Hospitality and gaming industry stalwart, Madeleine Roux, has taken the helm as the new General Manager at Southern Sun Hemingways in East London. Roux has over 16 years experience in the fast-paced and exciting hospitality and gaming sector, having worked at popular casinos and resorts here in South Africa, the Grand Comores Islands, Seychelles, and Mozambique.
She began her career in finance but her interest lied in all aspects of the business, including holding the fort for her General Managers while they were away. This prompted her to move into operations. Within five years of joining Tsogo Sun with the luxurious Sandton Sun & Towers, she was appointed as Deputy General Manager at Tsogo Sun’s flagship hotels, the exquisite Palazzo Montecasino. Her first appointment as General Manager was at the busy Garden Court Sandton, and just one year later, she is delighted to take up the post of General Manager at the Southern Sun Hemingways.
While learning to work at East London’s more laid-back pace, she says that there are opportunities for local businesses to address supplies challenges and lack of choice and importance of service delivery. These are among her biggest daily challenges.
She has big plans for Southern Sun Hemingways. At the core is a more intense focus on guests wants and expectations, and delivering on these. Roux is also working closely with the food and beverage team to develop exciting food concepts at the Key Largo Restaurant to ensure that it is the first choice for cosmopolitan, quality dining.
“Southern Sun Hemingways is not only the most beautiful hotels in the area, but it is also linked to the bustling Hemingways Casino and Entertainment Complex. While it is a favoured destination for out-of-town business and leisure travellers, it also has tremendous potential as a destination for romantic escapes and fun-filled getaways for local residents. We are working on developing value-added packages and ‘show-and-stay’ specials which will entice local’s to want to come to Hemingways for a holistic entertainment, dining and hospitality experience,” says Roux.
Having worked her way up the ranks, Roux is no stranger to hard work and fully-understands the stress and frenetic pace that comes with working in the hotel industry. She thrives on it.
“You must love people and must want to serve them. If you love your job you will never have to work another day in your life. To succeed in this industry, you have to make sure that it is a right fit for you, and that it is really where you want to be. I do believe that emotional intelligence will take you a long way in this industry as it’s all about people, their expectations, their demands, their highs and lows, and we are not just talking about our guests. Your staff and property are your biggest asset.”
I believe in adding value in each day, to myself, my staff and to my guests. If you remain focused on your goals, you will soon realise what is important. To me it is important to make sure that I make the right choices each and every day,” concludes Roux.
Like all the properties in Tsogo Sun’s portfolio, Southern Sun Hemingways is marketed under the group’s Sun Burst brand. With this comes Southern Sun’s host of benefits such as the Frequent Guest programme which gives members instant access to substantial accommodation and food & beverage discounts and the ability to earn and spend Sun Rands whenever staying at one of our participating hotels.
One of the leading and largest hotel and entertainment groups in southern Africa, Tsogo Sun’s portfolio includes 14 casinos and over 90 hotels incorporating the Deluxe, Southern Sun Hotels, SunSquare, Garden Court, StayEasy and Southern Sun Resorts hotels.
