18 July 2017: Grace Hotels has announced the appointment of Alison Styles as Group Commercial Director.
Alison Styles will take up the newly-created global role, based in Grace Hotels London office, to oversee all sales, marketing, revenue and brand activity of the luxury boutique hotel group. A dual British Australian national, Styles is a business leader having developed a successful career in sales and marketing across the luxury hospitality sector over 30 years, spanning three continents.
Joining from the AccorHotels luxury brands, Alison was Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Europe for FRHI Hotels & Resorts, based in Zurich, and responsible for the strategic guidance and leadership of 22 hotels across 11 countries up to and during AccorHotels’ acquisition. Beforehand Alison was Vice President of Sales and Marketing EMEA for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, from 2011 to 2016, and Vice President of Sales for Langham Hospitality Group in Hong Kong for six years prior to that.
Alison will report to the CEO, Robert Swade, as well as contribute as an Executive Committee member to the overall strategy of the group. Commenting on the appointment, Robert Swade said: “We are delighted to welcome such an accomplished senior executive with a proven track record in delivering financial performance within luxury hospitality. Alison’s role will be pivotal in optimising the performance of our existing portfolio of hotels and supporting the global expansion of Grace Hotels and I look forward to working closely with her.”
The appointment marks the latest investment in leadership at privately-owned Grace Hotels, supporting the significant growth programme, which currently has twelve luxury boutique hotels open, or under development, across four continents. It follows Robert Swade joining as Chief Executive Officer in September 2016, and in December 2016, Tim Williams as Group HR Director and Gary Schweikert as Head of Americas.
