Christian Ruge Appointed As The New Kempinski Bansko General Manager
Whilst tucking into a tasty lunch of pasta with porcini mushrooms with the Kempinski Hotel Grand Arena Bansko new General Manager, Christian Ruge it occurred to me how time passes for your Bansko blogger. With us is Natalia Kashirskya, the outgoing General Manager and she makes the fifth Kempinski General Manager that I had the pleasure to get to know over the last eleven years.
I was able to get to know Natalia better than any previous Manager. She participated with enthusiasm in all the Kempinski events and joined me in some fun evenings out and about, both in the hotel and around other venues in Bansko town. So I’m especially delighted that she will be keeping coming back to Bulgaria from time to time as part of her new start up: a hotel consultancy, based out of Switzerland.
Over lunch there was much to discuss and after hearing about Natalia’s plans for her new venture, I turned to Christian to find out more about his past. In no time at all he quickly impressed upon me on the sheer number of places that he has worked at around the world. He loves meeting new people and commented that we are all remarkably similar, in spite of the stereotypical views we often have of other nationalities and cultures.
But I was especially interested to discover if Bansko was going to be a good fit for Christian. I’m pleased to report that his suitability for Bansko seems very good. He has a passion for the mountains and that includes being a regular skier since the age of 5. With a routine for keeping fit in general, I think he will love Bansko and Bulgaria’s nature for all it has to offer.
So it’s back to the press release, which prompts me to say that Christian has worked in Germany, New York, Poland, Egypt, China, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. A total of more more than 25 years in the hospitality industry means that he is bringing massive expertise to his new position.
You can tell a lot on how a hotel General Manager is wired when they interact with their staff. In this case I immediately could observe his passion for food and his attention to detail exemplified in his ordering of a the dessert. When trying to ascertain exactly which dessert he was wanting, he explained to our server that the requested cheesecake had the subtle addition of cashew nuts. He had taken a picture of it on his mobile, so any confusion could be avoided.
A great hotel experience is all about focussing on the small, and often imperceptible, details. I can see that this quality was there with Christian in abundance.
Christian explained to me that he started his career at Hotel InterContinental Frankfurt in Germany, where he held various leadership positions then in 2001 he moved to the Hotel InterContinental in New York as assistant manager and then returning, in 2003, back to Germany to take on the role of assistant front office manager at Hotel InterContinental Berlin and revenue manager at Hotel Le Meridien Munich.
His career path continued with a change to the French luxury hotel brand Sofitel, with which he spent over eight years, working for Sofitel Munich Bayerpost in Germany, Sofitel Wroclaw Old Town in Poland and Sofitel Winter Palace Luxor in Egypt.
In 2012 Christian joined the Kempinski family as the hotel manager of Kempinski Hotel Airport Munich followed by a promotion to general manager of Kempinski Hotel Taiyuan in China.
I must add that the Kempinski was looking like the place to be in the glorious sunshine and crystal clear views of the Pirin mountains. Put” Provence night” in your diary this Saturday 24th August and look out for the special dining nights this Autumn that range from Spanish Asian fusion, Steak and more.
A special thanks to Trevor Porcelli for cooking our pasta lunch served with a nice salad with buffalo mozzarella.
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