Changing hands from Accor to IHG earlier this month, Th8 Palm has appointed a new general manager. Cora De Conceicao-Stuart takes on the role, previously with Waldorf Astoria, also on Palm Jumeirah.

Open since late 2021, the former ‘House of Originals’ Dubai flagship is now under IHG’s own collection brand: Vignette Collection.

Designed by top local firm Roar, Th8 Palm slots into the city’s set of luxury, lifestyle properties.
The House of Original brand no longer exists. It was announced as a joint venture between Accor and sbe in 2019 and rebranded to Morgan’s Originals once Ennismore merged with Accor.

It becomes IHG’s debut property for its collection brand launched in August 2021. Th8 Palm Dubai Beach Resort, Vignette Collection remains under the same owners, Kuwaiti firm Aqarat, which also chose IHG as operator of the new Vignette Collection in Kuwait City.

Cora De Conceicao-Stuart’s experience
Before Waldorf Astoria, Stuart was at Erth, Abu Dhabi, where she was general manager. Before that, she worked across Asia, the USA, and the Middle East, working with renowned brands across the globe in commercial positions at Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Boston and Bahrain, and successfully launched the first-ever Bulgari property in Asia. She then moved to Dubai and led the Address Hotel Downtown pre-opening team as hotel manager before joining Media One Hotel as GM, where she was awarded General Manager of the Year at the Hotelier Middle East Awards.

Her next stint was at the Middle Eastern Regional Office of Starwood Hotels & Resorts as regional director of operational innovations. After that, she returned to Singapore and Indonesia as COO for an Asian hospitality start-up and GM of a Luxury Collection hotel in Jakarta.

A Singaporean national, De Conceicao-Stuart received her Higher Diploma in Hotel Management from The Singapore Hotel and Tourism Education Centre, where her passion for hospitality was ignited.

Source: Hotelier Middle east