The Forbes Luxe 11 - We Are Number One!

Many months ago we were contacted about being part of a Travel Channel show from Forbes magazine about the most exclusive luxury hotels in the world. The production company from New York contacted me and ask if we could help them arrange a crew to do a video shoot there as it would be prohibitively expensive to send a crew from the US. As fate would have it, around this same time I met Rafael Winer who was now living in Siem Reap with his wife and he did video productions back in LA. I put him in contact with the company from NY and they worked out an arrangement to do the video shoot at the hotel. It was a lot of fun working with Rafael, putting together the talent that became our guests and helping Rafael and crew capture what The One Hotel is all about. He had to interview me and I did not realize how difficult it was to do an on-camera interview. We shot the video over about three days last year.

In June I receive an email from the production company telling us the air date for the show would be 26 December on the Travel Channel in the US. It just so happened that I was going to be home for Christmas so how perfect to be able to watch the show when it aired. I wrote to them again to confirm the air date and I was told it was not scheduled for 19 December, 10pm. So, we arranged a viewing party with my Mom, my sister and my nephew (complete with champagne of course) and sat down to watch the episode. They started and it was a countdown of their 11 most exclusive hotels. Starting with 11 and working their way towards number one, I was starting to feel very nervous. The main reason was that we were in such heady company. Some of the hotels were $10,000 per night and quite incredible. But, as the countdown started and went on, I just knew that we were going to be number one. After all, how appropriate would that be since we are The One Hotel?

It got down to the top three and I was almost sure that we would somehow be number two but when the second place hotel came up, it was Auberge du Soleil in Napa valley and we began to scream and jump around knowing we were going to be number one. The four minute segment was very, very good of course even though I was in it. The hotel looked great and they really sold us properly as an exclusive hotel that is very affordable at $250 per night. With that, the show ended and we were in a euphoric state. After a few minutes of basking in the glow of being number one, I looked and we had eight booking requests in the first 20 minutes after the show ended. Amazing! You can see a link to the forbes.com website with a brief story by clicking here. I will try to get the video and add it here and add it to our website. What a thrill!

Oh, the show airs again on 26 December at 10pm on the Travel Channel.

Another Great Book

A good friend of The One Hotel is photographer John McDermott. How good a friend is he? All of the photos you see of The One Hotel, Hotel Be, Linga Bar and Linga Spa were all taken by John. And as those of you that have been here know, his gallery connects to our lobby and is a great neighbor of ours. John now has published his first book, Elegy. To see an online preview of Elegy, click here. John has generously given us copies of his books that are now in each and every one of the rooms in both of our hotels. Thank you John! And we wish you all the best success for your book.

It Is Official: We Are A Cool Hotel!

Now in bookstores around the world is "Cool Hotels Southeast Asia" which includes The One Hotel. A really beautiful six page spread of our hotel. Have a look at a small sample here, and feel free to run out and buy lots of copies (or order online from the comfort of your home):

Psst..Have I Got A Deal For You, Or, Is Cheaper Really Better?

I think the answer is pretty obvious, but not sure there is universal agreement on that. Linga Bar has almost always had slightly higher prices than our competitors (there are many factors involved) but at the end of the day we decided, do you want cheap or do you want good? We fully stand behind the quality of our product at Linga Bar, and Linga Spa for that matter.

Now the price factor is starting to invade our hotel situation. Why? Because of the economy, because of increased supply and because of inferior management our competitors have either dropped their rates or have kept in place low season discounts they have never done before. Does that mean they offer a better experience than we do? Of course not. I have been around long enough to know that hotels that need to go to rock bottom prices do so our of desperation, not out of some desire to offer a better product to their customers. Actually, the opposite applies: hotels slash their rates and then have to cut back on staffing, reducing service and or amenities and then do not have the capital to keep investing in their product. Inevitably you end up in a worn down room, with cheap and/or fraying linens with lousy service and wonder, "What have I done?"

