Montage Hotels & Resorts today announces the appointment of Robert Friedl as general manager of Montage Kapalua Bay. With three decades of leadership experience in the hospitality industry, including a dozen years in Hawaii with a turn as resort manager during Montage Kapalua Bay’s reflagging and remodeling from The Residences at Kapalua Bay, Friedl is responsible for all the daily operations of the luxury beachfront resort.
“I am pleased to welcome Robert Friedl back to Montage Kapalua Bay,” said Jason Herthel, president and chief operating officer of Montage International. “With many years of experience within the luxury segment and his familiarity with the community and culture of Hawaii, we are very fortunate to have Robert as a part of the Montage family.”
Friedl rejoined Montage Kapalua Bay from MacNaughton Hospitality in Honolulu, where as vice president of hospitality operations he oversaw all operational aspects of a three-property division, while playing a major role in the creation of independent luxury hospitality brands and leading the transition of a 327-room hotel into the company’s portfolio.
Friedl’s previous hotel management experiences include general manager of The Laylow Waikiki, an Autograph Collection Hotel for six years, assistant general manager and then general manager of The Sebastian – Vail in the heart of Colorado ski country. In 2008, Friedl was appointed first director of operations and then resort manager of The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, Kapalua Bay which transitioned to The Residences at Kapalua Bay, a Timbers Resort, and then to Montage Kapalua Bay. Other properties dotting Friedl’s career history include The Ritz-Carlton Club, Aspen Highlands; Hard Rock Hotel San Diego; and L’Auberge de Sedona in Arizona.
Friedl received a Bachelor of Business Administration and then a Master of Business Administration in hotel, restaurant, and catering management from Hotelfachschule Pegnitz in Germany, including a three-year management apprenticeship at the Atrium Hotel in Nuremberg.