The rapidly growing La Vie Hotels and Resorts group has appointed Marcus Hanna as chief operating officer, bringing 25 years of high-level experience to his new role.
He joins La Vie after almost two decades with Accor hotels, most recently as vice president of operations Pacific, Sofitel, MGallery and Emblems. He has worked in Melbourne, Sydney, Gold Coast and Brisbane as well as in London, Malta, San Francisco and Singapore, where he was managing director for Fairmont Singapore and Swissotel The Stamford.
His career started at Sydney’s pioneering luxury hotel, The Regent, while he was completing a hospitality management course and also pursuing a sporting career in rowing, representing his country, Australia, at World Championship level.
Prior to his career with Accor hotels, Marcus spent nearly a decade with InterContinental in Sydney, London, Malta, and San Francisco in leadership roles. He has opened an operated many award-winning hotels and worked as project manager for Sofitel on the opening of the Qantas First Class Lounges in Sydney and Melbourne. He has led award winning world first hotel innovations, including the first urban aquaponics farm within a hotel.
Hanna joins the hotel group at a time of major expansion. Created and led by entrepreneur Jerry Xu, over the past year La Vie has grown its lifestyle portfolio with the addition of Adge Hotel and Residences, introduced NOOE Hotels and Restaurants with a flagship resort in the Maldives, and built up its senior leadership team in Sydney and Bangkok, which Hanna will now lead.
La Vie is set to open its first hotel in Laos, the Radisson Red in Vientiane, and will soon unveil the refurbishment of Hobart’s heritage hotel, The Islington.
La Vie CEO, Jerry Xu, said that Hanna’s exceptional experience working with owners, operational excellence in hotels, and recognised leadership talent made him the ideal candidate to drive the group’s future progress.
“We work across multiple platforms – franchise, white label, and our own brands – with our success based on our ability to add value for owners and partners,” Xu said.
“We are committed to delivering performance and operational excellence, and Marcus has a proven record of bringing the best out of hotels and teams under his management.
“We are aiming to add some 20 additional hotels for the group over the next 18 months, and Marcus will play a key role in onboarding and integrating these hotels into our network.”
Hanna said he was looking forward to working for a company with such a rich vision for its future direction and its ability to deliver maximum value for owners and partners.
