Sammy Carolus, who's been with the Hyatt family for over 25 years, is now raising Hyatt's fourth baby in Bangkok. He speaks to Karen Yue about the new Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit.
There’s room for a fourth
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Will Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit open on time as scheduled in 3Q2018? What’s the state of construction now, and how are you prepping your team for the opening?
Absolutely. We are still on schedule. As for the state of construction, we are doing fitting-out work and systems installation at present. Our newest team members are undergoing our “onboarding” programme. One of the programmes is training to ensure that all our team members understand and embrace our main purpose, which is to care for everyone including one another so they can be at their absolute best.
How will Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit differ from its big sister, Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, in terms of hardware and brand positioning?
We are fortunate that we will be the fourth Hyatt brand in Bangkok after Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok (1991), Park Hyatt Bangkok (May 2017) and Hyatt Place Bangkok (October 2017). Grand Hyatt hotel guests are seekers of celebratory moments. That’s why there’s such a strong emphasis on MICE and grand events. The one here in Bangkok has amazing event venues, including a grand ballroom, the residence, campus, etc. And it’s located in Bangkok’s most coveted address.
Hyatt Regency is located in a really vibrant part of Bangkok, which has a real sense of place. It’s in a strong neighborhood that is home to the city’s original, multicultural marketplace. This hotel will be about facilitating connection and social interaction for our hardworking professional guests who like to combine business and leisure. Therefore we have to be energetic, clever and confident in ensuring we meet and exceed their needs.
Will you give my readers a sneak preview of your hotel’s meeting event facilities and capabilities?
All of our event rooms will be located on the same floor and feature natural light, making them feel very bright and airy. The Regency Ballroom and four meeting suites offer 1,300m2 of event space. Each of the meeting suites can accommodate up to 75 people for a standing cocktail reception. We can also connect the suites and create larger meeting rooms.
The ballroom has a capacity of 600 people in a round-table setting and a six-meter-high ceiling. In the pre-function area, there are two loft kitchens with a la minute food as well as cluster seating space and a smoking room.
Are there any features of the hotel that you think will particularly charm meeting planners? What are they and why?
We’ll have a new kind of multipurpose residential event venue on Level 29. It was designed by Japan’s Super Potato and it is like a big penthouse. It consists of private dining, a study room, living room, library bar and outdoor terrace that can cater up to 120 people – perfect for wedding receptions or engagement parties, press conferences, product launches and VIP events. It is cleverly done in that it feels like a kind of interactive and self-contained event space. Our roof bar – on levels 30 and 31 – will be where we’ll have a DJ spinning high energy music most evenings. But it will also be a venue that can be booked for private events.
Do you foresee fans of other Hyatt hotels in Bangkok – particularly business travellers and meeting planners – skipping over to your baby, drawn by the novelty of a new property?
As with any new hotel in town, it will of course attract all manner of people, including those who are loyal to even non-Hyatt brands. It’s natural for people to want to see and experience what is new. We would prefer to build our own type of customer base, and maybe convert or appeal to those who are currently patronising non-Hyatt hotels.
Will your team be working with the other Hyatt hotels in Bangkok for cross-selling efforts aimed at business event groups?
Absolutely. Our team has worked very closely with other Hyatt hotels in Thailand. The goal is to ensure that we all deliver distinctive experiences to our guests and create value for all our stakeholders.
There are so many hotels in Bangkok. How do you plan on keeping your beds warm with guests during the opening fanfare and long after the novelty wears off?
The great thing about Bangkok is there is never a dull moment for us hoteliers. However, the trends over the past few years have been extremely positive as a result of great initiatives by and partnerships between the government, TAT and private tourism industries to boost the quantity and quality of tourists to Thailand.
Keeping beds warm with guests is not a challenge exclusive to us, but the way we’ll address it is by upholding our values at all times so that we are continually enhancing the brand’s promise of caring for every person who comes through our doors, whether it be a local, tourist, employee or whoever.