Tell us more about your background in hospitality.
The fact that my father was general manager of the Evergreen Hotel Bangkok and went on to manage other hotels meant that we stayed in many beautiful hotels growing up. The beautiful luxury hotel designs – along with the fact that I come from a very artistic family – led me to study architecture at Notre Dame.
I eventually joined Blink Design Group in Bangkok, which gave me a chance to focus on design from a user’s and developer’s perspective. Later, at Asset World Corporation (AWC), I managed luxury hotel and resort projects, blending design and development experience. It was also during my role as managing director that I brought Nobu in as a partner for AWC. I joined Nobu in September 2023 – now working with Nobu, a hotel brand, I can truly say my journey has come full circle.
Let’s talk about Nobu’s approach to lifestyle. How does Nobu define a lifestyle hotel?
As a hotel, we’re only 10 years old – and our core values and philosophies were born out of the story of Nobizawa. Since the beginning, we have been rooted in the concept of kokoro, which is the connection between emotions, feelings, spirit and soul. So, everything we do is from the heart. This has always been the heartbeat of Nobu restaurants and since its branching out to hotels and residences.
What do you perceive are some key factors behind Nobu’s success in the non-traditional approach of branching from restaurants to hotels, and how does it differentiate the brand from traditional luxury hotels?
We have an upside-down business model, so our F&B is the heartbeat of the hotel – and to have an F&B that works in a hotel, it almost never (happens). You don’t have that. Most of the hotels, F&B either suffers, or barely breaks even, or it’s outsourced.
Many brands are now just starting to look into F&B strategies, which is almost like retrofitting a property – it doesn’t really work. F&B needs to be seamlessly embedded into the whole experience. At Nobu hotels, we actually do put F&B first; everything else follows beautifully and quite naturally from our heart, which is the Nobu restaurant.
Most of our restaurants perform as well as the rooms in terms of revenue – most hotels nowadays struggle with keeping their restaurants open.
At some of our properties, each restaurant seat brings in as many as the number of rooms per year. For example, let’s say you have a 100-seat restaurant and 200-key hotel, so it’s almost like having a 300-key hotel without spending the money to build a 300-key hotel.
It is a model that really works. It makes a lot of sense because it’s just like the original hotel concept where people go there to eat and sleep and meet.
So in a way, we are innovators, but in another way, it’s just going back to the basics. I think people forgot about how important F&B is for a hotel – not just from a profitability standpoint, but from a sustainability standpoint.
You seem to have a big partnership focus as an executive. Can you tell how that has been useful at Nobu?
Nobu is one brand – we’re one brand so we’re always as good as the next project. For us, we’re quite selective of who we work with. Those who we want to work with are usually owners that have a lot of passion in what they do, so from the onset, we establish that trust, then that gets carried through. That is very important for us.
In seeking partners, we focus on creating a memorable experience and prioritise potential partners who “touch and feel” the brand through visits, so that they can understand our core values. This approach builds trust and long-term relationships. Unlike traditional hotel chains with strict requirements, Nobu values a good fit over property size. This strategy creates a network of repeat partners who own multiple Nobu properties across different locations.
We also rely on owners to help us localise. One of our priorities is to buy-in from the local market, because in a world of uncertain geopolitics, that’s the most sustainable source market. Our partners really cherish and are deeply invested in their properties, and Nobu as a brand.
As regional director of Asia-Pacific, can you highlight the current trajectory and direction of Nobu’s development in Asia-Pacific and South-east Asia? What are some of the highlights to come, and where do you see the most growth potential?
Danang is our first development in Vietnam, and we also have Ho Chi Minh City (same partner). We always look at potential locations as a place where our F&B would thrive. We’ve grown very well in Europe – where we have six hotels in Spain, the US, and the Middle East. Asia is our next growth pocket, (such as) Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines; the Maldives would (also) be an amazing resort for us.
Half our new projects also have branded residences.
The Plaza Athénée Bangkok will be a collaboration between the Plaza Athénée brand and Nobu Hotels. There will be two distinct properties: a Plaza Athénée on the riverfront and a Nobu hotel diagonal to it, behind the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok. This project is a perfect marriage of East and West, with Plaza Athénée’s heritage and Nobu’s modern luxury.
To be able to craft two properties in two iconic cities, and with renowned designers working with us to do these two properties – it doesn’t get sweeter than this. I’m very lucky to have envisioned this deal together with AWC’s CEO and president Wallapa Traisorat and to be able to sign these two deals and work on this project on both sides, continuing with Nobu.
The trust from partners like AWC adds pressure, but also immense excitement for Nobu to create something iconic.
Well-travelled, well-heeled individuals, who were among the first travellers to hold hotels to responsible actions, are becoming more critical of what qualifies as sustainable operations, leading hoteliers to make a more conscious effort to communicate their accomplishments in this aspect and to lead deeper impact projects.
Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) has recently started an online video series for its Considerate Collection, profiling property owners who are active supporters of the environment, culture and community through their business.
