Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has announced the appointment of Tareq Derbas as Hotel Manager at Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh. Derbas, who moves to Riyadh from Four Seasons Hotel Amman where he held a similar position, has over 17 years experience in the hospitality industry, many spent in senior management positions.

Following graduation from Kuwait University with a BA in Economics, Derbas moved to the USA in 1989 and began his career as an hotelier with the Radisson group, firstly in California and then in Illinois. He moved back to California to join an up-scale private country club and golf resort. In 1995 he was tempted back to the Gulf region as Deputy General Manager of the Sheraton Hotel Muscat. He moved to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2001 as number two at the new Jeddah Hilton.

Derbas joined Four Seasons Group in 2002 and moved with his wife and two young sons to its Amman property as part of the pre-opening team. Now, as Hotel Manager of Four Seasons Riyadh, he will be coordinating and managing the day-to-day running of the 249-room property which opened in February 2003 within the iconic Kingdom Centre in the heart of the city.

“It is interesting to return to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia again and to be working this time in Riyadh which, for my profession, is a very challenging and booming city,” said Derbas.

“We are delighted to welcome Tareq on board the management team at Four Seasons Riyadh,” said Thomas Lind, General Manager. “His extensive experience in the hotel industry and his strong leadership qualities will be an asset to our dynamic team.”