On the flip side, because of our small and unique size, not to mention my overwhelming desire to wow our customers, we refuse to do this. On the contrary, we are spending time and money to freshen up the paint, improve our staffing and make sure that everything is in place as it should be so that we can deliver the quality and value that our customers expect. What is the difference between these chain hotels (Raffles, Sofitel, Le Meridien) and us? To me it is quite clear: As the owner, I have to look our customers in the eye and know that we have delivered to the best of our ability. I dare you to try and do that at these other hotels. Even if you were to finally get to the General Manager (You will never, ever meet the owner), he/she will only be able to give you the excuses as to why they have cut back and not lived up to your expectations. The reason for this is that they are beholding to owners (venture capital vultures, cash-strapped and desperate single owners, or public company shareholders) that dictate just getting any cash is better than nothing. Will we be affected by those hotels cutting their rates to the bone? Maybe so, but we are not about to sacrifice our quality and experience to try and compete with them. After all, they have hundreds of rooms to fill and we do not. You are welcome to get their special low rates, and then endure the lack of service, getting a run-down room, waiting in line with other bargain hunters to be served that is a part of the package. I am so thankful that I do not have to compromise our product or our service in order to fill a room for a few extra dollars. More importantly, we are in the hospitality industry and providing service is the best of what we do.

This is not to say that we are not being flexible in pricing (check our our pre-payment discount for The One Hotel, maybe to be added to Hotel Be soon) and we are doing our best to come to common ground with our potential guests. When necessary and when appropriate, we will be flexible in pricing but what we will never do is to under-sell our selves in order to get a few extra dollars. It is a short-sided philosophy and does not represent what we need to be. I hope you understand, I hope you come and visit and I welcome your feedback.

ADDENDUM TO POST:

In order to understand why a hotel like the Raffles must resort to discounting their product, have a look at their availability report which indicates only one day in a six month period do they not have rooms available for sale:

And, in case you are wondering, this is not confidential information as I am on the Raffles consumer mailing list for promotions which include lunch or dinner specials. This one happened to include rooms.

I Should Have Bought A Boat

Instead of our new Camry, I should have bought a boat since Siem Reap has experienced its worst flooding in the six years a I have lived here. We took the car to Phnom Penh to the Toyota dealer this past Monday. We had it completely checked, changed the fluids and got all new tires and a clean bill of health. We left Phnom Penh at 5pm on Tuesday afternoon to drive back to Siem Reap. It started raining somewhere along the way and for almost all of the trip we had rain that was very, very heavy at times and a lot of wind. I wanted to get back home so I did not really care and I was driving so I felt safe enough. It is about a five hour drive and about half way through there was almost no other traffic on the roads which was great for us though sometimes we could go no more than 25 miles an hour. We actually made good time and got back to Siem Reap just after 10pm. Right after we arrived back at the bar and hotel, the rain just unleashed itself. And it rained, and rained and rained. I drove the car home along the river and it was a bit nerve racking as the road was becoming flooded. Just a week before the water along the river came close to the crest but did not really come over.

The next day I went out by motorbike and found the river had completely overflowed all the way from near the Old Market area and down towards the way to the Tonle Sap lake. I was surprised that the main streets of Siem Reap were not flooded as they had been in years past. I guess the drainage work they did actually worked. But, the rain did not stop on Wednesday, it just kept coming. By this time I had already realized it was the remnants of Typhoon Ketsana that had already struck the Phillipines and Vietnam. So, I drove back from Phnom Penh in a typhoon? It seems that way.

On Wednesday night when I left work around 9pm the area around the Old Market was OK. Thursday morning my house staff came back with the motorbike and it was flooded out again, like the day before from driving through water that was too high. So, I drove the car to work. What a mistake! I could not go from my house along the river so had to go the long way around out by the airport. The airport road was flooded and then I arrived in town to find that all of the streets were now flooded including the Old Market area, Bar street etc. I was shocked since it was not that way the night before and thought the worst was over. Have a look at the pictures below and you can see what I mean. Thankfully, our small street is slightly higher than the main roads and it only came near the top of the curb. It would have taken a lot more rain for it to have come into our street. What a mess though! Today is Friday and the sun is out so our fingers are crossed that the water will begin to recede. It had not affected our guests in that they were still able to go to Angkor Wat and enjoy the sites with very few tourists. So, wish us luck that the flooding recedes before the next storm comes.

