William von Puttkamer
Dubai,UAE
Summary
Results-driven, ambitious and competitive business leader focused on transformative leadership and continuous improvement to drive growth and maximise profits. Tenacious executive ready to take on challenging role, meet goals and surpass expectations.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work history
General Manager - Mr. C Residences & Bellini Cafe
Alta Real Estate Development
Dubai, UAE
05.2023 - 11.2025
- Pre - opening General Manager for both Mr. C residences and Bellini Cafe
- Purchased all pre - opening material for Bellini Cafe and stayed 25% under approved budget through extensive negotiations with suppliers
- Modified building layouts before opening to ensure operation and logistics of service made sense
- Oversee all hiring for both Mr. C Residences and Bellini Cafe
- Create operational standards of procedure to ensure accountability and workforce efficiency
- Ensure Bellini Cafe stays top-rated restaurant in Jumeirah 2 through consistency and leadership
- Ensure relationship between brand (Mr. C) and developer (ALTA) is kept at all times. Ensure common goal is always met: exceptional service and resident satisfaction
- Act as unique liaison in UAE between brand and developer
- Provide advice and guidance to staff members in relation to all aspects of workplace, from employee relations to talent management and development
- Provide mentorship in challenging situations
- Manage budget for both Bellini Cafe and Mr. C Residences, ensuring both fixed and variable costs of operation for Bellini are always at financially efficient level
- Ensure service charges are always paid on time by owners of residences to maintain positive cash flow at Mr. C Residences
- Liaise with all vendors between Mr. C Residences and Bellini Cafe, managing payments and always adhering to budgets
- Manage relationship between building management company at Mr. C residences, ALTA and Mr. C as brand to ensure expectations are met
- Act as brand ambassador at all times
- Oversee overall cleanliness of two properties and providing disciplinary action as needed where reoccurrence of negligence is sighted
- Liaise with authorities (Dubai Municipality, RTA for example) to ensure business complies with law at all times
- Oversee implementation of new additions to menus for restaurant, in home dining, pool bars
- Oversee social media and digital SEO strategy as whole for both Mr. C and Bellini Cafe
- Hold bi-weekly calls with stakeholders from both ALTA and MR. C to ensure corporate is consistently communicated of most relevant tasks at hand, financial updates and operational challenges
Task Force - Ass. General Manager – Pre - Opening
Casa Cipriani Milano
Milan, Italy
09.2022 - 11.2022
- Pre-opening team for Casa Cipriani
- Implemented standards of procedure for hotel operations
- Solved operational issues on daily basis
- Assisted in creating budgets for all departments
- Recommended hirings to ownership through personal network
- Implemented IT systems that were later used within front office department (Opera systems). Later gave extensive training to staff members, assisting them to have deep understanding of it to be able to work well under pressure of luxury hospitality environment and high profile guests
- Assisted ownership in re arranging flow of operation throughout all outlets of hotel. Re-arranged storage spaces, modified flow of service to ensure minimum disruption to service
- Ensured security of building was pristine at all times in 24/7 operation to protect high net worth individuals constantly visiting hotel
- Was asked to stay full time after 2 months of service as task force but had personal plans that could not avoid
Hotel Manager
Mr. C Hotels
New York, USA
03.2021 - 09.2022
- Led team to deliver exceptional customer service for enhanced reputation
- Directed staff schedules and rosters, optimizing workforce efficiency
- Led weekly ownership calls to update on finances and operational challenges
- Led team to maintain exceptional online reputation through 9.1 Booking.com ratings, 4.5 TripAdvisor, 4.7 on Google. Ensured all reviews were accounted for, responded to and feedback was always presented to staff, whether it was good or bad
- Led re-hiring of Mr. C Seaport Hotel after facing Covid - 19 pandemic where 80% workforce layoffs followed
- With big efforts, situation was turned around within 2 years
Front Office Manager
Mr. C Hotels
New York, USA
03.2018 - 03.2021
- Part of pre - opening team @ Mr. C Seaport Hotel
- Trained new staff members to uphold service standards
- Liaised with all vendors to purchase all branded inventory for front office department while adhering to budget
- Maintained strong relationship with all vendors to ensure prices remained consistent throughout years and therefore keeping operational costs to minimum while maintaining quality
- Created standards of procedures for all front office operations to ensure accountability and proper training for new staff members
- Gave extensive OPERA Cloud training to staff members in order to be able to work fast under pressure with high profile guests
- Achieved top LQA ratings whenever mystery shoppers came in
- Ensured AMEX Fine Hotels and Resorts program stayed in full effect at hotel through daily spot checks
- Always passed AMEX FHR mystery shopper stays
- Created upselling program for front office staff members which resulted in additional $150000 of annual room revenue for hotel
Ass. Front Office Manager
The Lowell Hotel
New York, USA
02.2016 - 02.2018
- Supervised front office Operations on daily basis
- Assisted in maintaining Lowell Hotel as #1 Leading Hotel of World in New York City
- Maintained positive relationship between Local - 6 Union representatives at Lowell Hotel to adhere to New York City laws and regulations
- Was scheduled as Manager on Duty monthly to act as General Manager on off days
- Tailored service to UHNWs with very high expectations
Front Desk Agent
Mr. C Hotels
Los Angeles, USA
10.2015 - 05.2016
- Multitasked efficiently during peak hours without compromising on service quality
- Handled guest complaints quickly and efficiently
- Checked VIP arrivals on daily basis
- Checked for potential LQA auditors on daily basis. When LQA auditor came, was able to achieve 95% score on check in
- Liaised communication between housekeeping and front desk to ensure room readiness
Account Manager EMEA
360 Experience
Madrid, Spain
03.2015 - 09.2015
- Successfully opened 15 new accounts, including largest travel agency in Middle East
- Managed key accounts, organizing travel, accommodation and transfers for large groups
Education
Bachelor's degree - Hotel Management
Les Roches International University of Hotel Management
Marbella, Spain /2010 - /2014
High School Diploma - International GCSEs, A - Levels
Runnymede College
Madrid, Spain /2008 - /2010
Skills
- Result-Driven approach
- Leadership development
- Business networking
- Budget administration
- Advanced negotiation
- Operations oversight
- Client relations
- Customer relationship management
- Interpersonal savvy
- Executive communication
Timeline
General Manager - Mr. C Residences & Bellini Cafe
Alta Real Estate Development
05.2023 - 11.2025
Task Force - Ass. General Manager – Pre - Opening
Casa Cipriani Milano
09.2022 - 11.2022
Hotel Manager
Mr. C Hotels
03.2021 - 09.2022
Front Office Manager
Mr. C Hotels
03.2018 - 03.2021
Ass. Front Office Manager
The Lowell Hotel
02.2016 - 02.2018
Front Desk Agent
Mr. C Hotels
10.2015 - 05.2016
Account Manager EMEA
360 Experience
03.2015 - 09.2015
Bachelor's degree - Hotel Management
Les Roches International University of Hotel Management
/2010 - /2014
High School Diploma - International GCSEs, A - Levels
Runnymede College
/2008 - /2010
LANGUAGES
Spanish
Native
English
Fluent
Portuguese
Upper intermediate
French
Intermediate
German
Beginner
INTERNSHIPS COMPLETED
- Four Seasons Hotel (London, UK) 01/2014 - 07/2014 as Front Office Agent
- Hotel de Rome, Rocco Forte Hotels (Berlin, Germany) 01/2013 - 06/2013 as Purchasing Supervisor
- Marriott Hotels (Brussels, Belgium) 12/2011 - 06/2012 as Banqueting Supervisor
REFERENCES
References available upon request.