The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore announced two new appointments within its leadership. 

Marco Riva has been appointed as executive assistant manager of food and beverage, while Kristy Lee is the hotel’s new director of sales and marketing.

Meet the resident culinary expert

In his new appointment as executive assistant manager of food and beverage, Marco Riva takes charge of the hotel’s overall F&B programme, with an emphasis on creating innovative culinary concepts and raising the guest experience across one MICHELIN star Summer Pavilion, Republic, Dan Colony. 

His new assignment also marks his return to The Ritz-Carlton brand, having held positions in Osaka and Jakarta previously.

As a trained chef, Riva underwent an extensive career journey in both culinary and food and beverage operations.

Prior to joining the hotel, Riva was food and beverage director at the Four Seasons Seoul. He also held the same position at the Four Seasons Tokyo, and was executive chef at the Four Seasons Jakarta. During his stint in the Indonesian capital, he led culinary teams for the grand opening of the hotel. 

He also held positions at other luxury hotel brands, including the Mandarin Oriental Pudong, Shanghai, and Shangri-La, Bangkok.

In 2014, Riva joined LIFE Luxury Group as Vice-President of Food and Beverage Operations, where he played a key role in expanding the group’s portfolio. During his tenure, he also helped establish Cova, a renowned Italian pasticceria and part of the LVMH portfolio, in Shanghai, China, under a franchise agreement with LIFE Luxury Group.

A leader in hospitality sales and marketing

An industry veteran with over three decades of experience, Kristy Lee is a renowned leader in the luxury hotel industry and within Marriott International Asia Pacific.

Lee is no stranger to The Ritz-Carlton brand, either: she joined the hotel from The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong where she led the sales and marketing teams for over 10 years.

Her extensive hospitality background includes her experience in a number of major international hotel groups such as The Langham, Hong Kong, Conrad International, and a successful career at Shangri-La where she held various positions across 12 years as  senior sales manager, as well as director of sales in Kowloon, Hong Kong, and director of catering and events at Pudong, Shanghai. In addition, Kristy had a stint at Shangri-La’s corporate office working on special projects for a year.

She also previously led sales and marketing as part of the hotel’s opening teams in The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong and Guangzhou.

With a passion for learning and the Ritz-Carlton brand culture, Lee was recently certified this year as a Global Leader and trainer for The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Centre, an advisory and management consulting group that helps organisations leverage systems and processes of The Ritz-Carlton brand to deliver award-winning services.