Philip Barnes leaves the Savoy after four years at the helm

Philip Barnes will leave the Savoy in London, where he has held the position of managing director and regional vice-president since 2016, to head across the Atlantic.

In the US Barnes will take on the position of general manager of the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles and regional vice-president Southern California, from 1 September.

In his four years at the five-red-AA-star, 267-bedroom hotel, just off London’s Strand, Barnes had reinvigorated both operations and culture. He last year told The Caterer the property was experiencing its best year since reopening in 2010, following a £220m, three-year refurbishment.

An announcement regarding his successor is expected to be made in due course.

Commenting on his new appointment, Barnes said: “It is an honour and privilege to take the helm for what is to become a crown jewel in the Fairmont portfolio.

“Fairmont Century Plaza beckons in a new era – one embracing history, while moving ahead with business savvy and forward-thinking ingenuity. Alongside some of the best hospitality professionals in the country, I look forward to building a lasting legacy of exceptional guest experiences.”

After studying hotel management at Greater Brighton Metropolitan College, Philip Barnes was appointed to his first position as trainee manager at the Copthorne hotel in Copthorne, West Sussex, in 1973.

After spending the 1980s working in New York, Toronto and then Houston, where he was appointed to his first general manager role in 1988 at the Inn on the Park, Barnes moved to Singapore in 1992 as general manager of the Shangri-La hotel.

There was a three-year posting in Australia and New Zealand from 1995 to 1998 with the Regent Auckland, and then Stamford Hotels & Resorts in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, before he returned to North America, joining Fairmont Hotels in Vancouver.

He has since remained with Fairmont in a variety of roles, including four years from 2007 to 2011 in the Middle East. His final overseas posting before joining the Savoy in November 2016 was as vice-president, Pacific Northwest, and general manager of Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver.