From Anantara to Avani : a move within Minor Hotels
Magdalena Martorell Server took up the post of General Manager of Avani+ Fares Maldives Resort in September 2026. The resort is located in Baa Atoll, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. She is responsible for the property’s strategy, its commercial and operational performance, the guest experience and team development.
Her remit includes strengthening Avani+ Fares’s positioning as a distinctive lifestyle destination in the Maldives. She joins from Bali, where she had served as General Manager for Anantara Hotels & Resorts since February 2025. The group is also preparing to open Anantara Dragon Seseh Bali Resort & Residences there, scheduled for 2027.
In the message announcing her appointment, she describes her Bali chapter as particularly memorable. She also expresses her enthusiasm at continuing her journey with Minor Hotels, this time within the Avani family. Her stated priority is to get to know the resort’s teams in order to keep creating memorable experiences for guests.
A career built at Meliá, from Spain to Asia
Before joining Minor Hotels, Magdalena Martorell Server spent most of her career with Meliá Hotels International. Having studied tourism administration at E.S.T.B. between 1997 and 2000, she first held management positions in Spain. She was Resident Manager of Hotel Melia Barcelona in 2007 and 2008.
She then became General Manager of TRYP Almussafes, near Valencia, from 2008 to 2009, followed by TRYP Barcelona Aeropuerto from 2010 to 2012. She subsequently moved to Indonesia as Hotel Manager of Hotel Melia Bali & The Garden Villas. This beachfront five-star property, with 494 rooms and five restaurants, is located within the ITDC complex in Nusa Dua.
She served there as interim General Manager for a year, in 2014. She has also held an Executive Leadership certificate from Cornell University since 2013.
Openings in Vietnam and China
From 2015 to 2017, she opened and then ran Sol Beach House Phu Quoc, a 284-room lifestyle resort with three restaurants, including a beach club, two bars and two meeting rooms. At the time, Phu Quoc was an emerging destination, linked internationally by a single direct flight, from China. Working with travel agencies, she helped bring a new source market to the island through a charter operation.
From 2017 to 2019, she led the pre-opening and opening of Melia Shanghai Parkside, an 88-room boutique hotel within walking distance of Shanghai Disneyland. There she oversaw the pre-opening budget, recruitment, purchasing, coordination with the construction site, brand identity and commercial strategy.
In late 2019, she joined Meliá Hotels International’s Masterforce programme as General Manager. Her mission was to launch the pre-opening of Gran Melia Zhengzhou, owned by Greenland, in China’s Henan province. From April 2021 to March 2025, she ran Meliá Phuket Mai Khao, in Thailand. The property comprises 100 suites and pool villas, two signature restaurants and a YHI Spa.
Minor Hotels and the Maldives market
Analysis – Her move from Anantara to Avani illustrates how executives circulate between Minor Hotels’ brands. The group is currently expanding Avani+ across several Asian markets, as shown by the recent signing of Avani+ Hanoi in Vietnam. Her profile, which includes several openings and a strong commercial focus, matches the lifestyle dimension the brand lays claim to.
Avani+ Fares was part of a cluster of five group properties in the Maldives, alongside Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas and three NH hotels. The cluster was overseen by Stuart de Saint Nicolas, now at the helm of Banyan Tree Samui. General manager appointments are changing elsewhere in the archipelago too: a Minor Hotels alumnus, Pieter Van Der Hoeven, has just taken the helm of Soneva Fushi.
At a glance by The Hospitality Tribune
Magdalena Martorell Server appointed General Manager of Avani+ Fares Maldives Resort
Took office in September 2026 at the Baa Atoll resort, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve
Internal move within Minor Hotels after serving as General Manager for Anantara in Bali since February 2025
15+ years in management roles, mostly with Meliá Hotels International across Spain, Indonesia, Vietnam, China and Thailand
Pre-opening track record: Sol Beach House Phu Quoc (284 rooms), Melia Shanghai Parkside (88 rooms), Gran Melia Zhengzhou
Previously General Manager of Meliá Phuket Mai Khao (2021-2025)
