Sofitel The Palm has appointed Lars Heemann as the new food and beverage (F&B) director for the award-winning five-star property.

With over 24 years’ experience in the hotel industry, Heemann has worked with prestigious hotel brands across the globe and brings his extensive knowledge of the hospitality and F&B industry to his new role at Sofitel The Palm.

Raised in Hamburg, Germany, Heemann started his career at Marriott Hotel, Hamburg as a casual waiter. Following five years with the hotel, he moved to London where he worked for both Morriott Hotel Marbel Arch and Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square.

In 2002, Heemann ventured to the US where he took the position of event service manager at JW Marriott Desert Ridge, Resort & Spa, Phoenix until 2004. Lars’ next role brought him back to Germany, where he reprised the role of catering and conference services manager at The Ritz-Carlton, Wolfsburg. In this role, he was responsible for leading and managing all activity in the hotel and ensuring it was executed to the highest standard.

In 2008, Heeman joined Hotels Astoria & Angleterre, St Petersburg as the director of group and event sales, before being promoted to director of F&B in 2011. Continuing his journey in Russia, Heemann took a job in Moscow at Hotel Metropol as director of F&B. Here he increased the hotels profit and revenues by 14.1 per cent, and managed the hotel conversion from state to privately owned. - TradeArabia News Service