Hilton Worldwide appoints GM, Director of Business Development for Doubletree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur

KUALA LUMPUR: Hilton Worldwide has appointed Ian Barrow as General Manager and Leo Frankel as Director of Business Development of the new upcoming Doubletree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur.

Scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2010, the 540-room upscale hotel is strategically located at the intersection of Jalan Ampang and Jalan Tun Razak in Kuala Lumpur.

“We are very proud to be introducing our Doubletree by Hilton brand to Malaysia this year, further enhancing our strong footprint for the brand in the region following four recent hotel openings in China,” said president, Hilton Worldwide – Asia Pacific, Martin Rinck in a statement on March 26.

Rinck said Malaysia is a dynamic market for business travel and tourism with strong projected growth for the coming years.

Ian Barrow is a hospitality veteran with over 20 years’ experience, including 15 years of specialist hotel opening expertise.

Much of his experience has been garnered in Asia, and he has lead many prestigious properties for international hotel brands in Shanghai, Dhaka, Katmandu and various cities in Indonesia.

Leo Frankel, has over 8 years of experience in the hotel industry mainly in the area of revenue management in key Hilton Worldwide properties in Europe and Asia.

He joins the Doubletree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur from Hilton Shanghai, where he was a Revenue Manager since 2008.

The hotel has more than 20,000 sq feet of flexible meeting space with two ballrooms. It also has a fully equipped business centre with state-of-the-art audio visual equipment and five food and beverage outlets.