Hospitality advisor to private families
Nadine Sahawneh brings five-star service to homes, apartments, estates, villas, chalets, yachts, jets and clubs, and directs private events, working online across your time zones.
Arrange a private conversation- New York
- Lisbon
- London
- Geneva
- Amman
- Dubai
- Hong Kong
Calls and updates arranged around your hours, wherever the family is.
Wherever the family lives
Nadine works for families who live between several residences, and for the family offices, house managers and yacht captains who look after them.
She trained in Switzerland and spent her career in five-star hospitality. Today she brings the same attention to private homes, by video, in writing and in person when it matters.
Services
What UHNW families and their offices ask for, by property and occasion. Most of it is delivered online; services marked in person include a short visit.
Family residences
Homes
For the main family residence and its household team. Nadine sets how the house runs, writes it down and trains the staff to keep it that way.
Household manual
Routines, preferences, suppliers and standards in one house bible.
Household structure review
Roles, job descriptions and rotas that fit how the family lives.
Service standards and procedures
Arrivals, table service, housekeeping and how requests are handled.
Staff training
Live video sessions for each part of the team.
Staff recruitment and onboarding
Briefs, interviews and a first-month plan for new staff.
Service standards auditIn person
A review of how the house is really running, by video or on a short visit.
City apartments and pieds-à-terre
Apartments
For city apartments and branded residences the family uses a few weeks a year. Everything is ready when they land, and nothing has to be explained twice.
Homecoming protocol
Linen, flowers, fridge and temperature set before every arrival.
Preference profiles
Each family member's routines and tastes, kept current.
Building and concierge liaison
Clear briefs for the residence team and outside suppliers.
Housekeeping standards
Care of linen, wardrobes and fine finishes between visits.
Supplier panel
Vetted florists, chefs, drivers and cleaners in each city.
Departure checklist
How the apartment is closed and kept until next time.
Country houses and estates
Estates
For country houses and family compounds with grounds, a house manager and several departments. Nadine brings order to who decides, who reports and how the house receives guests.
Estate operations reviewIn person
Reporting lines, decisions and how departments work together.
Staffing and running-cost review
The team the estate needs and what it should cost to run.
Estate manual and departmental procedures
Written standards for the house, the kitchen and the grounds staff.
Inventory and housekeeping systems
Linen, silver, china and glass, counted and cared for.
House manager recruitment
The brief, the search and the interviews.
House-party planning
Room allocation, guest programmes and house rules for guests.
Seasonal villas by the sea
Villas
For holiday villas used for a season and often let in between. Nadine plans the season so the local team opens, runs and closes the house to one standard.
Season opening and closing
Checklists the caretaker and local team can follow.
Seasonal staff recruitment
Housekeepers, hosts and cooks hired and briefed before the family arrives.
Villa manual and welcome book
How the house works, for staff and for guests.
Changeover standards
How the villa is turned around between family stays and lets.
Pre-arrival preferences
A short form sent to every guest before they come.
Pre-season readiness checkIn person
A guided video walk-through or a short visit before the first arrival.
Alpine chalets for the winter
Chalets
For private ski chalets used from December to April. Swiss hotel training and the Alpine service style are where Nadine's career began.
Winter season plan
Opening, mid-season and closing, set out week by week.
Chalet team recruitment
Chalet manager, host, chef and housekeeper, briefed before the season.
Pre-season training
Video sessions for hosts and housekeepers.
Chalet service standards
Breakfast, après-ski, dinner and turndown.
Guest logistics
Ski passes, instructors, fittings, transfers and restaurant bookings.
Mid-season reviewIn person
A check on service and guest feedback while there is still time to adjust.
Interior service on board
Yachts
For owners, captains, chief stews and yacht managers, for owner trips and charters alike. Nadine works on the guest side of the yacht: interior service, preferences and everything that happens ashore.
Interior standards manual
Service sequences, table settings, housekeeping and laundry.
Owner and guest preference sheets
Prepared before every trip and kept for the next one.
Chief stew mentoring
Regular one-to-one sessions by video through the season.
Interior crew trainingIn person
Online through the year, with time on board before the season.
Shore-side arrangements
Hotels, dinners ashore, events and guest travel.
Trip debriefs
What worked and what to change after each owner trip or charter.
Private aviation and travel
Jets
For principals, flight departments and family offices. Nadine covers the hospitality on board and on the ground, so the family's preferences travel with them from house to aircraft to hotel.
Cabin service standards
Table settings, service sequences and the guest experience on board.
Passenger preference profiles
Food, drinks, seating and routines for every regular passenger.
Flight attendant hospitality coaching
Five-star service skills, coached by video.