Your Chariot Awaits!

Finally! After many months of consideration and waiting, we now have our very own car to use for our guest transportation. It was a big decision and certainly was not an easy process, I can assure you so I hope it works well for our needs. I am not sure about your experience buying cars but I have had cars since I was 16 years old and my first job back then was working at a car dealership (where my Mom also worked). What was my lofty title back then: Lot Boy. That meant I swept floors, emptied trash, cleaned cars and did all the other menial tasks no one else would do. Actually, I enjoyed the job and the people I worked with and it was fun to be around all of the new cars. So, I have been around the block when it comes to buying cars and never does the term Cavaet Emptor (Let the buyer beware) apply more than here in Cambodia.

I went with one of my staff to Phnom Penh as they have a bigger selection of cars there. We had settled on buying a Toyota Camry and we began our search. I told my staff I would teach him about buying cars and boy was I right. Nearly all of the Camrys that we saw had just been shipped in used from the US. I know that the average number of miles driven in America is about 15,000 per year. So, we started looking at 2000 Camrys (or 9 years old) and all of the cars had similar numbers of miles on them, between 55,000-65,000. Wow, what a coincidence! All these low mileage (less than half the average US amount) had landed on the ground in Cambodia. As you can imagine in a third world, developing country like Cambodia there certainly are no consumer protection laws to prevent dealers from turning back the odometer on a car to whatever the wanted. If you don't know the mileage, it is a bit difficult to give a value to the car but no problem, that was done for us. We looked at probably 10 or 11 Camrys from 2001 at several different Mom and Pop car dealers and the price was always the same: $13,000. I should my staff on www.autotrader.com if you search for 2001 Camry you will get mileage all over the board from 60,000 to 160,000 miles and at least a price range of $4,000 from cheapest to most expensive.

As I said, these cars were all just in from the US and many had stickers on them from states around the US. They also had writing or papers on the windshield with information that the dealers did not understand, otherwise they would have cleaned it off. On one Camry I saw written 83,056 which I knew right away was the odometer reading at that time. Turn the car on and the odometer says 58,000+. Every other place I went to the dealers would tell me it was actual mileage. When I asked this dealer about it his reply was, "I changed it already." Wow, I like this guy! He is honest! Too bad he did not have any cars that we wanted because I would have liked to have done business with him. Also, several cars had papers in the window from the US car insurance companies indicating the car had been in a collision but was a total loss. But, it looked in perfect condition, how is that possible? As I said, the dealers had no idea what these papers said otherwise they would have removed them. So at the end, we came back from Phnom Penh without a car as I was disillusioned with the process.

I began looking for cars here in Siem Reap with the help of Chetra, one of John McDermott's staff. He was able to find cars and maybe there was a middleman but usually from the owner. It still did not mean anything about the pedigree of the car but after looking at a few the people knew that I knew what I was doing so they would not bring me a car that they knew was suspect. At least I think so. So, yesterday I bought the beauty you see below: 2002 Silver Camry with almost leather interior (I think that is called "pleather" in some circles). Did I get a good car? Did I get a good deal? Only time will tell but I am hopeful. We look forward to chauffeuring you around in The One Hotel Collection's sedan limousine soon!

Fixed!

We have fixed the problem with our online "Best Rates" inquiry button. We upgrade our website hosting services a few months back and in the change to the new service some of the script in the online forms did not get changed as well. That has been fixed and tested and is working properly. Again, if you sent an inquiry and did not get a response during this time period, that was the reason. And, we always respond within hours of receiving an inquiry so if you do not hear from us promptly, please feel free to send an email to me directly at mbdishman@gmail.com.

