Jeroen Hanlo
Vice President Food & Beverage Operations, Karisma Resorts
Mr. Jeroen Hanlo joined Karisma Hotels & Resorts in September 2003 as Corporate Food & Beverage Director. A chef by profession, Mr. Hanlo has been in the industry for over 30 years and shares with Karisma Hotels & Resort over a decade of experience in the World of cuisine, service & hospitality.
Mr. Hanlo was the innovator and founder of the renowned Gourmet Inclusive Experience concept, now an exclusive brand of the Karisma Hotels & Resorts. In 2006 he was promoted to Vice President, a position that continues to allow him to pursue his ultimate desire for gastronomical perfection and high service.
Mr. Hanlo began his culinary career while studying economics. He discovered that his real passion was gastronomy, which led him down a career path that can be boasted by very few in the Food & Beverage industry. His apprenticeship was founded in the finest of European restaurants all awarded Michelin one, two or three stars. This ever growing list of accomplishments won him the position of guest chef at embassy events in London, which also led to him being named Chef of the Year by “World Traveler”
In his early years Mr. Hanlo’s accolades and experience opened doors to increasingly professional and creative responsibilities at World Class resorts. He played crucial rolls in the Grand-openings and re-openings of Marriott Hotels, Hyatt International Hotels, The Ritz Carlton Hotels and Caesar Park Hotels. His career finally brought him to the Riviera Maya in the position of Executive Chef and Culinary and Food & Beverage developer for the Grand Opening of Allegro´s first Luxury All Inclusive resort “Royal Hideaway”.
Over the years Mr. Hanlo has used his experience and creative mind in an effort to raise the culinary bar to new levels and to enhance the reputation of the Food and Beverage industry. On numerous occasions he has donated his time as guest and key note speaker at universities and international companies where he shares his expertise with the next generation of culinary experts as well as company executives who have benchmarked the concepts. All his efforts and experience in the expansion of the culinary arts was no better received than by the Mexican Embassy in Singapore where he represented Mexico in the Mandarin Oriental’s culinary festival.
Mr. Hanlo is a proven performer. He is a strong team builder, teacher and coach who is able to create a vision and strategically and efficiently make it into a culinary reality. His leadership, creativity and magnetism continue to attract young talented Chefs and F&B professionals for the Karisma Hotels & Resorts.
At Karisma Hotel & Resorts, Mr. Hanlo is a Gourmand and sets the level of quality service for all the hotels. He does this with his genuine culinary experience and the highest service standards mixed with solid overall hotel operation knowledge. Together with all his ever-growing and talented international team, as team work is his true vision, he continues to create the most memorable experience for Karisma’s multi-national hotel guests’ worldwide.
He has been the main drive behind obtaining the renowned 4 and 5 diamond awards from AAA for all the hotels and for the finest restaurant in Mexico Le Chique which received Best of the Best award by travel + Leisure in 2016.
Hanlo’s passion has no bounds. He is a strong believer in the power of co-branding to add value to existing product and drive additional sales. To that end, Hanlo successfully orchestrated a partnership with Jackson Family Wines and Canada Beef to create a renowned Culinary Series. The Culinary Series, which takes place the first two weeks of each month, features memorable guest experiences centered on international guest chefs and wine personalities. Due to the overwhelming success of the Culinary Series, now in its fifth year, Karisma leveraged additional partnerships to create the Chili Pepper Festival, which debuted in 2016 and will be celebrated again in 2017, as well as this year’s inaugural Lone Star Food, Art & Music Festival, adding to the dynamic on-property experiences afforded to guests.
Jeroen is truly driven by the following saying:
The person who is a master in the art of living makes little distinction between their work and their play, their labor and their leisure, their mind and their body, their education and their recreation, their love and their religion. They hardly know which is which. They simply pursue their vision of excellence and grace in whatever they do, leaving others to decide whether they are working or playing. To them, they are always doing both.
