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Yngvar Stray
General Manager
The St Regis Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
Background
Veteran Norwegian-born hotelier Yngvar Stray is General Manager of the St. Regis Hotel, Singapore and spearheads the launch of this exclusive new hotel, the first international luxury hotel to open in Singapore in over a decade. The multi-lingual 42 year-old hotelier, who speaks English, Swedish, Danish and German as well as his native Norwegian, is married to a Singaporean, Julia Geok Choon Toh, and so for him this posting is a particularly apt crown in his career.
“I consider Singapore home and I’m truly delighted that I will have the opportunity to create the most luxurious hotel in the city – in a part of the world, Asia, where I truly believe we are leading the world in terms of luxury hospitality experiences,” he said.
Mr Stray joins St. Regis Hotel, Singapore after being General Manager of the ultra-chic W Seoul-Walker Hill in South Korea, which earned accolades including ‘Best hotel in Seoul’ during his tenure as General Manager.
“I truly believe that being a hotel general manager is a lifestyle choice, not a job,” says Mr. Stray. “Playing the role of a host is a calling, and to me, it is the most satisfying career I could imagine.”
It is a calling that began early for him in his home town of Kristiansand where his father was on the board of directors of a hotel which enabled the business to get into his blood from a very early age. He began his career on home ground as a part-time receptionist and F&B assistant with a local hotel. He subsequently trained as a Sales Manager at Hotel Triangel in Oslo and in 1990 joined Norway’s leading hotel, SAS Scandinavia Hotel in Oslo, appointed initially as Revenue Manager and quickly rose to Front Office Manager, Director of Catering Sales & Reservations, and ultimately Director of Sales & Marketing.
His first overseas appointment was in 1994 in Istanbul, with Conrad International as Director of Sales & Marketing. A year later he moved to Singapore, joining Sheraton Towers as Director of Rooms. In 1997, he returned to Norway, tasked as Director of Sales & Marketing with re-branding two Radisson SAS hotels in Bergen.
Mr. Stray joined Starwood in 1998, initially as Director of Sales & Marketing, and subsequently promoted to Hotel Manager at The St. Regis Beijing. He re-branded the property as Asia’s first St. Regis hotel, making it the ‘Most Improved Hotel in the Asia-Pacific’ in Starwood’s portfolio. It was here that he recalls one of the most satisfying moments of his hotel career. “I was running a three-day event in Beijing attended by the leaders of the Fortune 500 companies. Everything
went off perfectly and I felt truly satisfied that our team was able to pull off such a landmark event, possibly offering the highest standards of hospitality in China at the time.”
His first appointment as General Manager was in 2002, heading the Sheraton Shenyang Lido Hotel, which he opened and guided to the position of leading hotel in the city – also earning himself the accolade of “honorary citizen”. The move to Seoul followed before subsequently taking up the position to open the St. Regis Singapore.
The St Regis Singapore
Singapore, Singapore
