In April 2010 Gerard Sintès joined the general management of Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona, the first hotel from the Mandarin Oriental group to open in southern Europe. Of French nationality, Gerard Sintès has a broad knowledge of the international hotel sector and he has held management positions in establishments in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mauritius, Thailand and South Africa, amongst other countries.

“It is a true honour to head Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona and to be part of this great and exciting project,” says Gerard Sintès, who comes to Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona from the One&Only resort in Cape Town (South Africa) that he managed for two years following its inauguration.

A graduate from the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (Switzerland), Gerard Sintès has spent large part of his professional career in Asia and Europe with key positions in top hotels such as the Hong Kong Hilton, the Shangri-La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) or the Hyatt Carlton Tower Hotel in London (England).

Between 1997 and 2005 he was general manager of the Shangri-La Hotel in Jakarta (Indonesia) and of the One&Only Le Saint Géran Hotel, Spa & Golf Club in Mauritius where he was presented with the Condé Nast Traveller award for Best Hotel SPA 2000 and with the Best Resort Hotel 2004 by The Leading Hotels of the World.

From there he went on to be managing director of the Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok (Thailand), a position he combined with the regional management of the Shangri-La group for the Thailand and Myanmar area.