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 BE |
SIEM REAP |
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The One has another! Be, or "two" in Khmer, is the adjunct hotel to Siem Reap's most feted address. We earlier profiled American expat Martin Dishman's debut into Cambodian hotels, and got the news out before anyone else! Since then, he's been feted in The Luxe Guide, write ups in Traveller and The One is regularly included in Best Lists around the globe. Now it’s Be's turn. Martin sub-lets downstairs to trendy Aha restaurant (great for fusion tapas portions!) and the Paul McDermott photographic studio. Upstairs there's a spa, and Be's three gorgeous rooms -- two with massive rooftop gardens, and the smaller third with balcony overlooking his colourful alleyway. Go quickly before they raise the price! |
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www.hotelbeangkor.com
www.lingabar.com |
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rave: oct 2008 |
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| THE ORIENTAL |
BANGKOK |
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Bangkok's Oriental regularly tops the charts as the world's finest hotel. Consequently, we often schedule the Oriental river cruise dinner for our gala farewell to food tour guests. Credit for the hotel's 5-star plus reputation goes to Kurt Wachtveitl, the German-born general manager there. He just celebrated his 40th anniversary at the hotel, along with guest relations veteran Ankana Kalantananda, who has herself been at the hotel for 60 years. These are certainly records in an industry beset with staff turnover. Wachtveitl began his career at The Oriental at the tender age of 30, and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award from his peers in '06.
“The inhabitants of great hotels are the most pampered creatures on earth," says Wachtveitl. "As a hotel manager you have no choice but to develop your staff. I am lucky that Thais have great potential for the hospitality industry because of their warmth and caring attitude. We are all looking forward to the future and to many productive years ahead."
But Wachtveitl's taste for "developing staff" recently soured, when he accused rival lebua hotel (sic -- it's always spelled lower case) with poaching his best employees, as well as teams from other esteemed Bangkok hotels. Seems he was piqued over loosing many favored workers, only to have them slink back to their former employer months later, caps in hand, begging for their old jobs back. Front page headlines hit the Bangkok Post on our last day there, when lebua shot back with a defamation suit. But the lebua antics are likely to backfire: with people asking 1) why it has such high staff turnover rates, and 2) the source of lebua's seemingly unlimited budget. |
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http://www.mandarinoriental.com/bangkok/ |
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rave: july 2008 |
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