Face-to-Face: Brice Borin
FACE-TO-FACE
This week we go Face-to-Face with Brice Borin, General Manager of the new Regent Phuket Cape Panwa, which is expected to open its doors by the end of 2012…
Q) Your hotel is scheduled to open on 1 December 2012. Are you on track?
Yes, we are on track. We have 197 staff on board and we’re just short of 60. We are currently training the butlers and front office staff, we are training the spa team for the last 6 months; all that is in full-gear now to be ready for the opening on 1 December. The demand is there; now it’s just a question of releasing the opening date and opening the reservations. Right now it’s just fine-tuning.
Q) What will Regent deliver with this new property?
Regent is going back to basics, but with the latest technology. Our brand has always been a pioneer of luxury and we are going back to that, with personalised service. We see every guest as an individual, not a dollar sign. This is what I mean by the ‘back to basics’ approach – we are a true hotelier, not just in the business of hospitality. We don’t want the guest to be worried that everything they touch they have to pay for. For instance, in every room the minibar will be complimentary, as well as the breakfast, laundry and Wi-Fi. We want to deliver a true hotel experience, and to personalise every aspect of a guest’s stay.
Q) What are your key room features and hotel facilities?
We have three room categories; 22 individual Pavilions, 48 Suites and35 Pool Villas. Guest in the Pool Villas will have butler service and access to the Regent Club, which has its own lap pool, dining area and lounge area. Each room, which reflects true Asian timeless luxury, comes with its own iPad which can communicate with your flat-screen TV, allowing you to surf the internet on TV using your iPad to navigate. There are also free on-demand movies and music. So guests can be on the beach or by the pool and connect to the rest of the world. We’re really using the latest technology to improve the guest experience.
We have a full fitness area with the latest equipment, as well as a Pilates machine. We’ll also be the first hotel in Phuket to have an infrared sauna. Our spa will have four single and four double treatment rooms all overlooking the sea, and we have a stunning 60-metre infinity pool, which is 40 metres above sea-level, overlooking the Andaman Sea.
We’ll also have two restaurants; one serving Thai cuisine and The Grill, where guests can select their imported meat or fresh seafood and can choose whether to have it cooked on a traditional Western grill, in a tandoori oven or in a Chinese or Thai wok. Once again we’ll be going back to basics, making our food and ingredients from scratch.
Q) What will be your key guest source markets?
Regent still has a strong recognition in Asia due to our history, and the brand has a strong affiliation with luxury. If you look at reports from China about the preferred hotel brands for wealthy Chinese, Regent is in the top six. We expect the Asian market will count for about 40-50% of our business, and we have Chinese-, Japanese- and Korean-speaking guest relations officers working for these markets. We will also market ourselves in Australia, Europe, Russia and the Middle East. We have sales offices in the New York, Frankfurt, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing and in Sydney, so we are well represented around the globe.
Q) There is a lot of new supply entering the Phuket market. How do you expect to compete?
Yes, there is a lot of new supply but the majority is in the midscale market. In terms of luxury we feel confident because we are bringing the Regent experience to the market. If you look at Phuket as a whole, compared to say Bali or Bangkok, you don’t have too many brand names. So I think the combination of the location, the brand and the quality of the service is promising.