André Kretschmann, one of the first generation of
general managers to lead GHM properties from the Fra East to the Middle East
will be taking over pre-opening responsibilities at The Chedi Kudavillingili.
This recent Kudavillingili appointment marks Kretschmanns
25th year run in Asia, which was initially started at The Financial
Club Jakarta, a former GHM property with the role of general manager. After two
years, he parted with Indonesia and took charge of The Chedi Phuket in Thailand
and later opened The Chedi Muscat in 2003 before joining on a two-year project
on a GHM interest in Colombo.
After parting with GHM in 2005, Kretschmann moved from
the post of general manager at a Leading Hotel of the World on Koh Samui in
Thailand and at a Shangri-La resort on Boracay in the Philippines before
settling down as a director for hotel openings at LVMH Hotel Management,
Maison Cheval Blanc for 6 long years.
"As part of that first generation, André really helped
to define the image of a GHM manager," said GHM President Hans R. Jenni, who
co-founded the group with hotelier Adrian Zecha in 1992. "The precedents he
established then proved to be the substance of a foundation weve been building
on ever since, and were thrilled to have him back."
In 2015, he returned back to GHM for a year-long
project in Bali, Indonesia before landing as the director of resort and villa
operator at Temple Tree International in Bangkok.
German born Kretschmann received his diploma in hotel
management in Heidelberg in 1981 and spent his first years in the hospitality
industry at hotels in Germany and the UK, as well as a two-year term,
1989-1991, at the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong. In 2019, he was elected to
membership in Londons Institute of Hospitality as a fellow.
GHMs first property in the Maldives, Chedi Kudavillingili
is located within a half-hour speed boat ride of Male International Airport.
The 99-villa resort will consist of 36 over-water villas, a 150-meter-long pool
and a spa with 8 over-water treatment rooms.
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