Quest Apartment Hotels, Australasia’s largest and fastest growing apartment hotel operator, has appointed Paris D’Allessandro as its first UK General Manager and Kerry Smith as its first Liverpool-based Business Development Manager. The hires have been announced as the company gears up for the landmark opening of the 100-key Quest Liverpool City Centre this September.
Paris D’Allessandro and Kerry Smith
An experienced General Manager, Paris has worked in the hospitality business for 18 years, 15 of them in Liverpool. His experience spans handling property openings for leading brands including Premier Inn, Jurys Inn, Days Inn, and latterly, Epic Apart Hotels where he spent four years as Group GM.
Kerry brings 16 years of international sales and entrepreneurial expertise to her new Business Development Manager role. With considerable local experience of introducing new brands to the city, Kerry has previously worked with Cycas Hospitality, the management company for Quest Liverpool City Centre, and was responsible for bringing the first Staybridge Suites, Hotel Indigo, Days Inn and Pullman Hotel to Liverpool.
In addition to the 200 jobs created during the construction of its first aparthotel property in the UK, the £10m Quest investment will create 25 part-time and full-time positions in the Liverpool area once the six-storey site opens its doors to the public. These positions will include guest services, housekeeping and maintenance.
Craig Ryan, Chief Brand Officer, Quest Apartment Hotels says: “As an employer, Quest seeks to partner with ambitious, career-focused people who’ll make our guests feel at home – whether they are staying with us for a couple of days or many months. Paris and Kerry are passionate about achieving the standards that will inspire loyalty from both staff and guests, and we are confident that together they will help us put Quest well and truly on the UK business travellers’ map.
“The work we are doing to build a great team in Liverpool demonstrates our commitment to the UK market and to a remarkable city with a rich trading, cultural and sporting heritage.”
Established by entrepreneur Paul Constantinou in Melbourne over 30 years ago, the 170-strong Quest Apartment Hotels portfolio has made its name by offering a ‘home away from home’ to extended stay business travellers in key cities, regional towns and suburban locations across Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. Liverpool is just the start of its European expansion and the company hopes to open an additional 8 to 12 properties in the next five years.
Quest has over 170 properties located across Australia, New Zealand and Fiji making it both the largest and fastest growing apartment hotel operator in Australasia. Established in Melbourne in 1988, Quest is part of Singapore-based The Ascott Limited (Ascott).
Ascott is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-listed company, CapitaLand Limited. CapitaLand’s portfolio spans more than 170 cities in more than 30 countries under 12 international brands – Ascott, Citadines, Somerset, Quest, The Crest Collection, lyf, HARRIS, FOX HARRIS, YELLO, POP!, Préférence and HARRIS Vertu.