With over two decades of luxury hospitality experience and an enthusiasm for employee development, Magnus Olovson has been appointed to the helm of the award-winning Sanchaya.

Olovson comes to the 9.6-hectare beachfront property on Bintan Island after seven years in Cambodia’s Siem Reap.

As a partner of both the Heritage Suites Hotel and Café IndoChine Restaurant, his responsibilities ranged from overseeing extensive training to full refurbishments and market repositioning.

Swedish-born Olovson rose up the ranks as food and beverage director at Hotel Negresco in Nice, France, and Sheraton Oran Hotel & Towers in Algeria, before becoming general manager of the British Virgin Islands’ Peter Island Resort, serving clientele such as Robert de Niro, Luciano Pavarotti, David Bowie, Tony Blair and the Swedish royal family.

He also managed the 2009 launch of Le Gray Hotel in Beirut.

“Magnus has a proven track record, bringing rich and diversified experience to the table that will propel our aspirations to live up to an unsurpassed level of hospitality and attention to detail,” said Sanchaya’s founder Natalya Pavchinskaya.

Olovson said he lives by the mantra of “upscale, old-fashioned hospitality” based on highly personalised service from a well-trained team.

“The Sanchaya has it all, particularly outstanding staff trained by the British Butler Institute who know the guests’ names by heart, and remarkable facilities overlooking one of the world’s most stunning beaches,” said Olovson.

“We want to stay on top and continue to lead by example, through a continual focus on our people, our facilities and our unrivalled guest experience.”

He said he also hoped to further The Sanchaya’s corporate social responsibility efforts that already include year-long hospitality scholarships for young locals and purifying and bottling still and sparkling water on the property, saving an estimated 80,000 plastic bottles a year.