Hyatt’s manager was named the hotelier of the year in Germany

Now hotels in Germany now have another example of a professional in the management of hotel real estate. This is - Fred Huerst (Fred Huerst), the general manager of Grand Hyatt Berlin and the regional vice president of Hyatt. Fred Huerst was named “The Hotelier of 2010” in Germany.

The prize in this nomination, established by the German newspaper about the hotel business Allgemeine Hotel-und Gastronomie-Zeitung and the publishing house Deutscher Fachverlag, is awarded annually for outstanding achievements in the hospitality industry. The 21st awards ceremony was held this year in the hotel InterContinental in Berlin.

Fred Huerst is an employee of an international hotel chain Hyatt for 23 years. Swiss-born, in May 1988 he graduated from the Lausanne hotel school of business. His career in Hyatt began from a position of a general manager of Hyatt Regency Cologne, the first hotel of the chain in Germany. Huerst held this position for 10 years and was at the origin of the expansion of Hyatt in Europe. With his participation the opening of Park Hyatt Zurich took place in 2004. Subsequently he was appointed a regional director of Hyatt with an office in Mainz, Germany. His responsibilities included management of the hotels Hyatt Regency Mainz and Park Hyatt Hamburg. In 1998 Huerst moved to Berlin in order to simultaneously manage the new hotel Grand Hyatt Berlin. Over the past 5 years under his leadership more than 4 million euros were invested in the development of a 5-star hotel at Potsdamer Platz. Thus, in the Grand Hyatt Berlin a new business center has appeared, designed by famous New York architect Tony Chi, who has also developed a design-concept of restaurant Mesa, located in the hotel. In early 2009 Huerst acquired several works of Korean artist Jae Hyo Lee, making them a part of the hotel collection of contemporary art. Thanks to his active positon and innovative approach, Grand Hyatt Berlin has one of the key positions in the international portfolio of brands Grand Hyatt today.

Currently, one of the major challenges facing Huerst as vice president of Hyatt in the region is a further expansion of the European portfolio of the chain. In particular, among his immediate plans – the opening of two more hotels in Germany in 2011 - Grand Hyatt Frankfurt and Hyatt Regency Dusseldorf.