The Newt in Somerset Appoints David Gelhaar as New Hotel General Manager
The Newt in Somerset has appointed David Gelhaar as Hotel General Manager. Gelhaar joins the working ‘farm with rooms' from his role as Director of Front of House at Chiltern Firehouse, which closed after a fire raged through the Victorian building on Valentine's Day this year.
His focus over the last few months has been to find new opportunities for many of the Marylebone venue's 360-strong staff, before circumstances and stars aligned to secure his own at The Newt.
Starting his hospitality career in his home city of Stockholm, Gelhaar attended culinary school, before quickly realizing that he's more suited to front of house. He completed traineeships in some of the Swedish capital's best hotels prior to making the move to London. It was here that he landed a role at Chiltern Firehouse the first time around, worked his way up at Blake's in South Kensington, and returned to the Chiltern Street team on reopening after the pandemic.
"The Newt is a magical place full of extraordinary experiences that enhance the guest journey, so I'm very happy to be able to play a part in influencing that," said Gelhaar. "With new and exciting plans in the pipeline, my initial aim is to build on the foundations and framework to support these new functions and simplify some of the operations and procedures so that the teams can focus on the experience and the people coming to visit."
Andrew Foulkes, CEO of Hospitality at Newt in Somerset, added: "We are delighted to welcome David to our senior team. He brings a wealth of experience delivering exceptional hospitality, operational excellence and deep insight into world class luxury hotels. It's an exciting time here in Somerset and we're very fortunate to have David's expertise and enthusiasm in such a crucial role."
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