Cinnamon Grand’s New General Manager, Dermot Gale
Gale began his career in 1989 as a chef in Europe before moving to Bermuda in 1999 where he was appointed as Executive Chef of the Newstead Hotel
British national Dermot Gale counts over 40 years in the hospitality industry with stints in some of the leading hotel brands. Prior to this appointment as the General Manager of Cinnamon Grand, the flagship hotel of the Cinnamon brand, Gale was the General Manager of
Cinnamon Lakeside Colombo, the premier five-star resort in the city. He is also Vice President, John Keells Holdings.
During his tenure, he led the Hotel to achieve several coveted accolades, including the title of Best Culinary Hotel at the Chefs’ Guild Culinary Awards 2018, Best Five Star City Hotel at the Sri Lanka Tourism Awards 2018, and the property being ranked 11th place in the Top 25 properties in Sri Lanka by Trip Advisor Traveller’s Choice Awards for 2019.
A driven, passionate hotelier, he has worked for various leading hotel brands around the world including France, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, St. Lucia, Barbados, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Maldives.
Gale began his career in 1989 as a chef in Europe before moving to Bermuda in 1999 where he was appointed as Executive Chef of the Newstead Hotel. During the next decade, he continued working in the post of Executive Chef at various hotels and resorts around the West Indies.
In 2002, Gale looked to further his expertise by taking on the role of Executive Chef at the then Trans Asia Hotel. Subsequently, he joined the Colombo
Plaza Hotel (now Cinnamon Grand) in 2003, where he took on the leadership role of Director Catering – Development and Operations. Then in 2006, Gale joined
Cinnamon Island Alidhoo in the Maldives, the first overseas resort to be opened under the ‘Cinnamon’ brand, as Resort Manager. He was responsible for the opening of the resort.