The Considerate Collection, launched in 2021, is a portfolio of properties that pass strict assessment across three levels – Environmentally Conscious, Cultural Custodians and Community Minded – by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. Although the Considerate Collection has grown in numbers – 61 properties compared to 21 at the start, consumer awareness of impact projects was lacking.
“Feedback from the marketplace is that we are not telling our stories enough; a lot of the sustainability programmes undertaken by owners of our Considerate Collection properties remain behind the scenes. We talk a lot about these efforts at travel trade events, but many travellers in the public space are unaware. So, we decided to help our owners tell their story,” said Mark Wong, senior vice president, Asia Pacific of SLH.
Besides stepping up on communications, SLH is taking accountability and sustainability measurement ever more seriously. To ensure that Considerate Collection properties maintain their investments in environment, culture and community, it has partnered with Weeva, a company that will establish a management system that enables properties to track sustainability achievements.
“This will allow properties to document and quantify their impacts, and share results with their owners, team members and the media,” said Wong.
Believing in the power of positive stories shaping the right travel decisions, Preferred Travel Group has crafted an informative website for its Beyond Green portfolio of hotels, resorts, and lodges. These are properties that pass a rigorous vetting process by independent investigators, based on globally recognised sustainable tourism standards and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, conducted every two years. The website is a treasure trove of Good Stories features that detail members’ efforts in environmental and cultural conservation, community development, and more.
Michelle Woodley, president of Preferred Travel Group, acknowledged that a lot of the more complex sustainability efforts, such as energy conservation and food waste management processes, are hidden from the view of travellers and guests. Hence, it is important for hotels to tell their stories and “do it in a way that consumers find interesting”.
Being more vocal about hotels’ responsible efforts will also help to correct misconceptions about luxury, sustainability and revenue not being able to coexist.
“There is a perception among consumers that a sustainable property may not be luxurious. Our job is to make sure that travel advisors know that is untrue and have the information (from Beyond Green’s Good Stories features) to share with their travellers,” stated Woodley.
“Some people also think that hotels have to be out in the middle of nowhere to be sustainable. That is untrue. An example is Starhotel’s E.c.ho. Milan, which is a city hotel that has developed a great way to communicate its sustainability efforts. The hotel has a guide book that tells guests about all the good things being done, including back-of-house processes. Our sales team now uses this guide book to cite examples for their sustainability-focused corporate clients,” shared Woodley.
Good Stories features have also allowed Preferred Travel Group to demonstrate to hoteliers that sustainability and profitability can coexist.
When asked if these communication efforts have a direct impact on bookings and revenue, Woodley said: “Sure, but that’s not the key expectation of hotels in the Beyond Green portfolio. Hotels invest in being qualified for Beyond Green to be able to connect with like-minded hotels and to share ideas on how to harness renewable energy or to contribute to species preservation.”
What’s next?
As sustainability messages flood the marketplace, Marion Walsh-Hédouin, vice president communication & public relations for Minor Hotels, said “competition” among hotels and resorts to excel in sustainability efforts benefits everyone and the environment.
“This competition raises the bar for conservation, and I am all for that competition,” she remarked.
Savvy hoteliers who are looking to level up to the next stage of conservation efforts and to truly convince travellers who are increasingly scrutinising tourism companies for potential green-washing, must develop programmes that can be executed within the community and with the involvement of customers, she opined.
Citing an example, she pointed to the group’s Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort, which offers the Walk With Giants experience. Guests are invited to bond with the elephants of northern Thailand in their natural habitat, by strolling alongside these gentle creatures and witnessing them go about their day. The programme allows the resort to employ elephant mahouts with a salary while supporting their family with accommodation and solar-powered electricity.
“Normally, mahouts and their elephants would live away from their families in an animal attraction or camp. Our activity allows us to reunite them,” she explained.
In addition, money collected from Minor’s Dollars for Deeds’ programme, which invites guests to combine their stay with opportunities to support a range of good deeds that help local communities and the environment, is being used to fund English education for village children, giving the next generation an opportunity to raise their quality of life, as well as mahout training that teaches better ways to care for elephants.
SLH is paving the way for its next step in responsible operations, by delving deeper into community support through universal accessibility and inclusivity. It is assisting property owners in setting up operations and hardware to facilitate welcome for guests with both visible and invisible disability and medical issues.
One way it is doing this is through a partnership with IncluCare, a UK-based organisation that offers inclusive and accessible travel training, assessment, and accreditation for the tourism industry. Details will soon be shared.
Wong believes that by becoming accessible and inclusive, properties will not only be able to welcome a whole new segment of guests, they will also begin to look at differently-abled individuals as potential staff.
“This is a pool of human resources that hotels seldom think of hiring. These differently-abled individuals are often left out of society,” he added.
“Being equipped for universal accessibility is also a sensible thing to do now because societies across the world are aging. Facilities like ramps, grab bars and brighter lighting are needed by elderly travellers, not just those with disabilities. Hotels, in designing their hardware of the future, must take these requirements into account now,” he concluded.