The group owns Hotel Cafe Royal on London’s Regent Street, which will be among the three properties Stephen Alden will now oversee as chief executive of The Set.

For nine years, Alden spearheaded the success in the luxury sector of Maybourne’s three hotels and also has prior experience running Starwood’s luxury St Regis and Luxury Collection hotels in New York.

His departure from Maybourne followed that of general manager of Claridge’s Thomas Koch, who ran the hotel for five years but also recently moved to The Set to run Cafe Royal.

Both their moves come not long after a shift in ownership of Maybourne, with Constellation Hotels – owned by sovereign wealth fund Qatar Holding - buying out the Barclay brothers’ stake in Coroin, the holding company that owns Maybourne, last year. Qatar Holding also took over a 35.8% stake previously held by Derek Quinlan, one of the founding shareholders, giving it a 64% shareholding.

The Set reopened the iconic Cafe Royal in 2012 after a four-year restoration, and Conservatorium – a similarly ambitious project – opened in Amsterdam the year before. The group is also working on the Lutetia in Paris.

Alden said: “It is an exciting challenge that gives me the opportunity to work with committed owners and a world class management team to develop exceptional modern luxury hotels for now and the future. Creativity, discernment and operational excellence will be at the core of our campaigns.”

Chairman of The Set Georgi Akirov said: “Stephen joins The Set at an important stage in its development and growth plan. His experience will be valuable in supporting us to achieve our ambitions to consolidate and grow the group internationally. Our immediate priorities are focused on the enhancement of the Hotel Cafe Royal and Conservatorium’s market position in London and Amsterdam as well as the much anticipated re-opening of the Lutetia in Paris, late 2017.”

He added Alden would also help to “develop The Set management company capability to support our growth plans”.