The Spark of a Polymath
By Edward Carter

Dateline: Bangkok, April 26, 2007
A 12-minute read.

I’m in the brand spanking new RR&B—Rib Room & Bar—on the 31st floor of The Landmark, Bangkok having dinner with the hotel’s General Manager, Frank Clovyn.

Frank regularly lectures—I should say entertains—my students at Bangkok University International College. My favorite of his talks is called “Anything from the Minibar?”

The talk is a study of how management attitudes affect the guest experience…for example, what I didn’t tell you about my awful stay at the Millennium Hilton (the list was too long already) was that when I checked out on Christmas day, the only things the cashier was concerned about was what I had taken from the minibar, and whether I’d watched a movie or not (she said I did; I didn’t). (By the way, the GM has since been replaced.)

What happened the last time you checked out of an hotel? “Anything from the minibar?” And you forgot about the laundry charge and that nightcap in the lobby the other night. So you left having to pay more that you expected—not a great feeling.

You remember that I railed against the Millennium’s (and many other hotels, except The Conrad Bangkok) charging to use the Internet, well I place the minibar in the same category. It is no fluke that I asked my guests at The Point to pay the all-inclusive rate in advance (a policy now copied by the Four Seasons Tented Camp in Thailand’s Golden Triangle). When my guests left, there was nothing to pay—the best resort experience they’d ever had!

Ted: Just for the record, Frank, what’s your background?

Frank: I was born in Belgium. I completed hotel school when I was 21 and worked as a chef in a seafood restaurant in Antwerp for three years. Then for two years I was sous chef in the Crest Hotel in Antwerp. Then two years as Executive Sous Chef at the Brussels Sheraton was followed by two years as Executive Chef at the King Solomon Sheraton in Jerusalem. Then, after a year as Executive Sous Chef at the Hyatt Regency in Seoul, I returned to Jerusalem as Food and Beverage Director at the Hyatt Regency Jerusalem for three years.

The restaurant manager (a nice guy from Manhattan) brought the menus.

Frank continues: Then I went to Australia and was Executive Assistant Manager, Food and Beverage, at the Hyatt Regency Coolum in Queensland. But, searching for a more exotic clime, moved to Manila as the Resident Manager of the Shangri La Edsa Plaza.

Ted: How long have you been in Bangkok?

Frank: Fifteen years. I moved from Manila to be the Resident Manager of the Shangri La Bangkok and then moved up to become the General Manager of The Imperial Queens Park Hotel, Bangkok. Then, in 1997, I became General Manager here at The Landmark Bangkok.

Ted: I know you only change positions if there is a challenge. What was the challenge here?

Frank: To position The Landmark as the most competitive and best independent hotel on Sukhumvit Road and Bangkok, and to further enhance the image and promote the hotel as a truly “Thai” owed hotel to make it the “in place” with the local customers, as well as broadening its appeal to the international businessman.

Ted: I know The Landmark is very popular; what’s special about it?

Frank: Well, I changed the market mix from 35% Corporate Market to 55%, formulated a new vision and strategic direction that repositioned the hotel as a differentiated competitor in the market moving from a perceived 4 star status to a full 5 star property, and our rate philosophy is to slide ourselves just under the JW Marriott and the Westin. So, by offering only the finest products and services, it has become the leading independent hotel in Bangkok. We have 414 rooms and 18 F&B outlets! Now which steak are you going to try?

Ted: The choices are amazing!

This is just part of the menu:
• “The chef’s favourite “la Côte de Bœuf”--“rib eye steak on the bone” (recommended to share): 1,000 gr.

• Australian Grain-fed beef (240 days) from 250 to 350 grams and more in the following cuts: Tenderloin, Sirloin, Rib Eye, T-bone, and Porterhouse. For example, the Rib Eye costs THB 1600 (US$48.00)

• Australian Grain-fed beef (300 days) from 250 to 350 grams and more in the following cuts: Tenderloin, Sirloin, and Rib Eye.

• US beef from 250 to 350 grams and more in the following cuts: Angus tenderloin, Prime sirloin, and Prime rib eye.

