Top team
Peninsula Hotels
As it prepares to launch its first site in Europe next year, the team at Peninsula Hotels tells Spa Business about the importance of spas in its chain of luxury hotels
The Peninsula Hotels is the hotel division of Asian-based hospitality group Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels (HSH). The first site, known affectionately as the Grande Dame, was The Peninsula Hong Kong, which opened its doors in 1928. The quality of this hotel has set the standard for the rest of the chain. Set up with the aim of being the finest hotel east of the Suez, it now boasts a Philippe Starck-designed restaurant and is consistently voted one of the top luxury hotels in the world.
Development of the group has been measured: the nine-strong chain is made up of sites in Manila (1979), New York (1988), Beijing (1989), Beverly Hills (1991), Bangkok (1998), Tokyo (2001), Chicago (2001) and Shanghai (2009). The Peninsula Spa brand by ESPA was first introduced in 2006, with the Hong Kong, and Bangkok properties being the first two properties to benefit.
While future growth will be just as steady – the next site will open in Paris in 2013 (see p34) – the financial position of the group looks strong, with turnover up by 6 per cent in 2011 (see p38). And despite being a global brand, the company has remained tight knit, with the hotel, spa teams and head office working closely together.
Sharon Codner,
Regional Spa Director Asia,
The Peninsula Hotels
What are your day to day responsibilities?
My main role is spa director at The Peninsula Hong Kong. However, I also oversee the operation of our spas in Asia and give advice to our US operators on everything from reviewing and collating monthly spa figures and sales and marketing initiatives, to reinforcing brand standards.
How has your role developed?
There have been significant changes during my time as regional spa director, because I was promoted when we were going through the financial crisis in 2009, and when our sister property in Shanghai was opening. We concentrated mainly on maintaining standards throughout the spas [during this time] and we now have a group training protocol for our spas to ensure service standards. Spa directors also assess our staff on a regular basis.
How is the spa team structured at Peninsula and how do you work with them?
We have a spa director in all of our properties, as well as a treatment manager, head therapist and reception manager. There are also head therapists and, where necessary, senior therapists and receptionists.
I’m in contact with the spa directors several times a week, as they forward their financial results from the previous week and month-end. We have very skilled and talented spa directors, whom I trust completely, so I make sure I give them space to work and do not interfere too much with their operations. However, it’s my responsibility to ensure that what is done in their spa is to Peninsula Hotel’s standard, so I double check that all treatment descriptions and menus are consistent across the board.
How do you work with the rest of the hotel management team?
For my regional visits, I will meet with the director of sales and marketing to go through their calendar and initiatives, I share with them what other properties are doing in terms of sales and marketing packages and spa journeys that have been successful. I also meet with the hotel manager during my visits, to share my impression of the overall operation and staffing and where I believe improvements could be made.
How do you tackle yield management?
We try to ensure our treatments are optimised throughout the day and pay close attention to the allocation of our staff during peak times. We don’t go as far as holding spaces for guests who could pay a higher rate during certain parts of the day, however, at some of our spas there is a promotional rate for certain treatments on weekdays.
Why did you decide to work with espa?
We chose to partner with ESPA after months of rigorously screening every aspect of the spa consultancy business. Headed by renowned spa authority, Susan Harmsworth (see sb11/3 p50), we were confident that we could develop the ultimate spa concept through this partnership. We’ve now successfully launched six spas together – in Hong Kong and Bangkok in 2006, Chicago and Tokyo in 2007, Beijing in 2008 and Shanghai in 2009.
What are your goals?
Our spas will be moving towards a new direction in 2012, to offer more results-driven treatments, ranging from an enzyme peel facial to microdermabrasion.
Over the next six months we’ll also be researching and creating treatments which are suited to the climate and country at individual hotels, such as adding a Chinese meridian massage at The Peninsula Beijing and a Japanese shiatsu-inspired treatment at The Peninsula Tokyo.
My overall ambition is for The Peninsula Spas to be the leaders in terms of treatment delivery, service and guest care. Training is the key to this – it’s extremely important to us and we take a lot of time to coach our team. Each therapist must be qualified prior to joining us and once on board they undergo four to six weeks of intensive training – delivered by the head therapist – on essential treatments such as intensive facials and massage, as well as coaching on guest care and Peninsula standards. In addition, there’s a further two weeks’ certification training from our product suppliers.
We have very talented spa directors, who I trust completely, so I make sure I give them enough space to work and do not interfere too much in their operations
Peter C Borer,
Chief Operating Officer,
The Peninsula Hotels
What does your role involve?
The Peninsula Hotels is focused on quality and attention to detail; one of the aspects of my job is to upkeep the high standards of the design, the service and the brand.
How do you work with the peninsula spa team?
The Peninsula Spas are overseen by Paul Tchen – general manager, operations, planning and support at HSH. He and I regularly review the performance of our spas which we consider independent profit centres like any hotel food and beverage outlet. The most important key performance indicators that we look at are the treatment sales mix, capture rate – both internal and external – product sales versus treatment revenue ratio and guest demographics.
How well are the peninsula spas performing?
Our spas are performing up to our expectations in most markets. There are obviously some which have been affected by the current economic climate, as well as unfortunate natural disasters such as those which have struck Japan and Thailand.
What obstacles do you face?
