Simon Galic appointed opening general manager of Hotel Amano Covent Garden

Simon Galic has been appointed opening general manager of London's Hotel Amano Covent Garden, opening in May.

The 141-room property will be the Amano Group's first hotel to open outside of Germany, and will have a roof terrace, sky bar, restaurant and basement bar.

After studying hospitality management in Bristol and starting his career in Bath, Galic became operations manager of the Sherlock Holmes hotel in London, part of the Park Plaza Hotel Group, in 2004. In 2007 he joined Firmdale Hotels working at the Pelham, Haymarket and finally general manager of Number Sixteen. He moved to the Hoxton Shoreditch as general manager in 2015 and was opening general manager of the Hoxton Southwark in 2018.

He said: "It's a tremendous honour to launch the Amano Group's first hotel outside of Germany. I'm excited to bring the Amano spirit to life at Hotel Amano Covent Garden, which celebrates both Berlin and London's cultural identities through its design, atmosphere and unique F&B offering."

Ariel Schiff and Phillip Rokeach, founders of the Amano Group, said: "We're looking forward to launching our first international property in London in May, and we're confident there is no better person to lead the way than Simon. His industry experience and knowledge of London and its ever-evolving hotel scene will help to position Hotel Amano Covent Garden as one of the city's most exciting new destinations for 2022."

Prices at Hotel Amano Covent Garden will start from approximately £139 per night.

The Amano Group is a Berlin-based hotel company that owns 10 hotels, including eight in Berlin, one in Düsseldorf and one in Munich. A hotel in Leipzig is under construction, plus three more hotels in Hamburg and Munich in the planning stages. The group, established in 2009 by families Süsskind, Schiff and Rokeach, aspires to design hotels that are integrated into the city's cultural life.