Crowne Plaza Changshu has appointed John Lee as General Manager of the hotel, which is scheduled to open on July 12, 2006.

A veteran hotelier with over 25 year's experience, Lee has extensive first-hand knowledge of pre-opening, operations and the development of hotels.

He began his professional career with InterContinental Hotels Group in 2000 as General Manager of Crowne Plaza Chengdu. He joined InterContinental Hotels Group after a long and successful career with Shangri-la Hotels & Resorts as General Manager in Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Prior to joining Crowne Plaza Changshu, he spearheaded the re-branding of Holiday Inn Asiaworld Taipei and the Mutiara Beach Resort Penang, which is to be re-branded as the InterContinental Resort Penang. As the opening General Manager of Crowne Plaza Shenzhen, he contributed significantly to the successful opening of this flagship property.