In early September 2011 ST.PETER LINE ferry operator signed a contract to manage individual services for Princess Maria and Princess Anastasia cruise ships by TN Hotels & More company headed by Mr. Thomas Noll. The priority targets for ST.PETER LINE company are comfort and high level of services for the passengers.

That is why the ferry operator is happy to co-operate with Mr. Noll and members of his expert team. For example, Mr. Jaakko Nuutila, a well-known person in Finnish hotel business, was appointed to the Hotel Director position aboard Princess Maria cruise ferry (St. Petersburg - Helsinki runs). Passenger comfort aboard Princess Anastasia cruise ferry (St. Petersburg - Helsinki - Stockholm - Tallinn runs) is the responsibility of Mr. Daniel Burkhard. For Daniel it is not the first experience of operations at sea - in his native Switzerland he successfully worked with Viking River Cruises, the largest cruise operator company.

 Thomas Noll

    Born on January 5, 1961, in Germany, in 1985 graduated from the Hotel School Poppe&Neumann in Konstanz with the “Kuchenmeister” diploma. In 1988 complemented the education with Hotel Management Courses in Cornell University in Ithaca, USA.
    Having started his career in the hospitality industry as an Executive Chef in Comino Hotels in Malta, Thomas Noll has over 30 years of experience of working in hotel business – over 19 years of which in the position of General Manager.
    ‎The extensive international experience of Thomas Noll includes working in Malta, Antigua, Crete, Egypt, Kenya, Switzerland, Turkey, and for the last 9 years in Russia, managing luxury 5 star properties in St. Petersburg – a world recognized tourist capital. Thomas Noll is married to Tatiana Noll from St.Petersburg.
    During his current tenure as Managing Director of the Grand Hotel Europe, Thomas Noll achieved significant goals. The total hotel revenue since 2005 under Thomas Noll’s management has been increased by 42%, hotel earned remarkable awards: Grand Prix of Best Hotel in Europe 2008, by the Jury of Prix Villegiature, Best hotel in Russia in 2008, The World’s Leading Luxury Hotel, by The World Travel Awards.
    One of the projects which were successfully completed was the extensive multi million dollar renovation program, involving all guest rooms and most of public areas.
    Thomas Noll is a founder of the Russian Chapter of Chaine des Rotisseurs- an international gastronomic association dedicated to bringing together both professional and non-professional members worldwide who appreciate and share a mutual interest in cuisine, wine and fine dining. Thomas Noll has headed the Russian Chapter for eight years and is also a member of Conseil Magistral (International Advisory Board). As cuisine and fine dining are a focal point within the Chaîne, the society also supports and promotes the future of young cooks worldwide through the Jeunes Commis Rôtisseurs Competition. It provides them with the opportunity to develop and demonstrate their culinary skills.
    In 2005, Thomas Noll has initiated and organized the first Christmas Market in Russia, which was greatly received by the city residents and guests alike. The project has received well-deserved support from the city authorities, and eventually became the traditional annual city event, which takes place on one of the major squares in the historical center of the city. The project has evolved into a charity fundraising event, with an annual auction, where paintings are done by city celebrities and prominent personalities. The tradition of giving and charity, initiated by Thomas Noll, is very strong at the Grand Hotel Europe. In 2006 Thomas Noll has established the Charity Foundation of the Grand Hotel Europe, thus initiating a whole series of charity activities performed by the hotel. The major goal of the Foundation is assisting children and youth in need (orphans).
    In march 2010, Thomas Noll decided to depart from the Grand Hotel Europe and to assist his equal partner in setting up the Hermitage Group as a hospitality company. In April 2010, Thomas has been awarded by the European Hotel Managers Association as the European Hotel Manager of the Year. In early September 2011 ST.PETER LINE ferry operator signed a contract to manage individual services for Princess Maria and Princess Anastasia cruise ships by TN Hotels & More company headed by Mr.Thomas Noll.
    Thomas Noll enjoys travelling, sports, such as golfing, swimming and skiing, loves motorbiking and good music and makes people around him happy!

