City Garden Grand, a newly opened hotel along Makati Avenue, has appointed Laurence Peña as its new general manager.
A well-rounded hotelier and restaurateur with a strong background in crisis resolution, turnaround and start-up situations, Peña held several positions that required strategic planning, marketing, operations, and financial management.
His humble beginnings include an array of assignments in cashiering for several restaurants and hotels that advanced his revenue management and cost control skills. He was also exposed to guest relations, budget preparation and people management at The Heritage Hotel Manila, where he was a front office staff member.
In 1999, Peña had a career break abroad in the stately Burj Al Arab Hotel Dubai, UAE as a guest services manager in the pre-opening team. With a job that stressed a whole lot of undertaking in the areas of front office reservations, cashiering, auditing, and an organized system for property specific operations of Jumeirah International, he was able to set a bar in running the rooms division in a diverse and multicultural setting.
After seven years of Gulf experience, he went back to the Philippines to assume the assistant front manager position and eventually, front office manager, of Makati Shangri-La. He subsequently became director of rooms for Sofitel Philippine Plaza, executive assistant manager for Acacia Hotel Manila, general manager for F1 Hotel, and product development manager and general manager for Camaya Sands Resort and Leisure.
