Meeting Managers Past and Present

After four years as manager of the tony 92-cottage Belmond El Encanto, Janis Clapoff, has passed the torch to new manager Pedro Dias, who is moving to our Eden by the Beach after running the hotel group’s 113-room Cap Juluca in Anguilla.

Janis is taking over as manager of the historic California Club, founded in 1888 in downtown Los Angeles, while Pedro’s impressive background includes managing the Hotel St. Regis in Manhattan, where I would have the odd cocktail or two at the iconic King Cole bar, and Surrey Hotel, just a tiara’s toss from the Carlyle, where I would dine frequently at Cafe Boulud, owned by Daniel Boulud, who I knew well when he ran the kitchen at Le Cirque on Park Avenue for the late Sirio Maccioni.

I would often see the late actor Richard Harris with his pet Maltese terrier, sitting on a bench outside enjoying the sunshine.

Janis also had leadership roles at Ty Warner’s Four Seasons Biltmore and the San Ysidro Ranch, the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, and the Halekulani in Honolulu.

Among those at the bustling bijou bash marking the occasion were Karna Hughes, Leslie Westbrook, Harry and Judi Weisbart, Catherine Gee, and El Encanto communications manager Claudia Schou.