Alila is a lifestyle hotel and resort company with both city and resort properties. The brand specialises in bringing a unique, architecturally influenced lifestyle offering to its properties. Guy Heywood, COO of Alila Hotels and Resorts, said: “We have quite a span of properties from a 39-room property in Siem Reap to a 250 room hotel in downtown Jakarta. We also have the Alila Villas brand which is your upmarket villa-style properties and we have two Alila Villas in Bali. Each has its own private pool and has a full variety of offerings including a butler and a philosophy of ‘anything, anywhere, anytime’. Right now we operate eight properties and are about to open our hotel Bangalore at the beginning of June. There are no other openings planned for 2011 but we have 18 hotels under different stages of development at the moment.”
Alila currently has properties in India, Cambodia and Indonesia with developments underway in China, Vietnam, India, Cambodia, Indonesia, Portugal, Oman and Thailand. He added: “2011/12 will be a stabilising year for Alila as far as openings are concerned. We need to prepare ourselves for this rapid growth. “I think 2013, 2014 and 2015 will be very big years in terms of openings. A lot of what we are working on now takes time to develop, but by the end of 2015 we aim to have over 20 hotels.”
Recent additions to the portfolio include the Alila Sothea in Cambodia, which is a rebranded property, which Alila took over with effect from 1 April and put in place
the brand’s standards, training, services and branding.
The Alila Bangalore is a 120-room city property which is due to open in June. It is in a great location of Bangalore within the IT hub which is expected to be in high demand with the business travellers.
Speaking about the history of the brand, Heywood said: “This is Alila’s 10th anniversary year. We started with a property in Jakarta in 2001 and it’s a bigger city hotel and since then what has evolved is a decade of fairly quick growth for a young company without an established reputation.
“I think to achieve what we have achieved in the last 10 years is incredible. We have evolved from the city hotels into resorts and the villas. Our portfolio is very varied and exciting and it shows that we are a company who can adapt and be successful. As a company I would say there isn’t a flagship; we show just as much enthusiasm and energy to all our properties. From a personal point of view I think the two villa branded properties stand out. They are the ones that generally get the accolades and the press and get photographed because they are incredibly beautiful.”
Speaking about the scope of the Alila offer, Heywood said the company would not rule out any country as a possible location. He said: “All destinations are exciting, but ultimately it boils down to the exact location within those destinations. The world is a big and exciting place. We are very excited about entering China; it is a beautiful place and has a lot of incredible sights, sounds and culture for people to experience. Vietnam is also on the fast track as far as development is concerned. A lot of hotel companies are developing there. The country has a lot to offer. We are also very excited about our Portugal property – which will be our first foray into Europe. That in itself will be a test for us and a good experience for us to make the concept work in Europe.
For the full article please see the RLI June 2011 issue
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