Five-star lifestyle hotel Andaz London Liverpool Street, has appointed Mario Flanagan as General Manager, following the retirement of Otto Steenbeek, who held the position for four years.
Flanagan has worked within the Hyatt Hotels Corporation for more than 12 years and brings a wealth of operational and management experience to the East London hotel. His career began 24 years ago in his home country of South Africa, where he held leading positions in five-star luxury properties, including Table Bay Hotel Cape Town, Arabella Sheraton and Western Cape Hotel & Spa. Starting as a porter he worked himself up through various operational roles and in 2007 joined Hyatt as Director of Rooms at Park Hyatt Johannesburg. During his time, Mario took on many special projects and high profile openings before taking his career internationally and moving to London in 2010 as Hotel Manager at Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill.
More recently, Flanagan held his first General Manager position at Hyatt Regency Birmingham, from 2013 where he successfully led the refurbishment and repositioning of the hotel in an increasingly competitive market.
During his time at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham, the hotel won a number of prestigious awards, including ‘Best Hotel in Birmingham’ (BID 2015), ‘Best Bar’ for the hotel’s famous Gentleman & Scholar Pub (Conference and Hospitality Show 2015) and ‘Best Classical Bedroom’ (2016). Flanagan also won the ‘Manager of the Year’ award at the Westside Business Improvement District Annual Dinner in 2016, and was featured in Birmingham Post’s ‘Power 260’ list in 2016.
As General Manager of Hyatt’s first ever Andaz branded hotel, Flanagan will have a crucial role in maintaining the success of the hotel and brand. Andaz celebrates local culture and the unique spirit of the neighbourhood in which it is based, allowing guests to live like a local in the four walls of the hotel. Flanagan shares this strong sense of community and aims to bring in his personal district style, diverse background and customer focused mind-set to life whilst implementing a strategy that continues to build on Andaz’ ethos and core values.
Mario Flanagan says, “I am thrilled to start my new role at Andaz London Liverpool Street, and continue to support the brand in its mission to provide guests with a truly authentic experience of the local neighbourhood. This Grade II listed building, comes with rich history and heritage and is a unique hotel, which challenges the norm and my tenure starts at an exciting time for the business. We have undertaken a series of refurbishments, including the opening of Lady Abercorn’s Pub & Kitchen, Rake’s Café Bar and most recently the hotel lounge, and are now positioned to grow our share of the market and deliver a unique offering to consumers”.