Alongside leading a team of 120 at qualia, Ratcliffe has held leadership positions at Hayman Island, old-world luxury hotel Lilianfels in the Blue Mountains and the Four Seasons in Sydney.
Ratcliffe takes over at Crystalbrook Byron from Emma Alcorn, who has moved further north to take on the GM role at Crystalbrook Bailey in Cairns.
Alcorn spent almost two years at the helm in Byron and was previously the general manager of the Crystalbrook Collection’s boutique Sydney property, Crystalbrook Albion.
In turn, Lisa Brown leaves the GM role at Crystalbrook Bailey to become general manager at another of Crystalbrook’s Cairns properties, Crystalbrook Flynn.
For Brown it is a return to the 311-room hotel, where she was executive assistant general manager when she first joined Crystalbrook in 2019.
Finally, Carl Taranto has been promoted to area general manager for Crystalbrook in Cairns, overseeing all three properties there – in addition to Crystalbrook Bailey and Crystalbrook Flynn, there is also Crystalbrook Riley. Together, Crystalbrook’s hotels in Cairns comprise almost 900 keys.
Taranto was the opening GM for both Crystalbrook Bailey and Crystalbrook Kingsley in Newcastle, NSW, and has also previously been the area GM for Crystalbrook Byron and Crystalbrook Vincent, the brand’s Brisbane hotel at Howard Smith Wharves.
The four all started their new positions in late 2024.
Since launching in Cairns in 2018 with Crystalbrook Riley, Crystalbrook Collection has become Australia’s largest independent, five-star sustainably-led hotel group.
The group currently has seven hotels under the Crystalbrook brand, with a further two in the works in Adelaide and Canberra, due to open in 2026 and 2027 respectively.
