Senior Appointment at Marriott International Turkey

Aytekin Karayaka has been appointed as the General Manager of 5-star Le Méridien Istanbul Etiler, a style and art-oriented lifestyle hotel within Marriott International Turkey. The successful General Manager, who will lead Le Méridien Istanbul Etiler in the areas of brand and cultural structuring with his experience of more than 30 years in the hotel industry and domestic and international experiences, started his duty as of October.

Building his education life on tourism and hotel management since his high school years, Aytekin Karayaka graduated from Etiler Anatolian Tourism and Hotel Management Vocational High School, Boğaziçi University Tourism Management and Florida International University, Chaplin Hospitality and Tourism Management undergraduate departments in Miami. He started his hotel management career in Istanbul in the late 80's while he was still a student. With his experience in food and beverage and restaurant operations, he started working on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship in Florida in 1998 as Assistant Food Manager. He then worked as the Housekeeping Manager at the Savannah Marriott Riverfront Hotel in 2000, and then as a manager in the front office and food and beverage departments at the Renaissance Charleston Historic District Hotel. After working as Food & Beverage Manager at The Marmara Taksim in 2006, he continued his career as Food & Beverage Director at Polat Renaissance Istanbul Hotel in 2009. In 2011, he took on the duty of Food & Beverage and Restaurant Operations Manager at Eden Roc Renaissance Miami Beach Resort & Spa, Miami's most iconic hotel, serving under the roof of Marriott International. Returning to Renaissance Polat Bosphorus Istanbul hotel as Operations Director in 2013, Aytekin Karayaka served as Assistant General Manager, and as of 2015, General Manager, respectively. Turning his career path abroad again in 2019, Karayaka led the teams as the General Manager at Sheraton Oman and Sheraton Bishkek Hotels. He gained experience in food and beverage, front office, housekeeping, sales and hotel operations for more than 20 years at Marriott in Turkey, the United States, the Middle East and Central Asia.

Appointed as the General Manager of Le Méridien Istanbul Etiler as of October 2022, Aytekin Karayaka will lead and mentor the hotel and all his teammates to achieve their future goals. Married and father of two, Karayaka loves to cook and explore different cuisines in her spare time. Her most exciting dream for the future is to follow this passion and travel the world to discover new cuisines and different cooking techniques.