The Kahala Hotel & Resort has appointed Thomas Pauly as general manager, according to management company Landmark Hotels Group.

Pauly oversees daily operations for the 338-room luxury hotel. The Kahala celebrated its 45th anniversary in January and recently unveiled more than $52 million in updates to its guest rooms and suites, meeting space, lobby and public areas.

Most recently, Pauly was the general manager at Mexico for Landmark Hotels. He arrived in Hawai'i in late January and has more 20 years of executive experience overseeing both branded and independent resorts and corporate hotels on several continents.

Originally from Germany, Pauly was previously in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as general manager of The Normandie. Before that he was with Starwood Hotels and Resorts' Cancun properties as hotel manager at the Westin Regina. His other assignments in Mexico have been with Camino Real Hotels between 1993 and 1996.

Pauly has also served as general manager for the Intercontinental Hotel in San Salvador and for Grupo Real Hotels in El Salvador and Guatemala.

He is a graduate of Les Roches Hotel Management School in Bluche, Switzerland and is fluent in English, German and Spanish. He and his wife have four children.