Marc Hediger has been the Chief Executive Officer of Lanson Place Hospitality Management since August 2011, responsible for overseeing Wing Tai Asia’s hospitality arm.
His 30 years of industry experience include 16 years with the Hyatt Group and as Senior Vice President of Development with Shangri-La Hotels Worldwide. Here he shares some insights into the specialist branch of the residential property market.
Apart from the award winning Lanson Place Hotel in Hong Kong, your portfolio of properties is made up of luxury serviced apartments and residences. How has this segment evolved since you joined the group in 2011?
Lanson Place has evolved in establishing another business model which is Serviced Suites. These offer a younger, more slick look and feel, and adapt to secondary locations in prime cities or even secondary cities. These Serviced Suites are also catering to a more transient, short to medium term clientele mainly in studios, or 1 and 2 bedroom units.
This product also corresponds to a less intensive investment model and can function on a much leaner backbone in relation to operational services and cost management.
We have since also opened the Kuala Lumpur Lanson Place Serviced Residences in Bukit Ceylon which is the first “Residence” property to be included in the Small Luxury Hotels portfolio. The established model for this collection has been a more traditional style of hotel like our Lanson Place Hotel Hong Kong, which is also a member of Small Luxury Hotels.
What are the keys to success in operating serviced apartments and residences?
The first aspect comes through the design brief – we are very residential looking and operate that way as well. Secondly it is always your residents that make the difference – our guest mix is of utmost importance.
Aroma Garden Serviced Suites by Lanson Place – Living room and kitchenette
And lastly, of course, the Lanson Place hallmarks of service and quality of product is vital. This is a formula that Lanson Place is exceptionally good at bringing to life and therefore contributes not only to our DNA , but also to the clientele we target and the guests who end up choosing as us their preferred option.
What can you tell us about the differences between operating a traditional hotel product and serviced apartment or residence style product?
These differences are very important to understand as the guest needs we cater for in Residences are not always the same as in a more traditional hotel option.
A simple example of this is internet which is standardised in a hotel, but can vary very much in a residential model. Just as in your own home environment where all your neighbours would have different service providers, it is important that our properties are able to be flexible in this regard as well. In addition, in our model there could be multiple users regularly accessing multiple devices at the one time in the one residence, whereas in a hotel there most likely would be one user for a short period.
Not operating F & B, with the exception of a lounge, also gives the residential property a leaner cost model, and certainly the overall manning can be streamlined.
Your parent company, Wing Tai Asia, is a leading property developer and lifestyle company in the region. How has this impacted the development of the Lanson Place brand?
Wing Tai is an integral part of Lanson Place’s success story. This is particularly important in respect of public awareness due to the multiple high-end residential developments they have been involved in for many years.
In addition, the hospitality arm will be offering lifestyle services in a number of their developments throughout Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai which will further enhance our profile.
What subject would you like to see introduced to the curriculum of hotel management studies to prepare today’s aspiring hoteliers, and why do you think that it’s important?
How to think like a developer/owner – and not just an operator – is incredibly important, and I believe that the more students can be exposed to this aspect of the business the better.
Looking at a property from the purely residential aspect of hospitality creates an awareness and focus per unit and per square metre that is very often overlooked in hotel management. From my perspective it is mainly the property developers or owners that point out to the hotel or management companies that they are looking at returns and rentals per square metre and therefore are well versed to run tight control over expenses such as building cost, but also operational cost .
Some hotel companies still build facilities as per their specifications in relation to size, rather than looking at efficiency of space and ultimately cost which a developer instinctively does.
It is therefore always of advantage to work with a hotel company that is not pure management but also has an owner/developer arm and understands the building, operating and valuation side of a property in the long run.
If students could leave their studies with a greater appreciation of that I think it would serve them well!
About the author
Timothy Millett’s training roles have seen him deliver programs across Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa and America ensuring cultural sensitivity as well as a broad base of experience in lecturing, teaching and training.
A graduate of the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland, his hospitality career spans management and director positions in Front Office, Guest Relations, Public Relations, Food & Beverage and Training with organisations including the Regent of Melbourne, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Mövenpick Gastronomy. He was also a founding staff member of the internationally renowned Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School in Australia.
Tim is currently the Director of Training and Development at iperform, an organisation that specialises in Sales and Service, Leadership and Effective Personal Organisation programs.
