Jumeirah has revealed the executive team tasked with managing the December opening of Madinat Jumeirah’s newest hotel Jumeirah Al Naseem.
Announcing the team, Margaret Paul, Resort General Manager of Madinat Jumeirah, said: “The team we’ve assembled for the opening of Jumeirah Al Naseem comprises of hospitality experts with years of experience operating and managing hotels both in the Jumeirah portfolio and for other luxury operators. The mix of existing and new Jumeirah Al Naseem management colleagues will deliver the reassuringly familiar but refreshingly different guest experience for those who already know and love Madinat Jumeirah and those looking for a new experience in luxury hospitality at the Arabian Resort of Dubai.”
General manager, Richard Alexander, returns to Dubai and Jumeirah Group after eight years working internationally in the Caribbean, Las Vegas and London. A British national, Alexander has more than 30 years’ luxury hotel experience and is very familiar with Madinat Jumeirah having been Jumeirah Mina A’ Salam’s GM in 2008.
Other team members includes the appointment of South African Ben Ackhurst as the director of F&B, he moves to the beach from Jumeirah Creekside Hotel after seven years across other Jumeirah hotels in Dubai, Ackhurst will oversee the operations of nine new bars and restaurant concepts within Jumeirah Al Naseem.
Ackhurst is joined by German-born executive chef Tobias Pfister, whose career history includes nine years at Burj Al Arab Jumeirah. He returns to Dubai from his latest post in China as executive chef at Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel, Shanghai. Chef Tobias will lead a culinary team of 145 colleagues.
Saskia Polhout also joins the new team as executive housekeeper of Jumeirah Al Naseem. Born in the Netherlands, Polhout will lead one of the hotel’s largest teams in the housekeeping department and will oversee projects such as developing the new floral style for Jumeirah Al Naseem and curating a fun and creative children’s amenity programme, for which she will draw on the inspiration of her own three children. Polhout joined Jumeirah in 2005 as Assistant Executive Housekeeper in Jumeirah Beach Hotel and was promoted in 2007 to the position of Housekeeping Manager in Madinat Jumeirah until the promotion to her current role.
New to Dubai, Kremi McCabe takes on the role of executive assistant manager of rooms for Jumeirah Al Naseem alongside Mohamed Morgan as chief engineer.
Jumeirah Al Naseem will be fully supported by the existing functions of Sales, Marketing, Finance, Human Resources and Finance currently in place across the existing hotels within Madinat Jumeirah.
