Montage Beverly Hills Leadership

The veteran hotelier has been the Managing Director at Montage Laguna Beach from its opening in 2003, and has played an integral role in guiding the team that has helped Montage achieve significant industry and public acclaim.

Driven by a philosophy which mandates excellence, a &ldquote;good neighbor&rdquote; policy and great attention to detail, Mr. Bermingham attributes Montage&rsquote;s resounding success to the exceptionally talented, committed and gracious staff. &ldquote;This commitment is pervasive throughout the company,&rdquote; he says. &ldquote;Everyone who works here has a shared vision and enthusiasm for their job, which ultimately creates an unparalleled experience for our guests and residents.&rdquote;

Mr. Bermingham began his 25-year hospitality career as a manager trainee at the Clarence Hotel in his hometown of Dublin, Ireland, where he spent many years honing his talents.

Realizing that he was ready to embark on a lifetime career in the hotel industry, he moved to London, England, where he began a career with ITT Sheraton and the Luxury Collection, which spanned ten years. He worked as General Manager of ITT Sheraton's Five Diamond St. Regis in Houston, Texas. During his tenure with ITT Sheraton and the Luxury Collection, Mr. Bermingham accrued many accolades for his accomplishments, including &ldquote;The Divisional President Award&rdquote; for outstanding achievement and the &ldquote;Top Sales Team Award&rdquote; for the North American division.

In 1998, he joined Mirage Resorts as opening Vice President of Hotel Operations at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi. The following year, he moved his family to Washington, D.C. taking a position as General Manager of the acclaimed Latham Hotel, where he was also responsible for its sister property, the boutique Georgetown Inn. Here Mr. Bermingham earned the MeriStar Hotels & Resorts &ldquote;General Manager Excellence Award - Best Food and Beverage.&rdquote;

Mr. Bermingham takes an active role in serving the surrounding community where he lives in Orange County, California. A hallmark of his community involvement is &ldquote;Hearts of Montage,&rdquote; a comprehensive outreach program which supports non-profit programs throughout Orange County. Demonstrating his commitment, Mr. Bermingham has served on numerous Orange County non-profit and hospitality industry boards and committees, among them the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach, the Ocean Institute, the Anaheim and Orange County Convention and Visitor&lsquote;s Bureau and the Orange County Tourism Council.

Mr. Bermingham is married with two young sons, and enjoys coaching his son&rsquote;s soccer teams.

Elger spent the last 18 years of his hospitality career with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, and has held positions at their properties in Aspen, Bali, Cancun, Washington D.C. and Miami. He also played a key role in opening properties in Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, Dubai, Philadelphia and Bachelor Gulch.

Most recently, Elger held the position of General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Cancun in Mexico, a position he held since 2007. Considered The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company´s most acclaimed resort, it holds the distinction of being the world´s only AAA rated, triple Five Diamond Resort, having earned Five Diamonds for the hotel and both its Fantino and Club Grill Restaurants. During his time in Cancun, Mexico, he was named one of the 40 most influential leaders in Tourism by the magazine Lideres.

Elger is a graduate of the University of Denver School of Hotel Management.

Mr. Hoffman was formerly the Director of Rooms at Montage Beverly Hills, a position he held since the hotel opened in November, 2008. He started with the company in 2003 as Front Office Manager at Montage Laguna Beach and was promoted to Director of Rooms in 2004.

With over 15 years of experience, Hoffman began his hotel career with Four Seasons. He has held a variety of positions at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel (Four Seasons) in Chicago, Four Seasons Cairo, and Four Seasons Newport Beach, now The Island Hotel Newport Beach.

A native of Buffalo, New York, Mr. Hoffman spent his formative years in Chicago, Illinois, prior to relocating to Southern California. He graduated from Marquette University with a degree in Business Marketing.

Black brings more than 16 years of sales management experience within the luxury travel market to Montage Beverly Hills. Most recently, he served as the Director of Sales & Marketing for Cap Juluca, where he played an instrumental role in repositioning the brand, increasing overall revenue and recapturing several industry accolades for the property.

Black's tenure includes esteemed roles at several luxury properties throughout the U.S. and Caribbean. He previously served as Director of Marketing, Caribbean, for IMI, Luxury Real Estate Sales and Marketing, where he directed all real estate marketing initiatives for Fairmont Anguilla, Raffles St. Lucia and Raffles Tortola. Prior to that, Black spent over seven years with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company driving sales and marketing efforts for their properties in Jamaica, Grand Cayman and New Orleans.

An active member of the travel and hospitality industry, Black has served on numerous tourism boards and is a current member of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Loyola University and also attended Université Catholique de Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve in Belgium.

Mr. Phillips joined Montage Hotels & Resorts in January 2003 as part of the pre-opening team in Laguna Beach as a guest reception agent. His commitment to the brand and culture resulted in many promotions including, housekeeping manager, guest services manager, assistant front office manager and front office manager all at Montage Laguna Beach.

In 2005, Mr. Phillips moved to Los Cabos, Mexico to oversee the Twin Dolphin Hotel as Hotel Manager. Here he oversaw capital expenditures and day-to-day operations for the hotel including, Sales, Staff, Food & Beverage, Rooms, Spa and Community Relations. In 2008 he moved to Beverly Hills, California to start up the Residential Sales team for Montage Residences Beverly Hills.

Mr. Phillips extraordinary performance has been recognized by his colleagues when he was selected as a Montage Master in March 2003 and Montage Master of the Year for 2003. His leadership ability was also recognized when he was selected as MVP in the 4th quarter of 2006. Mr. Phillips is the only Montage Associate that has won the Montage Master, Montage Master of the Year and MVP awards in the history of Montage.

Prior to joining Montage, Mr. Phillips was the Vice President and Manager of Corporate Client Services for First Interstate Bank and Wells Fargo Bank.

A native of Seattle, Washington, he graduated from California State Northridge with a degree in Business Administration. Mr. Phillips is also a licensed Real Estate Broker in the state of California and an active member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Ms. Ferguson has worked in the hospitality industry for nine years. She joined the Montage Beverly Hills team as Guest Services Manager in September 2010 and transitioned into the Residential Manger role in January 2011.

Prior to joining Montage, Ms. Ferguson worked for the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica, California as a Human Resources Manager focusing on recruitment. She then moved into the role of Assistant Front Office Manager where she specialized in overseeing the VIP and special attention guests.

A native of Ithaca, NY, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from The School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University.