What it’s like to go on holiday when you already own a five-star hotel chain
In a new series, Vladislav Doronin reveals how a luxury hotel’s first impressions – from a proper greeting to a hairdryer’s placement – make lasting impressions
It’s pretty obvious that Vladislav Doronin is quite familiar with luxury hotels.
As the owner and CEO of Aman Resorts, a hotel group company that evokes awe in seasoned luxury travellers and lesser hotel chains alike, he has seen the business from both sides – as a guest and a hotelier.
Doronin oversees Aman’s 33 properties in 21 countries from Venice to Bhutan.
Here, he relates what he believes are the traits that make a hotel experience stand out – and it’s not always just about complimentary bottles of champagne waiting in rooms when guests check-in.
Doronin believes the initial welcoming and greeting of guests upon arrival is crucial to a hotel.
“Does it start ‘kerbside’ at a city hotel or at the ‘dock’ of an island resort?” he asks.
“Who is present to welcome you and what do they say?”
The first question means that the hotel experience begins the moment before guests step into the entrance of a city hotel with a personable interaction with an efficient hotel porter or member of the front-office staff. Or, in the case of a sea-transfer, disembarking from a boat.