Home / Enterprises
|
An old hand at high-end hospitality, Vincent Thong believes China hotels are booming. Provided to China Daily |
GM of the new Sheraton Beijing Dongcheng Hotel talks to Xu Xiao about the meaning of hospitality
Its name is easily visible from the Third Ring Road, one of central Beijing's major highways, set amid a hub of amenities that includes a cinema, a high-end supermarket and restaurants ranging from fast food to ethnic fare.
Well placed in the urban landscape, the Sheraton Beijing Dongcheng Hotel opened in November, the seventh hotel in the capital city managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
It has 441 guest rooms and suites featuring an array of healthy lifestyle options offered by the Sheraton Fitness program. Each guest room is outfitted with contemporary furnishings, an inviting signature Sheraton Sweet Sleeper bed and digital-friendly touches including iPod docking stations.
A team of culinary masters is ready to take guests on a gastronomic journey through an array of international cuisines ranging from Yue Chinese, Bene Italian, Miyabi Japanese and an all-day feast.
It has more than 2,500 square meters of meeting and banquet space equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual facilities. The 400 square meter junior ballroom offers greater flexibility in hosting memorable functions, while the spectacular Grand Ballroom spans a full 1,100 square meters.
But the "hardware is brought to life by our people", said Vincent Thong, the hotel's general manager.
A native Hong Konger in his mid-40s, Thong started his hospitality career in 1985 as a high school graduate searching for job experience. He first worked as a guest room waiter in charge of 17 rooms. That half-year showed him the fun in communicating with people, a core component of the hospitality industry.
Rising through the ranks, he still kept many of the habits he had when he was a newcomer. He liked to wrangle around supermarkets because "seeing bunches of new things moving from the shelves to my shopping carts is really satisfying".
In a recent interview the general manager was sometimes lost in recollections of his childhood when both parents worked during the day. He and his three brothers took turns doing the housework.
He said he began preparing food for the family at age 10 and gradually developed a love of cooking, even now it is one of his main hobbies.
His passion for and understanding of cooking formed his own philosophy that says dining is not just eating and tasting, but also an "excuse" to connect people.
"Life is what we are pursuing - not eating," Thong said, so the Sheraton creates a relaxed and personal atmosphere for guests to communicate and share their time.
After studying hotel management in Switzerland, Thong joined the Beijing Shangri-La in 1994 as a chef, then moved to Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 1999. His career rose to new heights in 2005 when he became general manager of a Sheraton in Guangzhou.
While it took 15 years to reach that pinnacle, Thong said those who want to stand out need patience and passion.
"But nowadays not many young people are willing to wait such a long time. They join and leave too quickly," he said. "That's the biggest challenge in today's hospitality industry - the lack of talented people."
Despite the challenges, Thong still believes that high-end hospitality in China will boom because its population here far exceeds that in the US, yet hotel numbers lag far behind.
"In 1999, there were only 10 Starwood-owned hotels on the Chinese mainland, but now there are already over 90," he said.
"In the near future, there will be 100 more in the country," he added with a resolute smile.
(China Daily 12/17/2011 page13)