 Jaakko Nuutila

    Jaakko Nuutila is a 45 years old Finnish man. He has made his professional career in the Hospitality Industry but has also educated himself on the Academic level. Mr Nuutila is a well known culinary authority in Finland.

    Jaakko Nuutila started his career quite young as a steward, but soon after graduating from High School and Culinary School he became a Sous-Chef and then built his career in Finland and France to more demanding positions such as Executive Chef and Restaurant Manager of Savoy in Helsinki. He is the very first Certified Master Chef in Finland and has been e.g. the President of the Finnish Chef Association. He has strong connections to Gastronomical Societies such as EuroToques (Honorary Member) and Chaîne des Rôtisseurs (Board Member).

    Jaakko Nuutila has graduated also as a Lecturer for Adult Education and was a Program Director at Haaga University of Applied Sciences for many years. He is Master of Food Sciences in Food Economics and has finished his Post Graduate studies on Food System. He is preparing his Doctoral Thesis on Organic Food Quality for the University of Helsinki. Nuutila has written numeral Culinary Articles and few Study and Cook Books. Due to his Technical Skills combined with his Scientific Understanding, his knowledge in Hospitality Industry is on a very high level, one of a kind.

    Jaakko Nuutilas special qualifications are: Planning and managing Food Production and Service Processes and Menu Engineering, Quality Management and Gastronomy. Due to his Post Graduate studies he has excellent knowledge in Sustainability and Responsibility in Food System. He has also the rights – given to him by the Finnish Food Safety Authority – to receive the Hygiene Proficiency Exams and that gives him good knowledge in Food Safety issues.

    Jaakko Nuutila is known as a hardworking, demanding and strict Director who treats people fairly and equally. Because of his good sense of humor and pleasant behavior, he is easy to approach and work with.

 Daniel Burkhard 

    Daniel Burkhard is a 41-year-old Swiss citizen of Italian and German origin, married to a Russian.
Mr. Burkhard started his hotel business education at an early age in the Italian part of Switzerland, after which he spent seven years in various positions in F&B in 5 Stars Hotels all around Switzerland. He was Chef Sommelier in Bern and participated in the Best Sommelier competition in Switzerland.
    Later he continued his hotel business education in two hotel management schools in Switzerland, in Lucern and in Geneva.
After graduating he worked for the Swiss government creating a multidimensional database for a project related to tourism using very advanced technology.
    His very first international experience was in Russia as a Hotel Manager for the biggest river cruiser company in the world, from Switzerland, Viking River Cruises. Mr. Burkhard opened a restaurant in Kazakstan, which within 6 months was nominated amongst the top seven restaurants in the city, then it became the fourth best restaurant.           After refining his skills of customer service analysis as mystery guest in Bologna, he had the opportunity the be a Mystery Shopper for a Corinthia Hotel where after presenting a detailed report was offered the position of Quality Manager with Corinthia Hotels in Europe, where he had the opportunity to work in St Petersburg, Prague, Budapest an Lisbon.
    Mr. Burkhard was also part of the team of Grand Hotel Europe with Orient Express Hotels as a Quality Manager at the very beginning, and F&B Manager later on, being part of the very first team had the privileges to taking part of the refurbishment project of the value of 35 million euros.
    After this intensive experience he moved to Trinidad and Tobago, where he accepted the position of F&B Director with the intercontinental Hotel Group which later on was transferred to Romania, where he also participated in refurbishment project there.
Returning to Russia, he worked for the Hermitage Hotel and Restaurant Consulting company for two years as Director of Development. This was an extensive project dealing with 5 stars hotels with 300 rooms, Shopping Center, Aqua Park and Convention Center.
    Taking advantage of the crises he received Master Certificate in Hospitality Management with Cornell University which opened him the door of the academic world. Finally, seeking to round out his practical knowledge and experience academically Mr. Burkhard returned to Switzerland to accept the position of a lecturer with the University Center for the Swiss Hotel Management School where he taught Food and Beverage Management and Cost Control modules.