Hilton Seychelles has announced two exciting new senior management staff appointments to the Hilton Seychelles Labriz Resort & Spa on Silhouette Island.

Vanessa Albest returns to Seychelles to take up the position of operations manager for the resort. Vanessa, who grew up in Seychelles, graduated from the first Seychellois cohort at the Seychelles Tourism Academy and Shannon College in 2013 with First Class Honors. In 2012 she started her journey with Hilton at Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa as a resort host and developed her career until she became a Front Desk manager in 2014 and Front Office & Quality manager in 2016.

After her local journey and experience in Seychelles, in 2018 she moved to the UAE where she joined Hilton Sharjah as Front Office manager in charge of Housekeeping and, in the absence of the general manager, she also oversaw the hotel operations.

In 2020, she joined Hilton Addis Ababa in Ethiopia as Operations manager, a property of 372 rooms, almost 600 team members, multiple ballrooms and meeting rooms, tennis court, swimming pool, and mini golf course. She says; “This experience built my character and took my skills to a whole new level where I managed all operational head of departments and oversaw the whole hotel operations. I also coordinated big functions like the AU summit groups in 2019 and 2022, FIFA group in 2019, various functions for embassies, and international delegations like UN, WFP and much more. I am very excited to be joining the Labriz team and bring a wealth of hospitality experience to the resort.”

Hilton Seychelles is also happy to welcome and announce the appointment of Robin Etienne as Resort Head Chef at Hilton Seychelles Labriz Resort & Spa. Influenced by his Seychellois chef Mum, Robin studied Food Preparation and Culinary Arts at the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Training College. Following years of industry experience including five years as Pastry cook at Paradise Sun and then as Junior Sous Chef, Pastry Chef at Sunset Beach, Sous Chef at Raffles, promoted to Chef De Cuisine at Fairmont the Palm in Dubai, and winning a host of Pastry competitions, in April 2022, Robin took the position of Resort Head Chef at Hilton Seychelles Labriz Resort & Spa, elevating Creole Cuisine to inspire other chefs. He says; “I want to elevate Creole Cuisine, to inspire chefs, inspire local chefs.My guests motivate me, I love making people happy with beautiful food.”

Andre Borg, Area General Manager of Hilton Seychelles, adds; “Hilton Seychelles team are very pleased to appoint such incredibly talented Seychellois people into these senior positions. We are confident that, with their experience and passion, they will thrive in their roles. Vanessa is the first Shannon College graduate to become an Operations manager and Robin carries his years of experience and passion for food to Silhouette Island to champion our local cuisine.”

Source: Seychelles Nation