Hilton Hotels Corp. today announced that a former Club Med CEO has joined the company to lead development of its luxury and lifestyle brands.
John Vanderslice now is serving as Hilton's global head of luxury and lifestyle brands, working under Hilton president of global brands and commercial services Paul Brown. He comes to Hilton from Miraval Spa in Tucson, Ariz., where he had served as CEO.
Prior to his work at Miraval, Vanderslice also served as president and CEO at Club Med Americas, leading North and South American operations for the company's more than 100 leisure resorts in 30 countries. While at Club Med, Vanderslice repositioned the resorts as upscale destinations and integrated marketing, commercial activities, finance and operations at the resort company.
Vanderslice also has worked in executive and leadership roles outside of the hospitality industry, including positions at Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Triarc Restaurant Group—owners of the Arby's and T.J. Cinnamons brands—and Kraft General Foods. Brown said in a statement that Vanderslice's experience shows "a proven track record of successfully growing existing brands and introducing exciting new products to the marketplace."
Hilton's luxury portfolio includes the Waldorf-Astoria and the Waldorf Astoria Collection. The company earlier this year also had announced the launch of a new luxury lifestyle brand, Denizen, but subsequently had to suspend development because of a pending lawsuit from rival Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, alleging that two former executives had stolen proprietary information to speed development of the brand
(BTNonline, April 21).