Laurence Geller
CHAIRMAN , GELLER CAPITAL PARTNERS , CHICAGO
INDEPENDENT NOMINEES
Olga Petroni GENERAL MANAGER , ALVEAR PALACE HOTEL , BUENOS AIRES
VOTE AT HOTELSMAG . COM / HOW2019
GELLER CBE is a British-born , UK- and U . S . - based property investor , author and philanthropist who focuses on placing capital in the hospitality and leisure industries .
In 2015 , he acquired the Waldorf Astoria Chicago , repositioned and upgraded the Marriott Georgetown in 2016 , and opened the Conrad in Chicago in 2017 .
He started his career as a hotel busboy in Switzerland at age 15 before emigrating to the U . S . in 1976 , where he first worked for Holiday Inns , serving as its executive vice president . He subsequently served as chief operating officer of Hyatt Development Corp ., as well as director of Grand Metropolitan Hotels in London . He founded Strategic Hotels & Resorts in 1997 and ran it until 2012 as CEO . The company went public in 2004 .
Geller has long-held associations with the University of West London , which in 2016 changed the name of its 70-year-old Hospitality College to the London Geller College of Hospitality and Tourism . He is also chairman of Innovative Aged Care , a London specialist care home company , which opened its first luxury home in Chelsea in 2017 .
Geller is the longtime chairman of the International Churchill Society and the author of two thrillers about hotels . He has published over 100 professional articles .
GENERAL MANAGER since 1995 , Petroni put her plan into place to return the palace , originally built in the 1930s , to its previous glamour by consolidating management , redefining the mission and vision of the hotel and setting out to restore excellence in service delivery and the physical product .
Petroni says service excellence continues to be the main focus of the organization with related training that is permanent and intensive . The result has been market leadership in rate and occupancy .
Since her arrival in the middle 1980s and the introduction of new ownership in 1984 , the classic Louis XVI-style property has been refurbished both in the front- and back-of-house . Today , the Alvear Palace holds the distinction of being the city ’ s highest-ranking hotel and under Petroni ’ s leadership plays host to society teas , Sunday brunches and other high-profile social events .
In the late 1980s , before her appointment as general manager , Petroni — who has a degree in chartered accountancy from the University of Buenos Aires — served as the hotel ’ s financial manager . In that role , she used the same deft touch to redefine and adjust operating structures and procedures to grow the hotel ’ s returns .
14 hotelsmag . com April 2019