History is the ultimate luxury

The O'Hara's, an English style bar at the Astor Hotel in Tianjin. The Astor Hotel is branded as a Luxury Collection for Starwood Hotels & Resorts. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

C: How is the theme of the hotel reflected in its architecture or the minute details?

L: Like this old bar, it is 150 year old. It was built by English men, so it has a very male feel. I've softened it with plants, and servers will be all female in smart uniforms to make women feel more at home, and to make the guys very happy also. We've kept our décor style to reflect the atmosphere at the founding of the hotel. These chairs are very hard to find these days, and we use them abundantly in our hotel. Our servers dress in the traditional English way, and all of our beds four-poster beds.

C: In your opinion, do customers in China appreciate the rich culture at the Astor Hotel?

L: We are targeting Beijing people for weekends because it's close. During the week, the targets are businessmen from all over China and the world. There's a lot of foreign business here, German, American, and Japanese as well. They'll come and do their work. Their president will come every once in a while, we want these customers. We target the high-end customers.

L: Now the question about Chinese. The rich Chinese people spend differently. They experience the best in every city. So if the best in Shanghai is a new hotel, they'll want to stay there. Do they know the brand? Not necessarily. But that's OK, because getting to know something takes time. But, we want to be the best so we become their first pick.

C: Competition is fierce in any field in China. How do you cope with that?

L: Yes, it is. The Ritz is coming to Tianjin, and St. Regis, another Starwood brand, is also coming in. To cope with that, our PR and advertising should be strong enough to introduce the unique history of our hotel. Once everybody knows about this hotel, the obvious choice is to stay here because they only get one chance. That's where we want to position ourselves. Once the news is out, everybody will want that one chance to stay at this hotel.