Room at the top

It's tricky to make a luxury hotel seem like home. But one chain has done it around the world. It's now reinvented the formula

- VIR SANGHVI

It is one of the most famous stories in luxury hoteliering. Adrian Zecha, who had revolutionised deluxe hotels in Asia by founding the Regent chain, decided to build a home for himself in Phuket, Thailand, after selling his Regent stake.

A few friends joined him and they found a location outside the city to build their villas. They realised that the area lacked the basic infrastructure required to support luxury homes.

So, Zecha built a small hotel next to their homes that would provide the generators, boilers, laundry, security, etc. He called the hotel Amanpuri, and by the time it opened in late 1987, a business model had emerged. Zecha and his friends sold more land around the hotel to other millionaires who built their own luxury homes. Amanpuri managed the properties and, if the millionaires so chose, they could offer their homes up for rent when they were not using them.

The Amanpuri experience had two consequences. The residences-plus-hotel model began to be copied all over the world. And Zecha had found a new niche: Super-rich travellers who were willing to pay a fortune for small, luxury hotels. Zecha got back into hoteliering full-time and created the Aman chain of exclusive, expensive hotels.