Christopher R.J. Knable, Global Hotel Real Estate Leader
Over a three-decade global career, Christopher has invested in, developed, branded, and operated billions of dollars of iconic hotel assets including The Peninsula Paris, PUBLIC New York and Raffles Singapore; among many more.
He started out as a teenager working in restaurants and made himself into a global hotel operator working in the US and overseas for ultra-luxury companies including Peninsula and Four Seasons. After several General Manager postings, Christopher started investing and developing with completed projects including the Rosewood Mayakoba Riviera Maya Mexico and what is now the Waldorf Astoria Chicago.
His most recent overseas experience took him first to Dubai as Vice-President Asset Managament for HRH Prince Alaweed bin Talal’s Kingdom Hotels followed by Chief Operating Officer for QIA owned Katara Hospitality. His last hotel opening was working with boutique hotel icon Ian Schrager as his Chief Operating Officer to develop and open PUBLIC New York, the next generation of boutique hotel.
Now based in New York’s bucolic Hudson Valley, he is building out two new hospitality brands including a family-friendly cafe concept “Main St Goodness” and a premium pie-focused bakery brand “Pieconic” as part of his Goodness Ventures platform which focuses on creating and executing compelling hospitality experiences.
A graduate of Hunter College in New York, he advanced his professional education at the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University and in leadership training with the Coro Organization in New York. Active in the community, Christopher has mentored hospitality students around the world from New York to Bhutan and also served on the editorial board for more than a decade of the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, the premier hospitality industry research journal.
Christopher is married, lives in New York’s Hudson Valley and has two adult children.
Representative List of Projects (partial)
Development
PUBLIC New York
Peninsula Paris
Excelsior Gallia Milan
Buddha Bar Paris
Royal Savoy Lausanne
Four Seasons Marrakech
Fairmont Makati (Manila)
Raffles Makati (Manila)
Raffles Seychelles
Mövenpick Accra (Ghana)
Mantra Punta del Este (fka Cipriani Punta del Este) – Investor developer
Waldorf Astoria Chicago (fka Elysian Chicago) – Investor developer Rosewood Mayakoba – Investor developer
Operations
PUBLIC New York
Simaisma, a Murwab Resort, Qatar Saraya Corniche, Doha
Sealine Beach, a Murwab Resort, Qatar Royal Savoy Lausanne
Buddha Bar Hotel Paris
Regent Wall Street, New York
Loews Regency, New York
The Peninsula New York
The Plaza New York
The Pierre New York
Peninsula Beijing
Peninsula Manila
Asset Management
Intercontinental Carlton Canne Intercontinental Amstel Amsterdam Raffles Singapore
Raffles D’Angkor Siem Reap Cambodia Raffles Royal Phnom Phen Cambodia Mövenpick Bur Dubai
Ritz-Carlton Doha
Sheraton Grand Doha
Raffles Paris