Hospitality Design - March 2012 - 61

interview: bill heinecke
By Stacy Shoemaker Rauen

perspectives

building an empire
William (Bill) Heinecke is a jack of all trades. As CEO and chairman of Bangkok-based Minor International Plc, he is the catalyst behind an impressive list of global brands that amount to more than 70 hotels and resorts, 1,200 restaurants, and 200 retail trading outlets in Thailand and 20 markets from Africa to Australia. An entrepreneur since the age of 17 (ﬁrst advertising then hotels and fast food), the ﬂagship of Heinecke’s empire is Minor’s own brand, Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas, with 17 properties throughout Thailand, Vietnam, the Maldives, Indonesia, and the UAE, with more planned for China and the Middle East. Between trips to his various properties, the hands-on hotelier discusses the importance of people, time as a luxury, and getting a bird’s-eye view.

A one-bedroom beachfront pool villa at the Anantara Mui Ne Resort & Spa in Vietnam.

HD: Why did you want to start Anantara?
WH: Having started with Four Seasons and Marriott properties, I wanted to create a brand that had a bit of adventure, a brand that was indigenous to its locations. When guests wake up I would like them to know where they are when they look around.

HD: So the Maldives is one of those locations. Having a hotel there rst and foremost is distinct in its setup, correct?
WH: That’s right. It’s like running a small village. You’re responsible for cleaning the beaches, maintaining your reefs, getting rid of all the waste, and trying to continue to protect the island’s environment. It’s unique in the world because you lease the island from the government; there is no freehold ownership in the Maldives. So one of the reasons they’ve kept it so unique is you don’t have any visual pollution; if you have visual pollution it’s your own creation. And not a single thing is indigenous to the island. You’ve got to import everything. The only thing we’ve got is sand and some coconut trees.

The open lobby of the Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort & Spa. HD: And there’s your elephant camp, Anantara Triangle Resort & Spa.
WH: It’s very sad because the elephants in Thailand are all unemployed now. Logging has been banned so we have this huge population of domesticated elephants. We’ve tried to take in not only the elephants, but also the mahouts [elephant drivers] and the whole family and provide a way for them to support their families, and at the same time expose our guests to these incredible, prehistoric animals. National Geographic has been there for experiments, and we’ve got live webcasts that go to schools and lectures on the airwaves. We’ve set up a charity to rescue elephants, and we’ve provided help to some of the other agencies that are involved with protecting elephants—providing an elephant ambulance and things of that nature to try and be a good citizen, to do more than just take from

HD: To make it even more interesting, you added an underwater restaurant at one of your Maldives locations, Anantara Kihavah Villas.
WH: This started out as an underwater wine cellar, and now we pair dinner with the wines. We’ve all been to Ocean World, but how many people have really been on a natural reef and watched turtles and mantas swim by while they’re enjoying a culinary experience and ﬁne wine?

www.hospitalitydesign.com

March 2012

http://www.hospitalitydesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - March 2012