Samantha Francis Named Assistant Manager of Operations

BeautifulPlaces has named Samantha Francis, a veteran hotel and resort operations manager, as its Assistant Manager of Operations.

In her new position, Francis will assist with the day-to-day operation of BeautifulPlaces’ Wine Country rental properties, including booking, provisioning and maintaining them.

Francis, a native South African, brings 10 years of operations experience gained at several South African and North American properties of the luxury lodging brand Relais & Chateaux. She started her career at High Grove Resort near Kruger National Park in South Africa, that nation’s premier game reserve.

Eight–room High Grove is South Africa’s most highly rated and regarded guesthouse. Francis worked there for two years, then moved on for a three-year stint at The Plettenberg, a five-star property in Cape Province.

Later, during a “busman’s holiday,” she spent six months working at the Inn at Manitou in Ontario, one of the Toronto region’s most upscale resorts. Francis then finished her South African experience with another year at The Plettenberg.

After her arrival in the U.S. in 2002, Francis worked at Auberge de Soleil for 18 months and at The Carneros Inn for 14 months, both in Napa.

Francis says that when she first learned of the BeautifulPlaces concept, she was fascinated. “The thought that beautiful homes could do what hotels can do if you attach concierge services to them really appealed to me. This is a novel concept in lodging – you’re offering a hotel whose rooms are spread out all over rather than being in one place.”

Patrick Smith, president of BeautifulPlaces, says hiring Francis is another benchmark event in the company’s growth. “Having Samantha join us is one more sign of the high level of service we intend to provide as a lodging company. When you see the places whose operations she has managed, you understand how serious we take the quality and level of expertise of our employees.”