Local man steering rebranded hotel

Jet Park Rotorua manager Hammond Cardon. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

It was time to come home, says Jet Park Hotel’s head

Hammon Cardon, who recently returned to Rotorua as general manager of Jet Park Hotel's first venture outside Auckland, has hospitality in his blood.

Born in Auckland, the family moved to Taupo when he was 15 and his mother took up a role as rooms division manager at the Waiariki Resort, one of many moves during her 35 year career in the hospitality industry.

"We lived on site and I worked all the way through high school at the resort. They always need staff in hotels. It's a 24-hour business and you learn how to work hard," said Mr Cardon.

When he left high school, he began working fulltime in Waiariki Resort's food and beverage department, then left for four years in the UK, where he worked in bars and hotels in Southampton and Bournemouth in southern England, and in Bridgend in Wales.

By the time he returned, his family had relocated to Rotorua and he went to work for the Royal Lakeside Novotel, where he spent three years, ending up as assistant banquets manager and doing a hotel traineeship which also saw him working in front office for a time.

Hotels are interesting to work in because there are so many departments and opportunities.

Hammond Cardon

"It's like amini town-there are kitchen teams, front of house, reception, back of house, accounts and admin, maintenance. There are so many different roles and lots to learn at all levels. You can stay in the industry and move up through a lot of roles, which is
what I've done."

In 2003, he moved to Wellington to take up the role of banquet and events services manager with the Intercontinental, where a highlight included working on the Lord of the Rings events. He spent a couple of years at the Intercontinental, before returning again to Rotorua as food and beverage manager for the Grand Tiara Hotel, since rebranded as Distinction Hotel Rotorua.

Vanessa Beban, Distinction Hotel's general manager, who worked closely with Mr Cardon,
described him as very focused.

"There are lot of people who sit behind desks," she said.

"Hammond's not one of those people. He's hands-on and gets involved. When I worked with him, he was on the floor with his staff doing the job. He had high standards, he expected quality and he gave it.

"And he was dedicated to the cause-the hours he put in were ridiculous. Hammond had his dreams and goals, he's risen to his own challenges and conquered themand done very well."

In 2006, Mr Cardon changed focus slightly, taking up the role of operations manager for Event Impressions where he spent three years, before moving to Auckland as food and beverage manager of the Holiday Inn Auckland Airport for a couple of years.

He then took up the general manager role at the Quality Hotel Lincoln Green.

But he was keen to return to Rotorua for family reasons and this year the opportunity came up, when Jet Park Hotel- which owns Jet Park Airport Hotel-decided its first venture outside Auckland would be in Rotorua. The family-owned company acquired the 63 room Quality Inn on Fenton St last November, rebranded and refurbished it.

"It was time to come back," said Mr Cardon, who took up his new role a couple of months ago.

"I'm really enjoying being back -especially workingwith a company that is new to town. It's a fantastic location for us."

Hammond Cardon:
- Role: Hotel manager, Jet Park Hotel Rotorua
- Born: Auckland, New Zealand
- Age: 40
- First job: Hospitality worker
- Currently reading: The Demon Cycle series by H Peter V. Brett.