Will Singapore-based Pontiac Land Group – lover of art, architecture, refined services and all things beautiful – redefine luxury hospitality with its new brand, Patina? Raini Hamdi talks to Marc Dardenne, CEO, Patina Hotels & Resorts, about creating a new sheen
Marc Dardenne, CEO, Patina Hotels & Resorts
Why does Pontiac, which owns luxury hotels in Singapore like Regent, Ritz-Carlton, Conrad and Capella, want to launch a new brand and manage hotels?
If you’ve owned successful hotels for so long and you like hotels, the next logical step is to manage them yourself. The group has incredible development expertise and has worked with different brands – which are all very good – and learned along the way, so it’s time to create our own.
Is there a need for yet another luxury hotel brand?
Yes, there is some white space. The established brands are outstanding in their service delivery. They have the right processes, are consistent and, though expensive, you know what you are going to get, so the value is there. But there is something lacking; the experience, energy or the lifestyle aspects. They are a little conservative, maybe even boring, for the new traveller.
On the other hand, the lifestyle hotels are wonderful in their energy, exciting, have great design, but lack service delivery and product consistency. So we want to take the best of the two worlds and build some wonderful hotels.
You launched the first Armani Hotel in Dubai, The Address Hotels + Resorts and At.mosphere, the world’s highest restaurant in Burj Khalifa. How lucky to be involved with a lot of firsts.
Yes. I joined Pontiac because the Kwee family has fantastic reputation in the industry, there are common values, the vision for luxury is the same, the chemistry works and, in life, you don’t get too many chances to develop something from ground up.
But each (experience) is different. Armani is a fashion brand, never a hotel brand, so it’s about taking the DNA of a successful brand and moving it into the hotel space. The Address is a new product, but we had existing products and had to work with those. Here, with Patina, it’s a white sheet, so it’s exciting.
Established brands have years of experience behind them, and do great things, but there is always a certain legacy that you have to deal with. Here, I can start afresh with new ideas and new ways of doing business.
But there is legacy with Pontiac, which is used to Ritz-Carlton, Regent, etc. Won’t this influence Patina?
Not at all. Patina is a fresh brand. The other brands manage the hotels on Pontiac’s behalf.
When you came in, were there already some thoughts about the brand from the Kwee family? How white is the sheet and do you have a free hand to create Patina?
I think everyone has thoughts about it. We kind of all listened to each other, brainstormed, thought out of the box.
What were some of the thoughts?
We knew we wanted to be in the luxury segment – five-star plus, six-star, ultra-luxe. My background is luxury, that’s what I like to do, and the Kwees have always been in the luxury space – look at all their hotels. Some, like Regent, are ahead of their time.
Secondly, we wanted to work with great consultants, architects and interior designers, so that part of our brand identity is developing hotels that are special and not cookie-cutters.
Third is the art component. In all (Pontiac) hotels, there is a fantastic art collection. This will be part of the DNA of Patina as well.
We also have a 360-degree concierge concept, where every team member is a host. In a traditional hotel, if a guest wants recommendations on Singapore food, he goes to the concierge. In our case, we want to prepare everyone to be ready to answer. If a guest is interested in calligraphy, our concierge could tell him a thing or two, then call Johnny in the laundry who is passionate about calligraphy. Johnny will be able to take the client out to the real heart of calligraphy. It’s an experience he will remember and will tell his friends. We want to develop specialists in different areas among our staff.
I’ve worked with different brands, so a lot of my contribution will be to cherry-pick the best of the best and create the perfect experience for the market of today.
A lot of luxury brands are also doing the same. Regent under Steven Pan, or the new So Sofitel brand, all talk of architecture and experiences.
Yes, there is a clear trend towards the new luxury. Everyone is trying but time will tell who will do the best. It’s all about the execution. We feel we have the right DNA, team and backing. What’s also important is a long-term approach. Hotels and brands take time to build, and the group has a long-term view. So, while we want to be aggressive in development we want to make sure we do it right.
Which luxury brand today do you feel is doing it right?
I feel nobody has been able to fill the gap yet and hopefully Patina will, with all the best practices.
So in today’s prices, how much would it cost to build Patina, what would you be charging and what are the development plans?
It’s pretty much in line with luxury hotels such as Ritz-Carlton.The first Patina will be in Singapore (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 8, 2012) and we’ll announce the full details this quarter. We’re working on projects in China – Shanghai, Beijing and Sanya; a couple in South-east Asia – Bangkok, Phuket, Bali, Manila, Palawan; and the Maldives, which would be a fantastic location for Patina. India and Sri Lanka are also interesting. As well, the Middle East – Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi.
Our strategy is to focus first on Asia all the way to the Middle East, but Patina really is a global brand. I can see Patina in Europe and the US at a later stage. But we have to walk before we run. And we want to be very quality focused. If we say we must have five, or 10 hotels, we’ll run into the danger of pushing some projects we’re going to regret. The key for us now is to over-deliver on our brand promise.
So you’re both beach and city accommodation? What’s a good size for a Patina hotel?
We expect 40 per cent will be resorts and 60 per cent urban hotels with a resort feel. Today, there is a blurring between business and leisure – businessmen have their BB around when they are at the pool; the business centre is wherever you are. We want to cater to both corporate and leisure. If you’re a pure corporate hotel, you have lots of downtime during weekends and holidays.
A good size would be 150-250 rooms. Any larger and it will be difficult to provide the highly personalised service. With 150-250 rooms, you can ensure the room is ready and perfect when the guest arrives, you can adjust it to his preferences, etc. You will then ask, why not smaller then, 60-80 rooms? If they are villas in the Maldives that’s fine, but in general there’s a certain number you’d have to have in order to make the concept viable. You need good F&B outlets, for example, and when the resort is too small, it’s difficult to do that and bring in the right talent.
Part of the development will also be residential, and we have launched Patina Lifestyle Services where customers can choose from a menu of services or all of the services. We can take care of everything, from walking the dog to filling the fridge if they want us to. It’s a step further than the residential services available today. We hope a lot of our hotels will have a residential component as we like the concept, it works well with the hotel and Pontiac is experienced in residential development.
Is it easy for new brands to draw talent?
People say, ‘Oh, new brand, difficult to get the right people, Singapore has a talent crunch – I don’t listen to this. It’s how you find the right talent and that comes first with the selection process, i.e. how much time you spend to find the right team member with the right attitude and who can associate with the brand values. Too many times I’ve seen we make shortcuts.
Then, it’s how you welcome them and next is training, training, training.
For me, it’s interesting to see that a lot of young people are actually attracted to a white sheet. I saw this in Dubai. They feel if they join, they could contribute and not be boxed in and told what to do. When I started in the industry, I wanted to join the established companies, learn how a hotel works, know the policies and procedures. Today’s generation wants to learn too, but they want to be creative and in an organisation that is flat and listens to them. Being a new brand, I’ve a huge advantage actually.
This article was first published in TTG Asia, February 22 – March 7, 2013 issue, on page 8. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.
