Michael Smithuis
General Manager, Fairmont Montreux Palace, Graduated 1990, IHTTI
After graduating from IHTTI Michael began his career with Intercontinental Hotels in London where he occupied different positions in the Food & Beverage department such as Rooms Service Night Supervisor, Chef de Rang and Head Waiter in the fine dining Restaurant. Later he moved to the Front Office department as Night Manager and Assistant Manager, in order to broaden his experience.“After the various positions in London, I was ready to travel in the large world of global hospitality to discover different countries, cultures and religions,” explains Michael. In 1992 a new opportunity presented itself in the Sultanate of Oman, as Assistant Front Office Manager in the well known Al Bustan Palace Hotel, an Inter*Continental Hotel. Michael stayed for two years enhancing his knowledge of the managerial skills of the business. He was then transferred to Europe as Front Office Manager at the Stuttgart Inter*Continental Hotel in Germany.
“In order to continue my career, I had to see different standards and ways of doing things,” Michael says, “and I had the opportunity of joining the Mandarin Oriental hotel group in 1996, moving to Indonesia as Executive Assistant Manager at Mandarin Oriental Hotel – Jakarta, a 423 room Leading Hotel of the World.”
In 1998 Michael joined Raffles Hotels and Resorts and took part in the re-branding of the famous Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg, Germany. “I stayed just over three years before joining the Corporate Head Office in Singapore as Corporate Director,” continues Michael. “I was assigned to work with the Chairman and President of Raffles Hotels and Resorts on the acquisition of Swissôtel Hotels and Resorts, comprising 23 operational hotels world wide, across 6 continents and 17 countries.”
After an exciting time in Asia, Michael returned to his home country, the Netherlands, where he managed the Swissôtel in Amsterdam for one year, before returning to Switzerland, the home of his hospitality education, to take over as General Manager for the famous Fairmont Le Montreux Palace Hotel.
As Michael is keen to point out, “IHTTI has proven to be an outstanding choice as a starting point for my career in hospitality. The excellent management and training I received gave me the foundation on which to develop my professional career.”
