Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 56

perspectives
where they have the opportunity to experience the guest interaction and the right way to say things and the wrong way to say things. It’s about helping them experience the power they have with the guests. HD: Okay, let’s talk design. RB: I think innovation is key to design and we find designers that can help us push the envelope and still do it in a luxurious way. When we pull the designers together, we tell them they have to embrace the

interview: richard baker

Left: The lobby of the Mandarin Oriental, Barcelona designed by Patricia Urquiola.

destinations where residences are important, and that was one of them. From the architecture to the design to those that have partnered with us (Michelin star chef Pierre Gagnaire’s U.S. debut), the whole thing is so over the top, it is an extreme experience. It has been frustrating—the games people play when things get tough. Everyone really shops for value. But we aren’t going to compromise who we are; we will sit and wait. HD: But residential is still an important component for Mandarin? RB: Yes, as this generation continues to age, obviously people are much more cautious, but as people age and children move on, and they want to travel and experience new places, they want to come home and live in the same environments [as the hotels they travel in]. What a great opportunity to make that your home. What Mandarin has been able to do in residences, our owners are ambassadors, so when they walk into another hotel, we know them through our database. We know how they live: what time they get up to do their fitness routine, food they like delivered to their room, or kind of car they liked to be picked up in, how they do their pressing. It’s like being part of the network of where they live.

local culture, it has to reflect the destination that it’s in, it has to have subtle Oriental design features, and it has to take into place our history and heritage. We don’t want any of the hotels standardized. We don’t want to repeat themes. We don’t want someone to walk into one of our hotels and say, ‘Yup, this is a Mandarin.’ We want them to be very unique, to do something that hasn’t been done. One of our new hotels in Barcelona [designed by Patricia Urquiola] reflects this open, cosmopolitan character of the Mediterranean city, but I think at the same time, it embraces the Mandarin heritage. It is a slender, linear building, which was once the office of a bank, so it lends itself to the Mandarin clean look. At the same time you go to Las Vegas and Adam Tihany created this sophisticated, urban, very sexy, modern-day Hong Kong feel that’s like stepping back to the ’20s. I am not sure if you’ve had the opportunity to see it. HD: Yes at our HD Expo show last year, we did tours of CityCenter. RB: That’s what’s so exciting. Not only do we work with these architects and designers, but when you have a developing company like MGM and Sven [Van Assche, vice president of design]—I mean the things he has done and the way he looks at things. [He has a] great vision. I never understand how those guys can have this vision and then it comes out exactly the way they had it in their mind. HD: Why was it the right time for Vegas? RB: We have always had a presence in Macau, the other gambling destination in the world, always non-casino based. I think that Vegas is an international city, it has become that. We choose our destinations carefully as we don’t have this aggressive growth strategy. We want to be in significant cities that influence the rest of the world or that are traveled by the rest of the world. It was on fire eight years ago, and this concept of a city within a city, that whole ability to have great architects build multiple hotels and the idea that they interact with retail and residential and life experiences like restaurants and theater, that was exciting for us. Time Warner Center [for our New York property] is that a little bit for us also and we have done well with that. Las Vegas was all of that. The branded residential has become very important to us and this is big at 250 units. We have so many guests that have said, ‘We love this experience why don’t you guys do residential so we can live there?’ So we have picked certain

HD: Paris is your next big opening, debuting this summer. RB: It’s a very unique hotel, a 1930s Art Deco hotel in the fashion center of the city. It’s small at 138 rooms, but they are the largest guestrooms and suites in the city. We had an opportunity to partner with some great food and beverage creators like chef Thierry Marx, this is the first time he has ever worked with a hotel. We are excited about the location, about the interiors. [The design is by] architect Jean Michel Wilmotte with interiors by Sybille de Margerie of SM Design and the restaurants by Patrick Jouin. The images that I have seen are very unique—very high touch. Lots of wood, glass—it has a very modern feeling with a lot of white. HD: Mandarin is developing new projects. Is that a sign that you think the economy and industry is coming back around? RB: I don’t want to be boastful, but it’s bizarre, this last year our hotels came back fast, but maybe it’s because they collapsed so fast too. We held rates and kept our relationships with key clients and everyone slowed down and didn’t necessarily come that year, but because we did it, it came back fast last year. Our key gateway cities have returned to ’07 levels. Now rates aren’t quite where we want to see them, but certainly the volume is there. I think the recovery is here. The unknown is whether the growth of the luxury segment can continue at the levels of the past? That I am not so sure of.

56

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - March 2011

Hospitality Design - March 2011
Contents
Online Contents
From the Editor
From the Show Director
People: CitySCENE Atlanta
People: ALIS
Sketchbook
Interview: Richard Baker of Mandarin
Interview: Dave Horton of Hilton
Profile
HD Expo Preview
Luxury
Waikiki Edition
Ani Villas
Fairmont Nile City
The Chatwal
Ritz-Carlton at L.A. Live
Soho Beach House Miami
Waku Ghin
Lincoln
Vesu
Back Space
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Intro
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Hospitality Design - March 2011
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Cover2
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 1
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 2
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 3
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 4
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 5
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 6
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 7
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 8
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 9
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 10
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 11
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 12
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 13
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 14
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Contents
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 16
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Online Contents
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 18
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 19
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 20
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 21
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - From the Editor
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 23
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - From the Show Director
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 25
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 26
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 27
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 28
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 29
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - People: CitySCENE Atlanta
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 31
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 32
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 33
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - People: ALIS
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 35
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 36
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 37
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 38
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 39
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 40
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 41
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 42
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 43
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 44
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Sketchbook
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 46
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 47
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 48
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 49
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 50
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 51
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 52
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 53
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 54
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Interview: Richard Baker of Mandarin
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 56
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 57
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 58
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 59
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Interview: Dave Horton of Hilton
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 61
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 62
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 63
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 64
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 65
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 66
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 67
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 68
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Profile
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 70
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 71
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 72
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - HD Expo Preview
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 74
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 75
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 76
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 77
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 78
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 79
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 80
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 81
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 82
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Luxury
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 84
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 85
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 86
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 87
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 88
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 89
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 90
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 91
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 92
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 93
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Waikiki Edition
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 95
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 96
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 97
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 98
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 99
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Ani Villas
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 101
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 102
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 103
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Fairmont Nile City
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 105
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 106
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 107
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - The Chatwal
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 109
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 110
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 111
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Ritz-Carlton at L.A. Live
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 113
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 114
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 115
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Soho Beach House Miami
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 117
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 118
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 119
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Waku Ghin
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 121
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 122
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 123
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Lincoln
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 125
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 126
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 127
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Vesu
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 129
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 130
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 131
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 132
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 133
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 134
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - 135
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Back Space
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Cover3
Hospitality Design - March 2011 - Cover4
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