisabeth Gürtler along with her children Alexandra Winkler and Georg Gürtler . Elisabeth first started working at the hotel in 1974 and in 1990 became managing director of Hotel Sacher and Hotel Sacher Salzburg .
One of Gürtler ’ s most treasured projects was serving as chairlady of the Vienna Opera Ball from 1999 to 2007 . She also manages the Spanish Riding School in Vienna .
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Franka Holtmann began her hotel career in the 1980s as a student in Munich , Germany . She spent five years as sales manager for Le Méridien Étoile before being appointed sales director in 1991 . She became commercial director at Hôtel Westminster and then at Jet Hôtel in Paris .
In 1995 Holtmann became commercial director at The Ritz in Paris , and in 2000 she became second-in-command at the Plaza Athénée . She took over as general manager of Le Crillon until June 2006 , when she was appointed as the head of Le Meurice .
In 2010 , Holtmann was the first woman hotel GM to obtain the Chevalier medal in France ’ s Legion of Honor .
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Knowing he wanted a hotel career at age 16 , after graduating hotel school Jean-Claude Messant began his career as Maitre d ’ to French Prime Minister Raymond Barre .
Messant ’ s first GM role came at London ’ s St James ’ s Hotel & Club before Pierre Cardin convinced him to return to France to launch restaurants in Paris . Messant also worked for the Barrière Group in Deauville and at Fouquet ’ s in Paris . In 2001 he moved to Monaco to reposition the Hotel Métropole and later returned to Paris to manage Hotel de Crillon . In 2010 , he returned to Hotel Métropole to oversee a renovation of the recreation area and the opening of a third Joel Robuchon restaurant .
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Since 1980 , Karl Nüser has been in charge of Hotel Nassauer Hof , which last year celebrated its 200th anniversary .
Nüser ’ s hotel career spans 40 years and earlier included stints in Bermuda at Princess Hotels . Since joining the Nassauer Hof , he has repositioned the 5-star hotel by completely refurbishing the property as well as enlarging The Nassauer Hof Therme spa , which includes its own underground hot springs .
In 2000 , Nüser orchestrated a management buyout with a number of investors and today he holds a 50 % stake in the property as managing partner .
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www . hotelsmag . com April 2014 HOTELS 9 |