From the Oriental, it’s the focus on attention to details, the way service was executed, how it really looked at the guest history, for example; and the planning and organization of events. I was in F&B, which is always the most complicated but most interesting aspect of hotel operations because each situation, planning, set-up is different.

At Amanresorts, I had a lucky break. I was fairly young, 28, and was hotel manager with Amanpuri, then Amandari a year later. That changed my mindset, as I moved from a 500-room hotel to 40 rooms. Yet the intensity was greater. There was so much more interaction between guests and staff, and management and staff. In big hotels, you don’t even see some staff. The rate was US$500 higher than Oriental and there was so much expectation in those days. You had to train inexperienced staff from the villages, talk to village chiefs to build relations – it’s just a completely different setup. In Ubud, it was even more complex because of the village culture, and you learn how not to upset traditions.

I’m trying to apply some of that experience here today. As a hotel, we have to be responsible and respectful of local cultures and traditions. Sometimes we lose the plot; we are so high-tech and connected all the time that we lose touch of people. There is still a lot of room for independents to create a local experience...The big chains have better scale and efficiencies, but the independents, being smaller, are in touch with the local environment, can make quicker decisions and are more nimble. Even as a company we are not that big but we know our staff, we know our suppliers, we build relationships and look at things in a more in-depth fashion.

That’s what hospitality is about today. It’s not about systems or technology

...be their natural self rather than follow a very structured way of service...I talk to my staff a lot...flexible in their thinking...

Once we get feedback, we can solve problems and keep moving things along. It’s a small property, so it’s very flexible. There’s a certain advantage in being small: you adapt to situations very quickly. Sometimes size matters and there’s no rocket science to that.

...in Singapore today, human resources is a major challenge for hotels...