Interview: Swire's Brian Williams on Future of Luxury

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Hong Kong-based Swire Hotels recently announced its entry into the U.S. market with East Miami, located in Swire Properties $1.05 billion Brickell City Centre development in downtown Miami. The five-year-old hotel group primarily focuses on urban hotels in Hong Kong and mainland China, targeting a luxury clientele with three distinct brands. 

In an interview with WPC News, managing director Brian Williams discussed the vision for Swire Hotels, the group's expansion plans and the future of luxury hotels. Edited excerpts:

What was the vision behind the different brands?

It's been a great journey, we started just investing in other brands, until we decided we could set up our brands and management companies. There was an opportunity for us since the days of building 700-luxury-room hotels is sort of finished. It has been a great success with our upscale, high end hotels. Our hotels are a little more relaxed, a little more informal, with great restaurants and bars. 

What are your current expansion plans in the U.S.? 

A lot of our focus is in Asia. For us it is not a matter of how many [hotels] we open, it is how well we open. As opposed to other brands, we own, develop and operate our hotels. For us it is about getting the maximum return on our investment for those assets and one a year is quite hard work. As far as the U.S. goes, let's see how this one [East Miami] develops. I'm confident it will be successful and we'll look at other opportunities after that. 

How was Swire Hotels affected by the financial downturn?

We opened our first hotel in August 2008, and it was a pretty tough start. After the Olympics, the world came to a scratching halt. Luckily, we opened the Upper House in October 2009, just at the point when Asia was picking up again, and things were quite good. We opened East in 2010 and that took off immediately. In that perspective, Asia has been a great market [for recovery], much faster than the U.S. and particularly Europe. The business profile for Asia hotels has changed enormously. You used to rely on the global market -- Europe, America. Now, 80 percent of our business comes from within Asia -- Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, China, Korea. Your market is on your doorstep. 

What changes have you noticed in customers' demands for the industry?

One thing they want more than anything else, with the average customer 35 years old and below for our brand, is free internet -- and not just free, big bandwidth. The second thing, in the old days, you wanted formal service, a little more impersonal, deferential -- that's changed. The younger people traveling want to see personality, they want to talk to them, engage with the teams, they are usually the same age. There's no reason to have a servitude attitude. 

How will the East brand be different?

We focus on detailed design, great restaurants and bars, but in particular our people management. We have a very young, energetic staff. That's something that will differentiate ourselves. We believe the people are really our brands, that's what makes us, not so much the marketing of the hotel.

What do you see in the future for the industry?

Luxury hotels will become smaller, less rooms. I think the emphasis on design will continue. Hotels are becoming cultural icons. They are more than hotels, they are a place for inspiration, a place for creativity, a place for ideas. That's where hotels are moving into. People are selling furniture for homes with the slogan "like a hotel room." It makes sense for luxury hotels to go smaller, it makes sense from an owner standpoint and a consumer standpoint. It is hard to get personalized service in a 500-room hotel. At the Upper House, we don't do check in or check out, you get a key and you tell us when you leave. Our mini bars are free [not in all brands], we don't have the interrogation. We're much more flexible. With a small hotel, we can be.