London's only female Havana Cigars master joins Belgraves hotel
London's Belgraves hotel has appointed the city's only female master of Havana Cigars as its assistant food and beverage manager.
Paola Paolillo will, as part of her new role, help to curate the 85-bedroom hotel's humidor selection of vintage cigars, and help guests select their cigar of choice on the property's 30-cover terrace, which has a retractable glass roof to allow it be used all year round.
She previously worked as a restaurant and bar manager at the i-Suite hotel in Italy, as bar and restaurant manager at the Thistle & Guoman hotel group in London, and as the cigar lounge manager at the four-star No. Ten Manchester Street hotel in London's Marylebone.
Paolillo also came in second place in the UK Cigar Sommelier Competition in 2014, having demonstrated her knowledge in presenting, cutting and lighting a Havana cigar, as well as showing how to pair them with drinks.
Belgraves, a Thompson hotel, is a boutique property in London's Chesham Place. It is part of the Thompson group, which also operates eight properties across the world including the Thompson Chicago, the Beekman in New York, Thompson Miami Beach and the Thompson Toronto.
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