El Encanto names new GM
Bruno Brunner has been named general manager of El Encanto Hotel in Santa Barbara.
Brunner takes charge during the Riviera-area property’s more than $75 million restoration. Orient-Express officials, who own El Encanto, said Brunner is one of the copany’s most experienced managers. The 92-guestrooms and suites property has been a landmark since 1918. It is scheduled to reopen in the fall of next year after its renovation is completed.
The new general manage has worked with hotel groups such as St. Regis, Shangri La, Rosewood and Hyatt. He will oversee the continuing refurbishment of El Encanto, a boutique hotel made up of a collection of 1920’s Spanish colonial cottages, and ongoing hotel management.
Prior to joining El Encanto, Brunner was general manager at the Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans. Brunner takes over for Clive O’Donoghue, who has transferred to a sister Orient-Express property: The Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels, Maryland.