We Always Respond And Promptly

I just discovered a disappointing glitch in our online form for "Best Rates" inquiry. It turns out that when the form is filled out and sent, the result is an email sent to us with blank data. This booking form had been working properly as it was tested. How long has this being going on? We are not sure but our webmaster is looking into it now and we will get it corrected. We always will respond to any email or inquiry within hours (never more than 24) from the time it is received. When this form is completed, a pop up message states just that and gives my alternate email address (mbdishman@gmail.com) in the event that a guest does not receive a prompt reply. When I was receiving these blank email forms, I thought that it was a result of those computer generated programs that try to flood the internet. That is why you see, like I have seen so often, that many sites have you fill out those squiggly letters or numbers that only humans can read and input, to prove that a real person is sending the message.

So, it was with great shock and disappointment that I discovered this last night. I wonder how many potential guests did not follow-up when they did not receive a response from us? I never have had anyone email us or advise when making an online booking that their original inquiry went unanswered so I was not alerted to the problem earlier. We know the importance of prompt communication and that in the age of spam and junk mail folders it is easy for mail or replies to go missing. Another way we try to make sure that the communication remains open is our "Auto Reply" that lets guests know their email will be responded to in 24 hours and anything past that time means that we did not receive their email and gives them our alternate contact.

For us, the reservation process is not just a way to secure new bookings but is our first point of contact with our guests and we want to make that as efficient, friendly and helpful as possible. So if you or anyone you know somehow did not receive a reply from us we apologize but it is not because we did not want to reply, we just did not receive the information that allowed us to do so. Now that you know, we hope to hear from you soon.

Ahhh...The Rainy Season

It is the rainy season now and the middle of the low season. I have not posted much as of late because there was not much to say since business is so slow. Slow enough that I decided to go home to Indiana for five weeks and spend some time with my Mom and family. It was fantastic but due to Mom's great cooking and my appetite I put on a few pounds. Now that I am back in Siem Reap I am on a diet (the staff know just what to cook for me) and off riding my bike. Today was especially nice. I was going to go for a ride around 3pm but walked out of the house to see a big rain storm come through. Around 5:30pm I looked out and the skies were blue and the sun beginning to set and off I went for a ride in the country with the green rice fields, grazing cows and kids playing and having fun. I avoided going anywhere near town (not the least of which to avoid the road construction that is everywhere) and had the best one hour bike ride. That is what is really beautiful about Cambodia during this season, my favorite time of year.

Business has picked up nicely but it is certainly down significantly from last year. June was off 50% from a year ago (and 50% off in low season is low!) so I will be interested to see how July has turned out. The worst is behind us so we are looking forward and getting ready for another fun high season.

Thank you Chip!

This past week I had the pleasure of hosting my friend Chip Conley and his partner Donald at The One Hotel. I have known Chip through our weekly basketball days in the Castro dating back more than a decade. In addition to being a good basketball player, Chip is my hotel idol in that he has built his company Joie de Vivre from one hotel into a 38 boutique hotel empire, the second largest boutique hotel company in the world. While I moved to SE Asia about seven years ago, I have tried to keep in contact with Chip and get together with him for a coffee when I am in San Francisco. Chip has always been so helpful and generous in that regard.

Now that I have my own two hotels, I was delighted but a bit nervous about Chip coming to visit. I should not have been as he, Donald and myself had a wonderful time together. I had only met Donald briefly about eight years ago so it was a pleasure to get to know him better. But, best of all, through re-connecting with Chip it has made me take a good hard look our business and how we can get better. For Christmas of 2007 my brother Alan gave me Chip's book:

Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo From Maslow.

As I told Chip, no offense, but I had not yet read the book. Why? Well, quite frankly I have read very little during this time, maybe less than ten books. How pathetic of me! Also I was a bit too wrapped up in our business and not taking the time to step back and do some assessments. I asked Chip to autograph the book and after he and Donald left I read the inscription and was really touched by what Chip wrote about how we had created a Peak experience in Siem Reap, Cambodia. But, while I am happy with what we have accomplished, I always knew we had to keep pushing ourselves to be better, to be innovative and to provide even more to our guests. Then I began to read Chip's book and I was amazed. Everything I could have hoped for to help us in this book. I feel re-energized, re-invigorated and ready to work with my team towards reaching more Peaks in our business. So, more on that to come but for now: Thank you Chip!

