Gilbert Steiner

International hospitality executive with 30+ years of leadership experience across luxury resorts, full-service city hotels, convention and MICE operations, internationally branded properties and complex multi-department operations throughout Asia, Europe and the Indian Ocean.

Currently Resort

Manager / Acting General Manager at Heritance Aarah Maldives, accountable for the strategic and operational performance of a Luxury-villa, 11-outlet, 400+ associate operation with a US$38M annual revenue scope. Proven in operational excellence, portfolio thinking, P&L and budgeting, revenue optimization, cost control, owner relations, guest satisfaction, brand consistency, regulatory compliance, risk management and people development. Extensive experience supporting pre-openings, brand transitions and cross-property operational assignments.

Philippines Permanent

Resident prepared for a long-term Cluster General Manager mandate with Seda Hotels.

Resort Manager / Acting General Manager - Heritance Aarah Resort - Maldives

(2024-02)

Lead end-to-end operations across a Luxury-villa, 11-outlet, 400+ associate operation with a US$38M annual revenue scope.

• Lead end-to-end operations across Rooms, Front Office, Housekeeping, F&B/Culinary, Engineering, Security, Recreation, Retail, Spa, Kids Club and Events; deputize as General Manager with full executive authority and leadership-team accountability.
• Partner with Revenue, Sales and Marketing on occupancy, rate, market mix, premium upselling and experience packaging; delivered ADR +9% and RevPAR +11% year over year while protecting service standards.
• Lead owner relations, executive reporting, budget, forecast, OPEX and CAPEX reviews, legal and regulatory compliance, operational risk frameworks and governance processes to protect profitability, asset value and corporate standards.
• Monitor guest satisfaction, departmental KPIs and service quality through daily operating reviews, guest visibility, corrective-action tracking and disciplined service recovery.
• Build high-performing leadership teams through coaching, succession planning, inclusive culture, employee engagement and talent retention; achieved 99% participation, 97% satisfaction and turnover held at 15%.

Resort Manager - Diamonds Athuruga Beach & Water Villas - Maldives

(2022-11 - 2023-12)

Directed hotel-wide operations across a 70-key luxury resort.

• Directed hotel-wide operations across Rooms, F&B, Engineering/Maintenance, Security/Loss Prevention and Guest Services, reporting directly to ownership through monthly operational, commercial, asset and risk reviews.
• Delivered F&B revenue growth of 14% year over year through promotions, menu engineering, outlet activation and upsell training; improved operational efficiency by 20% through cross-training and workforce planning.
• Held budget and P&L accountability, strengthening leadership-team collaboration, labor productivity, cost control, guest satisfaction, compliance follow-up and brand-reputation protection.

Executive Manager - Food & Beverage - Veligandu Island Resort & Spa - Maldives

(2020-07 - 2022-10)

Led F&B strategy and daily operations during a recovery and profitability mandate at a 90-key island resort.

• Led F&B strategy and daily operations while supporting total hotel performance, owner-reporting inputs, guest experience and cross-functional operating decisions during the recovery period.
• Improved GOP margin by 3.5 percentage points through procurement optimization, supplier renegotiation, labor discipline and higher-margin product focus.

Executive Assistant Manager - Pre-Opening - Mövenpick Hotel & State Guest House - Chifeng, China

(2017-08 - 2020-03)

Directed executive pre-opening governance for a 327-room branded city hotel and convention center.

• Directed executive pre-opening governance covering FF&E/OS&E, SOP deployment, recruitment, management-team training, budgets, operating readiness, owner relations, legal and regulatory compliance, final inspections, opening controls, snagging closure, risk frameworks and executive sign-off.
• Opened on schedule and delivered first-year GOP 8% above budget through cost discipline, labor productivity, wage governance and market activation.
• Grew MICE revenue by 18% year over year through B2B partnerships, event programming, banquet execution and stronger commercial-operational alignment.
• Supported hotel-wide performance across Rooms, F&B, banqueting, engineering and guest services while aligning leadership teams around brand standards, commercial priorities and opening-year KPIs.

Executive Chef / Culinary Director - Great Wall Sheraton Beijing - China

Executive Chef / Culinary Director for an 827-room flagship hotel, responsible for budgeting, banquet operations, stewarding, menu engineering, productivity and major-event execution.

Executive Chef / Acting F&B Director - Sheraton Dameisha Resort - Shenzhen

Executive Chef in charge of F&B / Acting F&B Director for a 386-key full-service resort with banquets, events and direct GM reporting.

Executive Chef / Acting F&B Director - Goodwood Park Hotel - Singapore

Executive Chef in charge of F&B / Acting F&B Director for a 250-key heritage hotel; supported a 400-pax ballroom opening, restaurant development and outdoor catering.

BTS - Hotel Management - Lycee Hotelier Strasbourg (1994 - 1996)

BP Hotellerie - Hotel Management - Lycee Hotelier Strasbourg (1992 - 1994)

CAP Cuisine - Culinary Arts - CFA Strasbourg (1987 - 1989)

Executive / Continuing Education - Hospitality Management - Florida Atlantic University