Hand Picked Hotels has appointed Douglas Waddell as its Operations Director.
Douglas joins the board of this unique collection of country house hotels
from Thistle, and will report directly into Julia Hands, Chief Executive and
founder of the Hand Picked Hotels group.  He will be responsible for
overseeing operations across the company’s fourteen hotels in the UK and
Jersey.

Douglas has over twenty years experience in the hospitality industry and a
proven track record in multi-site experience in both leisure and hotels.
He was a Director at Thistle for over two years and previous to that, saw
Esporta through a period of rapid expansion as Operations Director for over
2 years.

Douglas Waddell said:  “Hand Picked Hotels is an extremely exciting hotel
group; rooted in great service and quality.  With investment being put into
the business this year, I believe there is a real opportunity to maximize
the collection’s potential, to grow the business and consolidate the brand.
My challenge is to communicate a consistent Hand Picked Hotel experience
across the group while keeping those individual characteristics which make
each hotel within the collection so different.”

Julia Hands, Chief Executive of Hand Picked Hotels, said: “We are delighted
that Douglas Waddell has joined us.  His reputation and track record with
Thistle and Esporta is excellent and we look forward to Douglas bringing his
multi-site experience and expertise to help exploit the true potential of
the Hand Picked Hotels collection.”
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