Catering briefs
Written from the preference profiles for each flight.
Hotels and VIP arrivals
Hotel selection, room requests and a briefing before every stay.
Residence to jet to hotel handover
One protocol so nothing is lost between teams.
Private members' clubs
Clubs
For owners and operators of private members' clubs and club lounges, and for principals who host at their clubs. Nadine ran Fairmont Gold and the Rotana Rewards Select programme, both built around recognising members.
Member experience standards
What every member should feel at each point of a visit.
Member journey mapping
From application to the hundredth visit.
Membership tiers and recognition
How the club knows, thanks and rewards its members.
Front-of-house training
Online training for reception, member services and lounge teams.
Pre-opening plan
Procedures, hiring and training for a new club or lounge.
Mystery member visitIn person
An anonymous visit and a written report.
Weddings and private occasions
Events
For weddings, engagements, milestone birthdays, private dinners and house parties. Nadine has planned events at The St. Regis Amman since 2019 and today leads its event planning.
Weddings and engagementsIn person
Including Arab wedding traditions, planned online and directed on the day.
Milestone celebrations
Birthdays and anniversaries at home, on board or at a venue.
Private dinners at home
Menu, table plan, staff briefing and running order.
House-party programmes
A weekend planned hour by hour for every guest.
Venue sourcing and hotel contracts
Shortlists, negotiations and room blocks.
Guest management
Invitations, replies, seating, protocol and transfers.
One standard across every house
Family Office
For single-family offices and chiefs of staff who look after several homes, a yacht and a jet. Nadine gives the office one service standard and one record of the family's preferences, shared with every team.
One service standard
The same standard across every residence, the yacht and the jet.
Family preference register
One record, shared with every house and crew.
Household HR framework
Job descriptions, a staff handbook and appraisals.
Agency and supplier review
Which agencies and suppliers the office should keep.
Family gatherings and retreats
Planned from the first idea to the last departure.
VIP guests and delegations
Protocol, arrivals and programmes for important visitors.
Working from a distance
Most of the work happens online. This is how an engagement runs from the first call.
A private conversation
A video call with you or your representative about the household, the occasion and the standard you expect.
A remote assessment
A guided video walk-through of the residence or yacht, or a written brief for an occasion.
A written plan
Scope, timeline, deliverables and fees, agreed in writing before any work begins.
The work, online
Training, plans and supplier negotiations run by video, phone and email, with a short written update each week.
Present when it matters
Nadine travels for the day of an occasion or the first week of a new team, as agreed in the plan.
Background
Nadine went to school in Bern and Hong Kong and trained in hotel management at Hotel Institute Montreux and Les Roches. At the Four Seasons Hotel Amman she rose from the front desk to reservations manager, and was the only woman promoted to front desk supervisor since the hotel opened.
She went on to manage the Rotana Rewards Select programme from Abu Dhabi and to run Fairmont Gold at Fairmont Amman. Since 2019 she has planned events at The St. Regis Amman, where she is Director of Event Planning. Years spent teaching and in human resources shape how she trains and hires household teams.
Career
- 2019 to today
The St. Regis Amman
Director of Event Planning since 2024, after Assistant Director and Event Planner Senior Manager
- 2017 to 2018
Fairmont Amman
Fairmont Gold Manager
- 2015 to 2017
Rotana Hotel Management Corporation, Abu Dhabi
Select Programme Manager, Rotana Rewards
- 2011 to 2014
The Ahliyyah School for Girls, Amman
English teacher, IB Primary Years
- 2005 to 2009
Four Seasons Hotel Amman
Front desk agent to reservations manager
- 2002 to 2004
Sheraton Amman Al Nabil Hotel
Banquet sales executive
Education
- 2010
Les Roches, Marbella
Bachelor of Business Administration in Hospitality
- 2001
Hotel Institute Montreux
Swiss Hotel Diploma in Hotel Management
Languages
Arabic and English, with French and German
Discretion
Families are never named, and their homes, yachts and occasions are never shown publicly. A confidentiality agreement can be signed before the first conversation, and everything shared stays between Nadine and the family or its representative.
Questions
- Can this work really be done remotely?
- Most of it can. Assessments run by guided video walk-through, manuals and plans are shared online, and training is delivered live by video. Nadine travels for the moments that need her in the room.
- Where and in which languages does she work?
- She is based in Amman, Jordan, and works online with families in the Gulf, Europe and beyond, in Arabic, English, French or German.
- How does an engagement begin?
- With a private conversation by video. Send a short enquiry through this page and Nadine replies personally to arrange a time.
Arrange a private conversation
Tell Nadine a little about the household or the occasion and she will reply personally. Conversations in Arabic, English, French or German.