• Wagyu beef – marbling (6/7) grade from 250 to 350 grams and more in either a Tenderloin or Sirloin.

• “Matsuzaka” Beef. At 300 gr., it weighs in at Thai Baht 5,500 ($160.00)!

I’ll start with the Lobster Bisque and have an Australian, 300-day, Grain-fed Rib Eye, medium rare.

Frank: You also must try something very special. You know how they dry hams under the eves in Grison, Switzerland; well we have some Pata Negra ham from Spain that’s even better. And let me give you a bit of our Alaska King Crab Salad, you should try that too.

Ted: What else have you done here?

Frank: I set up a professionally driven and focused Training Section, backed up by a Human Resources Department that is focused on hiring, training and developing only the finest and most qualified individuals.

With the increasing number of hotels, both in the city and the resort areas, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find good employees on all levels. Finding good middle management has always been a problem, but today just finding a waiter, bar man, or guest relation officer has become a huge challenge.

Personally, I have always had problems with the HR people I have worked with throughout my career in Asia. So this is a message to all HR people and management staff working in this industry:

Ask yourself, “With 65 million people living in this country, how can you possibly tell me that you cannot find me people who are willing to make a career in this industry…if given a real chance?”

Too many times our people in the HR Departments look for potential employees who have a university degree — graduates, but what we tend to forget is that most of today’s graduates are not really interested in making careers in our industry. They think of themselves as “overqualified,” and, in fact, look down on service jobs.

My philosophy is to look for “raw material.” And what we need to look for specifically are: positive attitudes, great smiles, and a genuine desire to work in this industry. Most of all, there must be that “spark” in the eyes.

Career development and succession planning has become much more than just some lame words that some of the “past glory” hotel companies were using. Remember, you are only as good as your weakest link. Today it is a question of surviving or, as we say, “Just Getting Better!!!”

Ted: How many staff do you have?

Frank: 720 and I am constantly re-developing and re-training existing employees by concentrating on attitude, personality, and professionalism, to ensure that we are maximizing focus on quality guest service through ownership and empowerment. But it is a huge job and few hotel managers have enough time or assets.

The Lobster Bisque arrived. It was deliciously creamy with just the right amount of edginess from well pounded shells. With it is a small lobster salad on a potato galette...I always like it when you get more than you expect.

The Alaska King Crab “in Pimentos Del Piquillos” came with a bell pepper granité and was drizzled with crustacean oil. Wonderful!

Ted: You did a fantastic job redoing your Chinese restaurant; you must have had lots of fun with this one.

Frank: This space used to be two restaurants. Now it is RR&B with an open plan kitchen with two chefs from France.

On the other side is the new executive lounge. See the red chandelier? That came from a sketch I did on a piece of napkin. What do you think of the place mats?

Ted: Look just like ribbed, black Louis Vuitton material!

Frank: They’re supposed to!

Ted: Last week I sent my students to visit MR Kukrit Pramoj’s Heritage Home, similar in feel to the Jim Thompson House Museum, but built by a very extraordinary Thai. While I was researching the amazing MR Kukrit, I learned a new word — polymath! Look it up, Frank, that’s what you are. :-)

Frank: That’s not fair, tell me.

Ted: It’s an archaic word meaning “Renaissance” man — a person of many talents.

The steak arrived. I didn’t need a knife! Quite simply one of the best I’ve ever had!

Frank, smiling: That’s nice of you to say considering what you’ve already accomplished in your life, but I never forget...the day you believe you are successful, is the day you stop being successful. Just look how hotel management has changed. (He asked for some paper and sketched as he talked.)

In what I call the olden days, the pyramid management structure put the GM at the top, then the employees, and at the bottom were the guests. (He drew the pyramid like those that stand at Giza.)