Shortage of labour is a constant challenge. With the emergence of top-tier luxury hotel brands in China, this has created an unprecedented demand. However, retention is something we’re very good at and the careers of myself – I joined the group in 1981 – and my colleagues are testament to this.
We have very talented spa directors, who I trust completely, so I make sure I give them enough space to work and do not interfere too much in their operations
Maria Razumich Zec,
General Manager,
The Peninsula Chicago; RegionalL Vice-President USA
how would you describe your job?
I would say that the goal of any general manager is to ensure that guests have a great experience in their hotel, that staff are well trained and that they’re fiscally responsible.
how important are your spas?
Our spa definitely brings [in an extra] clientele from the local market as well as being a pull for international visitors. Around 75 per cent of our spa customers are local and 25 per cent are hotel guests. We’ve found that guests who stay for more days are more likely to use the spa – some even extend their stay because they want to try another service.
What makes your spa stand out?
The location is fantastic: on the top two floors of the hotel, offering great views. We also have the most talented massage therapists and aestheticians in the city who all have tremendous repeat business – 15.1 per cent of our guests request a specific therapist and for some therapists nearly half (48 per cent) of their appointments are made up of specific requests for them.
What spa trends are you seeing?
More people are viewing spa services as maintenance for their overall wellbeing, as opposed to a luxury. Technology is making people more disconnected with human interactions, and they seek that connection at the spa: they want to unplug, be looked after and recharge themselves.
Rainy Chan,
General Manager
Area Vice-President Hong Kong and Thailand,
The Peninsula Hong Kong
What are your responsibilities and how do you work with the spa?
My role is constantly evolving as I need to stay conscious of the changing needs of our guests. In the past 10 years, the growing trend of male spa guests has encouraged us to introduce ESPA men’s treatments and products.
We’ve also noticed the shift of guests’ needs from massage treatments to stress relief, wellness and treatments addressing spiritual needs. As a result, ayurvedic treatments have become very popular in Asia, and we’ve also recently introduced reiki at our spa to fulfil guests’ needs for relaxing both the body and the mind.
Aside from spa treatments, many guests also look for a well-balanced lifestyle where healthy cuisine plays an important role. Our chefs work closely with our nutrition consultant to create Naturally Peninsula light and healthy cuisine, which is served at our restaurants to combine dining with wellness for our health-conscious guests.
What’s your main aim for the year ahead?
Beginning January 2012, The Peninsula Hong Kong will embark on a bedroom enhancement project. Our rooms and suites will be taking on a brand new look, and the highlight of the project is to bring in state-of-the-art in-room technology, which will allow us to provide an array of tailor-made options to our guests.
Sian Griffiths,
Director of Communications,
The Peninsula Hotels
What is your role?
My current role involves maintaining our media relationships and ensuring the brand image of The Peninsula Hotels is consistent in everything we do when we present ourselves to the world – from our press releases and marketing collateral through to our website.
How do you work with the spa team?
The spa teams in each property are very creative and continually come up with new programmes and treatments [for press releases]. They then work closely with their respective hotel’s PR team, who then liaise with me.
The hotels promote the treatments in their own region via local media, Facebook pages and so on, while on an international level, releases are sent out to our network of PR agencies to promote in their own countries, and also posted on our group website. Our spa managers are extremely keen to make their programmes work, so are very proactive with publicity.
THE Peninsula Paris
The Peninsula Paris is the HSH’s next planned hotel opening and its first foray into the European market. London could be the next European site, as projects manager, PT Wong, confirms sites are being sought there.
Centrally located near the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Èlysèes, the 200-bedroom hotel will breathe new life into a century-old beaux art building, which has formerly been used as a hotel, the German headquarters in Paris during WWII and most recently as the Centre for International Conferences.
Around hk$1bn (us$129m, €100m, £82m) was paid for the site and an estimated hk$512m (us$66m, €50m, £42m) will be spent on the redevelopment. It is owned by QHotels BV, in which HSH has a 20 per cent stake. The Peninsula Hotels will manage operations for 30 years, with an automatic renewal of a further 20 years, subject to meeting certain performance criteria.
Work started on site in late 2009, interior demolition is now complete and the first major phase of construction began in September 2010. The hotel is scheduled to open in 2013: the launch date pushed back because it took longer than expected to complete designs that complied with preservation considerations, local codes and HSH standards. New York-based Thierry Despont is in charge of interiors, aiming to bring about a contemporary look with reference to the original belle époque style. It’s slated that The Peninsula Spa, fitness suite and pool will be a central part of the offering.
The Financials
Turnover at The Peninsula Hotels was up 6 per cent – hk$2.17bn-2.31bn (us$279m-297m, €214-228m £178-190m) – for the first half of 2011 compared with the previous year. This has been attributed to improved rooms and F&B business. Occupancy was up everywhere, apart from Asia, where demand at The Peninsula Tokyo was severely affected by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March. Prior to this, the hotel had been trading at levels above the previous year. The hotels in Beijing and Shanghai are trading in a very competitive market and didn’t meet expectations for the second quarter.
Revenue per available room (revPAR) has risen, mainly because of room rate increases and robust demand for the hotels’ shopping arcades. RevPAR was hk$2,864 (us$368, €283, £238) from hk$2,522 (us$324, €250, £209) in Hong Kong; hk$1,069 (us$137, €106 £89,) from hk$1,039 (us$133, €103, £86) in Asia and hk$2,838 (us$364, €281, £236) from hk$2,496 (us$320, €247, £207).
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