L’Auberge de Sedona, A Destination Hotel, named five hospitality executives to major leadership roles. Together, the team is overseeing all aspects of the property’s operations and food and beverage offerings.
Sean Olmstead has been appointed general manager of L’Auberge de Sedona where he oversees day-to-day operations, including guest relations and property development. In 1998, the hospitality veteran started with InterContinental Hotels Group, working at multiple properties across the country including the InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco, InterContinental San Francisco, InterContinental Chicago Magnificent Mile and InterContinental New York Barclay. Olmstead served in numerous management and F&B roles during his 20-year career with InterContinental Hotels Group, at one point managing more than 800 rooms and multiple departments.
Adding to the resort’s new executive team, food and beverage professional Franck Desplechin plays a dual role as L’Auberge de Sedona’s director of food and beverage and executive chef at signature restaurant Cress on Oak Creek and ETCH Kitchen & Bar. Desplechin has plated at three Michelin-starred restaurants in France including Les Barmes de l’ours Hotel & Spa, L’Atelier and La Ville Blanche. He also held various F&B and resort leadership roles within the St. Regis brand, working at properties including The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort, The St. Regis Princeville Resort in Kauai, Hawaii and most recently, The St. Regis San Francisco, a Forbes five-star property where Desplechin was the executive chef.
Fathi Sarsouri is joining the team as assistant director of food and beverage. Sarsouri brings more than a decade of both domestic and international experience to his role at L’Auberge de Sedona, previous holding F&B supervisor positions at Trump National Doral in Florida, Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Pride of America and InterContinental Miami.
John Gapasin joins the food and beverage team in the role of executive sous chef. Joining the team from The St. Regis San Francisco, Gapasin brings more than 10 years of kitchen management and dish preparation skills along with experience working at two Michelin-starred restaurants in San Francisco. He is responsible for supervising and coordinating the different phases of food production at Cress on Oak Creek and ETCH Kitchen & Bar.
Executive pastry chef Morgan Gurney is responsible for developing, executing, and maintaining seasonally inspired desserts and other baked goods at L’Auberge de Sedona. Gurney earned her degree in patisserie and baking from the Scottsdale location of Le Cordon Bleu in 2005 and has since worked at multiple world-class resorts and restaurants including Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Arizona.
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