The General Manager THEN
• Stand in the Lobby
• Look good
• Good entertainer
• Knows good food & wine
• Tell them what to do

Employees THEN
• Low educational level
• Sub servant
• Eager
• To work in a hotel was a status symbol
• Loyal

Guests THEN
• Well to do
• Elitist
• Class & status conscious
• Relaxed
• Pretentious

Today, the pyramid is inverted—guests at the wide top, employees in the middle, and the GM is at the little pointed bottom. (He drew an upside-down pyramid.)

Guests NOW
• Fast
• Sleek
• Demanding
• No room for error
• No frill, No fuss
• Expecting
• Well traveled
• Inpatient

Employees NOW
• Well to highly educated
• Difficult to get people to enjoy their job
• Look down on "service jobs“
• Little loyalty

General Manager NOW
• Sales Person & Marketeer
• Charismatic Motivator / People Driver / Trainer
• Financial Guru
• Human resources specialist
• PR specialist
• F&B specialist
• Entertainer
• Relationship Manager
• Computer literacy

I call it “Management By Walking Around.”
• Seeing Guests
• Spending time with employees
• Seeing the “heart” of the house
• Checking standards

Bottom Line: Running an hotel is not a job, it is a passion!
(He underlined it with a flourish and put the exclamation point down so hard, he broke the point of the pencil!)

Ted: Do you have a personal life?

Frank: I have a wonderful wife who is Israeli and we have two daughters. I play a lot of golf with Gregory Meadows, the GM of The Conrad, enjoy SCUBA diving, cooking, reading, and music. I had a yacht built in Langkawi. When it was finished, I sailed it from Langkawi to the marina in Pattaya, and most weekends I go there and get out on the water. The far horizon helps me put things in perspective. I am also the president of Beluthai—the Belgium, Luxemburg, Thai Chamber of Commerce, and sit on the Board of the Thai Hotel Association.

Let me suggest two desserts: a strawberry grapefruit tart and a chocolate surprise with home-made vanilla ice cream.

Ted: What’s the future of the hotel business in Bangkok?

Frank: The future of the industry in Bangkok, in Thailand, all over Asia in fact, is very exciting. At the moment there are 5-star hotels under construction all over Bangkok but I think the smartest thing to do now is build 3-star hotels catering to business people.

Ted: But Frank, after all you’ve said about recruiting and training, where is the staff going to come from? Eleven years ago I asked Randy Shimabuku, the Rooms Manager of The Regent (now the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok) from which school he got his staff.

He said, “Isn’t it strange. This is the land of hospitality and there is no commercial hospitality school open to everyone!”

I love teaching hospitality and tourism management to my students at BUIC, but don’t you think, Frank, that there should be a commercial hospitality institute in Thailand that could train all those kids with stars in their eyes, as well as all the current hospitality employees that want and need more training?

Frank: Let me help you start one, Ted. Every GM in this country, let alone China, India, and Viet Nam has people who need training. And all those kids who can’t afford to go to university deserve the chance to make a difference in their and their family’s lives. Let’s do it!

Ted: It would be great if it could be the Hospitality Institute of Thailand under the auspices of Bangkok University International College.

I’m sure it would be a H. I. T.!

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So Frank’s polymathic, and RR&B’s polychromic—if you want a change of mood, wait a minute...the entire place continually morphs from red to green to cyan to magenta!

Then there’s always the spectacular view!

Some guest comments I have retrieved off hotel booking websites:

“Stunning hotel in centre of Sukumvit road. Staff was superb especially at pool bar and executive lounge. Well worth upgrading to executive floor. Best hotel we have used in Bangkok. Well worth the money.”

“After staying at a sub-standard hotel down the street, I decided to check into the Landmark—very efficient staff and impressive facilities. I would highly recommend this hotel for older travelers such as myself who value their comfort and well being. Their restaurants are classy and the Atrium serves the finest breakfast in BKK.”

The Landmark Bangkok
138 Sukhumvit Road
Klongtoey, Bangkok
10110 Thailand
Tel: +66 (0) 2254 0404
Fax: +66 (0) 2253 4259
E-mail: fclovyn@landmarkbangkok.com
Website: www.landmarkbangkok.com

Closest Skytrain station is Nana.

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