John Vasatka
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[dropcap]A[/dropcap]nguilla: John Vasatka will take over as CEO this month for the Ani Villas’ collection of private resorts in Anguilla, Sri Lanka and Thailand, as well as a fourth property due to open later this month in the Dominican Republic.
Mr. Vasatka has worked with upscale luxury hotels for nearly two decades, including 12 years as general manager at various Aman Resorts’ locations in the Caribbean, the Middle East, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
His most recent position was as GM at the Malliouhana, an Auberge resort on Anguilla. He will continue to be based on the 35-square-mile British territory in the West Indies where Ani Villas first opened its doors in 2011.
“John’s background makes him a perfect fit for Ani,” said outgoing CEO Ira Bloom. “He’s lived and worked in all of the places we now have private resorts, from Sri Lanka and Thailand to Anguilla. And his seasoning as a hotelier is exactly with the kind of demographic that’s increasingly drawn to the private resort concept.”
Unlike most resorts, Ani Villas and its collection of 10-15 suite properties caters to but a single party at a time, whether they’re a group of friends or family on a togethering holiday, like-minded individuals on a lifestyle retreat or corporate groups that prefer the run of an entire property as opposed to being segregated to a section of a larger resort shared with others.
Ani’s iconic clifftop property on Anguilla is currently undergoing repairs in the aftermath of Category 5 Hurricane Irma. The resort is using the opportunity for a more extensive renovation and upgrade with plans to open a new in March.
“We’d been planning significant renovations around this time, though we didn’t expect Irma to have such a heavy hand in our planning,” said Bloom, who has led Ani Villas since inception.
In the wake of Vasatka’s appointment, Bloom will focus on acquisition and management of the assets of the group as owner’s representative for its principal Tim Reynolds, who parted company from Jane Street Capital some years ago to focus on the development of Ani Villas and its complementary philanthropic effort, the Ani Art Academies.
For every private resort that Reynolds opens, he opens another stand-alone art academy that provides fully funded 3- to 4-year educations in painting and drawing for local students.
Beyond the Dominican Republic, Ani is eyeing possibilities in Panama, Brazil, Zanzibar and the South Pacific.
“Now that we have John on board to steer our hospitality operation, Ira is in a position to deepen our footprint in some of the world’s most interesting new destinations,” said Reynolds.
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