You have had the chance to meet many members of the team at Novotel Sydney Parramatta, but now they want to introduce you to the General Manager of the hotel, who says he has the greatest team in Western Sydney, that is Michael Daviss.

Michael’s love for hospitality began while playing golf and working in the pro shop and bar at Oxley Golf Club in Brisbane. From here he went on to work in 5 star hotels in his hometown of Queensland starting as a housekeeping followed by concierge until he worked his way up to a Hotel Assistant Manager.

After nearly 9 years in 5 star hotels came the desire to travel more and work outside of Queensland, Michael joined international brand Accor Hotels in 1999 working at the Mercure and Ibis Brisbane as Hotel Assistant Manager before heading to Darwin as Front Office Manager. Over the expansion of sixteen years with Accor, Michael has worked in 15 hotels with 8 city changes across the multiple brands within Accor Hotels from Ibis to the luxurious Sofitel Sydney and even one year spent in French Polynesia for their 4 Sofitel properties.

After numerous General Manager roles, Michael finds his greatest achievement to date, is his time spent at Novotel Sydney Parramatta over the past two years. He describes that it is the feeling of watching the hotel evolve with his great team by his side that helps him get out of bed daily.

Michael finds his passion in the development of the people within the hotel and watching the excitement in his team’s faces when they’ve achieved their goals individually and for the guest and the hotel as a whole. He states that the team is what creates the soul of the hotel and the soul is what gets the hotel through the challenging times as well as the good.  

Michael describes that the hotel has gone on an extraordinary and positive journey from rebranding, to changes within the team and moving forward with the ever-changing landscape of Parramatta and Western Sydney. While the City of Parramatta makes changes to be acknowledged as a ‘region for business’ Novotel Sydney Parramatta has kept up with its multi-million dollar conference refurbishment and changes in their restaurant and bar to help make it a destination for all. Not to mention the plans for the next few months that he has up his sleeve. During the changes, Michael has always made a conscious effort to make his team feel like they are a part of the action, and ensure that they feel ownership and pride in where they work.

So how does a General Manager of a busy hotel relax? Well when the suit and tie comes off, Michael finds relaxation in the form of a game of golf, cruising around on boat with close friends or with a corona watching his favourite football team.  Michael is described by his team as being more of a friend than a boss and someone they have learnt a lot from within the hotel industry.

To meet Michael Daviss and his friendly team, pop into Novotel Sydney Parramatta any time. For more information on their winter holiday offers go to www.novotelparramatta.com.au