Regent Hotels & Resorts, which was sold to Four Seasons in 1992 and to Carlson five years later, was bought out in 2010 by FIH Regent Group, the largest hotel company listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Since then, Regent has opened a property in Phuket, is readying for another in Bali next month and is slated next year to debut hotels in Abu Dhabi and Doha. Hotels Editor Danny King recently spoke with Regent President Ralf Ohletz, who is charged with returning the luxury hotel brand to its lofty service ideals established when the company was founded.
Q: What happened to the Regent brand?
A: There were six Regents under development when it became part of Four Seasons. During the next 10 to 15 years, most of the Regents were converted to Four Seasons, so that didn't leave any Regents except for Singapore. Then, the name was sold to Carlson and its partner Rezidor. So it took some time to clean things up, but now we are on the road to reposition Regent, and you can only do that through products.
Q: Tell us about your newest hotels.
A: Regent Phuket was an existing hotel with exceptional views. There was talk of it becoming a Conrad before Carlson took it over, and we finally reopened it for the owners. We opened it in the middle of the season and we did very well, [with occupancy] in the 70s.
With Bali, the [building's] pilings were already in [when Regent took the project over], so we didn't have much influence on the architecture, but the room concept, we've completely controlled. Standard rooms are 100 square meters.
Q: Regent reached an agreement for Carlson Rezidor to develop Regent-branded hotels in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Why?
A: We're not really looking to focus on Africa, the Middle East and Russia, but as a public company, we need to show growth, and we can do this because Rezidor has the infrastructure in place: They're the most successful hotel company in the world operating in Russia. Not even Hilton can say that.
Q: Any plans to bring Regent back to North America?
A: Absolutely. We're looking at New York, Los Angeles, Chicago I suppose, Vancouver. But we have to be there with the right product.
Q: Will Regent operate exclusively on the higher end of the luxury market?
A: No, we've also got an entry-level luxury product called Regent Place for the Chinese market, where Regent was 30 years ago. We're looking at Hong Kong and Taipei, where you need big hotels and lots of food and beverage.
Q: Larger companies like Hilton and Marriott are growing their luxury brands. Does that concern you?
A: No. First, we are an Asia brand, and that's where the movement is happening for the next 10 years. If you look at the number of customers traveling out of China, it's going to be enormous.
Also, anyone can hire a good G.M. What we're selling is concepts, and there's a big difference. I'm involved in all of the little details that will affect the guest experience, and I don't think the presidents of companies like Hilton would focus on those details. Their customers are their shareholders, and what's important for them is how many more customers they can gain every year through things like loyalty programs.
Luxury people don't need those gimmicks. They want a price-value relationship with a great guest experience. I worked for Four Seasons in the 1980s when they only had about 14 hotels. They had great focus, and they knew what they wanted to be. This is what we want to do, as well.
Follow Danny King on Twitter @dktravelweekly.