I’m very happy to share with you an interview of Alejandro Bernabé, the previous General Manager and Vice President – Southeast Asia, Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok, about the brand Kempinski. He is becoming now the CEO of Kempinski.

INTRODUCING ALEJANDRO BERNABE, CEO Kempinski worlwide

With over 18 years in the hospitality industry – over a decade of which has been spent within the Kempinski – Mr. Bernabé has been served as a head of the team at Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok and played a leader role to spread Kempinski’s wing in a vibrant and diverse region of South East Asia.

Mr. Bernabé brings in his wealthy knowledge in hospitality management and the understandable of cultural diversity as his career path has taken him across the globe, from his native Spain to the USA, Switzerland, South Africa, France, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Russia, Turkey, Malta, Kuwait, Jordan and Dubai. He was post as a general manager at Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates, where he played a key role in firmly placing the property on the UAE hospitality map.

With multiple Bachelor’s degrees obtained in Spain and the USA, a Hotel Management degree from the Hotel Institute Montreux, in Switzerland, and a Master of Business Administration from Reims Management School, in France, Mr. Bernabé brings a formidable background in management to the table, along with years of practical, on-the-ground experience. Having started his career in the realm of Food and Beverage, and with extensive experience with both city hotels and resort properties, Mr. Bernabé possesses the ideal mix of skills required to successfully boost Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok’s already strong reputation as a leisure and culinary destination in the city as well as to strengthening the Kempinski brand and position in South East Asia region. 

Each employee is an ambassador of his hotel and the promise of expected services. What actions do you put in place to involve your team in the success of the customer experience? How do you motivate them so that they give the best of themselves?

Of course, consistency in training and empowering the employees are essential. As a management, it is important to address a small achievement of each staff – making them proud of their job and of the company. Equally important with addressing their success at work is to make sure they are happy. If the person is happy, they will be able to deliver a great job.

What is the most beautiful memory as Hotel General Manager? Can you tell us an anecdote that you have experienced?

For me as a general manager, an opening of the new hotel is always the best memory. It involves all your professional experience in the entire career to solve daily problems, including administrative and operational service, and to ensure that the hotel is ready to open its door with full-service on the scheduled date. In my current role as a vice president for Southeast Asia region, in addition to the general manager, I am opening the Kempinski Nay Pye Taw in Myanmar, scheduled to open on November 1, 2014 which will be the 3^rd Kempinski hotel in the region after Jakarta (2009) and Bangkok (2010), which I could not wait to join the general manager there as well as the team to welcome the first guest arriving at the hotel soon.

UP-Date : Alejandro Bernabé is now the new Group Director of the Avani Hotels