Getting The Best Price

I thought that I had written about this earlier, but I guess not. And it is a good follow-up to my last post about the economic crisis ending soon. In response to the failing economy, I knew this low season (April to September) was going to be a challenge. With just a one room hotel we have never really felt the need to discount, except for last minute bookings within 10 days of arrival. And we purposely priced Hotel Be affordably so again not a great need to slash our prices. But, seeing that low season was going to be difficult we came up with a couple of strategies to offer a great value to our guests. We introduced a two night Quick Break package that was less than two nights at our regular rate but also included a bottle of wine and 60 minute massage for two. Then, we added a "Pay Three Nights Get The Fourth Night Free" deal. I am happy to say that both packages have been well received and I enjoy the fact that we are showing our appreciation and determination to get guests by giving them a good deal. Again, I always thought we were a good value before but during this low season we are an even better value. And, today I read on MSNBC that haggling is now in. To which I say, no problem! We will always offer the best deal available for the dates requested. Just today we received a request for a three night stay in May. Of course I could have easily quoted them the our normal price for three nights but instead offered them our two night Quick Break package with an add on third night. The way I look at it is, I am a consumer too and I would rather get the best offer up front rather than having to haggle or worry that I could have gotten a better deal. Then again, with a one room hotel and a three room hotel that are both well priced, we do not need to discount much. After all, what most hotels do is come up with their "rack rate" which almost no one ever pays because they can find many other ways to book a cheaper room. Even though I spent 20 years in that side of the hotel business, I do not subscribe to that theory. I prefer to come up with what I think is a fair price and then, when warranted, offer discounts as needed (especially if you are calling to book a room for the next day and we have availability). And, let us add on something else of value for the same great price and everyone is happy. Hope to see you soon!

It Is Over (At Least That Is My Hope)

As I said in the last post, the challenges of the Siem Reap infrastructure are difficult but we have met every challenge. After all, it is not rocket science is it? That is what keeps us going and keeps us addressing our guest's needs.

I say it is over, and what is that exactly? I believe the US recession has hit the bottom already and is on the slow climb back up. And that will be followed soon by the global economy. Why do I believe that, given that we had a terrible night of sales at Linga Bar and only one room occupied in our hotels. Well, I say that because this has been going on for nearly two years, and then the meltdown of last September and October has passed. I feel like our guests have seen the worst and our continuing to carry on with their lives. I feel this because I have talked to and met our last few guests and they echo that sentiment. Actually, the last guest of The One Hotel consisted of an employed real estate lawyer and an unemployed spouse. We gave them a great deal at The One Hotel and they loved their stay.

I say the global recession is soon to be over but we may not feel it real terms for another month or two but this is the most optimistic I have felt in more than six months. After all, we have to get on with our lives and enjoy it to the fullest, right? Of course, this is a result of the efforts of the Obama administration since taking office. I can not say enough good things about him: he is thoughtful, competent, inclusive, deliberative, etc. And the renewal of America's standing with the world is a great thing to see happen. We will get through this, and be stronger for it I hope.

Now, all we need is for you to book a room or stop by Linga for a drink. We hope to see you soon!

PS - As I have written before, there are plenty of great ways to get to Cambodia without going through Bangkok or Thailand so don't let their political dramas deter you. We are even getting guests that fly directly from the US to Siem Reap (via Seoul) which has been nice to see.

