Karin Bloch, Hotel Manager
Karin Bloch is born on April 2nd 1974. She is leading the little city hotel «Metropol» with all the related gastronomy ranges since the 1st of January 2010. Two years ago she started an adventurous journey. The many unpredictable and dynamic moments as a young businesswoman gave her life experience and strength. Thanks to her fundamental gastronomic education she started her career in the Romantik-Hotel Saentis in Appenzell. After this she worked as a seminar leader and later as head of human resources in Hotel Hof Weissbad - one of Switzerland's leading hotels. She can now introduce her experiences at these various stations in her own business.
In her spare time she enjoys sports and likes to travel with her partner Boris. The year 2012 will bring her numerous attractive challenges.
Rico and Brigitte Bloch-Aeby, Senior Leaders
As a power couple the parents Brigitte and Rico led together large gastronomic businesses like the sports center «Glarner Unterland» in Näfels (GL), later then the «Säntis-Restaurants» on the Schwägalp (AR) and the well known «Sternen» in Teufen (AR). 1999 Brigitte took over the Metropol hotel in St. Gallen, short time after Rico followed. The both know all sides of the gastronomy by experience and they are still engaged business people with love for the matter. Brigitte as a school leader of the gastronomic project «Leonardo» educates young newcomer and Rico remains with his ideas one essential support in the familiar hotel Metropol.
In their free time they enjoy trips. They prefer to travel to Italy. They keep friendships; especially they love to spend time with their beloved family, grandchildren and with the faithful four-legged friends Balu and Dino.
Christian Burri, Chef
Christian Burri works since January 1st 2010 in the Metropol hotel. After a his apprenticeship he started his career in the Parkhotel «Sonnenhof» in Vaduz, in the Romantik Hotel «Altes Gymnasium» in Husum (Germany) and last but not least in the renowned Hotel «Hof Weissbad» near Appenzell, the place where he met Karin Bloch. In his spare time he cultivates with devotion vegetables in his own garden and he loves to go swimming. «My profession is every day a lucky challenge», he says. For this reason he's always trying to pamper his guests with new smashing dishes. His cuisine is inspired by various journeys through Southern Europe, Northern Africa and Asia. Christian is married with his bewitching wife Simone and they are happy parents of three children. They live together in Appenzell.
Aderito dos Santos, Service Team Leader
Aderito dos Santos is the proudest of the team, originally from Portugal! Passion for the profession he found in the capital Lisbon where he worked after his apprenticeship in the restaurant «Alazáo» and in the 5 star hotel «Amazonia». In the late 1990s he met Brigitte and Rico Bloch-Aeby and first started to work for them in the Restaurant Sternen in Teufen (AR). Aderito is the man of the first hour: He is working in the Restaurant O'Premier since 2002, the opening year. Aderito is married with Paula and they have a sweet girl named Beatrice. In his spare time he takes care of his various international friendships, he is sociable, communicative and enjoys going to gym and power training.
Vanja Kutlesa, Assistant Manager/Head of Administration
Vanja Kutlesa is working since 1999 in the Metropol hotel. As a Management Assistant she is responsible for almost everything in house. After finishing school and commercial secondary school she started working in Hotel Metropol, later in the Hotel Herisau and after that in Hotel Continental. Vanja is a very athletic person and she loves reading books... What a contrast! The humorous and competent Swiss is married with Sinisa and has a pronounced flair for technical issues. Her life motto is: «Don't worry, be happy!»
Lilijana Dragulic, Assistant Manager/Marketing Officer
Lilijana Dragulic joined the Metropol crew in 2001. After her degree at the business school, she was an employee in the world famous engineering works Buhler in Uzwil. Because of her creative potential, the charismatic native from the city of Gossau is shaping Metropol's corporate design day by day. In her free time, she's fond of reading books. Her dream is to have a massively long railway journey to the broad steppe of Siberia.
Angelina Vasiljevic, Team Leader Barterre
Angelina Vasiljevic is working for more than twenty years in the Metropol. «This job is not just a profession for me, it is a vocation!», the dedicated team leader of the beer premise Barterre says by emphasizing the exclamation mark at the end of the sentence. And if you get to know her you find out without delay: It is true. Angelina is born and raised in Bosnia. She's is a proud mother of a daughter and in her free time she devours books in vast quantities.
Rajka Zimonjic, Team Leader Housekeeping
Rajka Zimonjic, who was born in Bosnia, is responsible for keeping the whole house running. This is definitely not an easy job for her and her team because there are 7 floors to be cleaned every day! But this is not a big deal for Rajka because she's a passionate housekeeper. With her sight on tidiness she makes the guests feel cosy. On her days off, she likes to go hiking in the mountains - lucky her that the "Alpstein" is so close.
Susanne Bloch-Haenseler, Cook and Cookbook Author
There is a special thing to say about Susanne Bloch-Haenseler: In Summer 2007, the young author went on a pilgrimage to Santiago. In the middle of Spanish Pampa she met Brigitte Bloch-Aeby who was on the way towards Santiago de Compostela, too. The two ladies hit it off and made an appointment in St.Gallen. Sue came and stayed until today. Why? Susanne fell in love with Daniel Bloch, Brigitte's son respectively Karin's brother. The two got married and now have a lovely girl called Anna Lena. Susanne did an apprenticeship in medical assistance. Incidentally she is a passionate cook and published a cookery book by herself («123 Rezepte», available at the Metropol or at the retailer). In the meantime she founded a catering service together with Nadia Iannone. Her hobbies are cooking, travelling and taking pictures. She lives together with her husband and her child in her home town Winterthur.
Martin Bloch, Member of the Family Board
Martin Bloch is always around if ideas for events or marketing matters are needed. The communication professional set up the corporate identity of the Metropol and was Head of Marketing during the start-up year of his sister's enterprise. Martin is working as a Programme Developer for Swiss Radio and Television in Zurich. After his high school degree he made his Master of Arts in communication science and media research at University of Zurich.