In 1980, South African-born Meadows started working in Bangkok at the Oriental Hotel. Five years later he left Bangkok to join a resort hotel in the Caribbean.

He came back to Bangkok in 1993 to work for Grand Pacific Hotel as a general manager for another three years before moving on to manage the Sukhothai Hotel for five years. He is now general manager at Conrad Bangkok, a five-star business hotel on Wireless Road.

"When you move from hotel to hotel, you are always learning. You need to create new ideas for your guests to enjoy new impressive experiences and keep them interested in coming back," Meadows said, adding that when guests become addicted to a hotel, they will not go anywhere else.

With his long experience, he pointed out that each five-star hotel had a unique way of presenting its different selling points.

"At the Conrad Bangkok, a warm, friendly and professional staff is our strength and competitiveness," he said. "Our guests love to see the hotel staff recognise them. They are important to us."

Another key factor to success is location - a big factor in a customer's choice. Conrad Bangkok currently enjoys repeat guests at a rate of 85 per cent, particularly from the United States and Singapore.

Meadows said that 99 per cent of the hotel's guests expressed positive feedback about the warmth and friendliness of the staff who really care about the wellbeing of their guests.

"The most important thing is that our hotel staff feel comfortable with each other. We are working as a team and our staff are quite clear about what they have to do," said Meadows. "If the staff feels happy, this will come across to the guests."

Meadows said that Conrad Bangkok had a low staff turnover of only one per cent a month. They feel they are treated fairly and respected for the job they do, he said.

The hotel now employs more than 600 staff.

Meadows acknowledged that the rotation of skilled staff among hotels could be a problem, especially with new hotels opening in Bangkok's prime areas. However, some are promoted too soon and fail to succeed.

"We don't look for experienced staff but for the ones who have the right attitude and passion for the job. When they are service minded, we can teach them to do a great job," said Meadows.

Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn

The Nation