Guest Feedback And The Challenges Of Siem Reap Infrastructure

Recently we had a couple stay at The One Hotel that I enjoyed meeting and talking with each day during their four night stay. They were quite nice and seemed to enjoy their visit. So, I was taken aback when I received a lengthy letter of complaint from them after their stay. There was some validity in their complaints of course which we have taken measures to address. And there were complaints that led me to realize that our hotel was just not the right fit for them which is understandable, as we can not possibly be all things to all people. One issue they brought up are the stairs. I do not think someone booking with us would be under the impression, after reviewing our website, that we would not have stairs leading to the room or terrace. That said, the stairs are typical in Cambodian style and steeper than normal stairs for sure. Since nearly all of our guests are fit and active this has never been brought up as an issue (except from my Mom, who does not do well on any stairs let alone ours) but can be for older guests. The One Hotel was formerly a home of a Cambodian family and when we leased the building we, myself and our architect team, never gave much consideration to changing the stairs due to the cost involved and to the loss of space that would have resulted. Therefore, our suite has two sets of stairs: one leading from the lobby to the room and the second leading from the bedroom to the private roof terrace.

Another complaint that was raised in their email and was not brought to my attention during their stay was the lacking water pressure in the room. For most of the last two months Siem Reap businesses have had to deal with either low water pressure or long periods of time without any city water supply. The city is working on the main water system that runs down Sivutha Boulevard but others say it is a lack of water supply due to capacity limits of city facilities. Either way, we have been able to do our best to solve this as it relates to our guest. As I rent three buildings in this area (the building housing Linga Bar, the building that is The One Hotel, and the building next to The One Hotel that is Hotel Be, Linga Spa and AHA restaurant)and throughout this water crisis, the building housing Hotel Be has not had any water supply from the city. We have had to manually fill the water tank from a rigged system from Linga Bar where the water is usually on most of the day. This rigged system works well enough and we let our guest know so that if for any reason there is no water, we can fill the tank in a matter of minutes from our spare tank at Linga Bar which we try to always keep full.

The One Hotel building has always had water, no interruption. But the water pressure is not what it should be. I did not know until I received this guest's email the extent that it was affecting their stay: the rainfall shower in the room did not have adequate pressure nor did the terrace shower or jacuzzi. In my many years in the hotel business I have always operated under the premise that you do your best to fix problems before they arise and react as quickly as possible to new problems. Had this guest mentioned the water pressure was not adequate, we could have reacted. Temporarily we could have manually filled the jacuzzi and provided a water bucket for use on the terrace shower. Since they brought it to our attention, we have solved the issue by adding another water tank for The One Hotel and tying it into the exisiting supply so that together they form enough water pressure to make the showers and jacuzzi work as normal. Again, the supplementary water tank has to be filled manually but we can do that in a matter of minutes. My attitude about solving problems that come up as it relates to hotel operations is: If we can put a man on the moon...then surely we can find a solution to our issues.

So, going back to the guest complaint it was disconcerting that nothing was said while the guest were here but we have taken their feedback, where relevant, constructively and have addressed it. Since I meet and talk to every guest that stays with us when I am in Siem Reap, I know that the we are hitting high marks for nearly every guest. So, when our last guest at The One Hotel checked out this past Tuesday and told me it was the nicest hotel room they had ever stayed in, it certainly brought a smile to my face and a sigh of relief. Another recent guest wrote to thank us for their great stay with the subject line of their email saying "Onederful." And yesterday I received maybe the highest compliment we have had so far. This guest stayed at Hotel Be for ten nights and enjoyed their stay so much that she told me that this is the first time she is coming back from a holiday and will be disappointed to be returning to her apartment instead of her suite at Hotel Be. Now that is a beautiful compliment!

No doubt we will continue to have our challenges trying to do business in the developing city of Siem Reap that is decades behind its regional neighbors, but we will always do our best to solve any issue that comes up as quickly and as efficiently as we can. That is half the fun of the hotel business, solving problems. The other half is having fun guests that really enjoy our hotels. Now, let's keep our fingers crossed that the Siem Reap electricity supply holds out!

New York Times - 36 Hours In Siem Reap

On 28 December 2008 we were delighted to learn of Linga Bar being part of 36 Hours in Siem Reap as chosen by the New York Times:

Wow, third time in NYT for Linga Bar!