“The G20 heads of state meeting is only two days, September 4-5, but delegations have been around for several weeks. Our hotel has been completely sealed to all other business since August 20th,” says Alastair McAlpine, general manager of the Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake, China.
This is the first time the top-level G20 gathering has been held in China. Almost a decade ago, plans were set up for a specific hotel for this G20. A distinctive building, with views of the Great Wall and a total of 306 rooms, some in a 21-floor standing doughnut shape, was finished and became Sunrise Kempinski Hotel Beijing at Yanqi Lake. It is said that with the global importance of Hangzhou native and resident Jack Ma, whose global headquarters of Alibaba is in Hangzhou, it might be more appropriate to host G20 in that city instead.
“The build-up has been extremely detailed. When the Chinese do something like this, they do it well,” stated McAlpine, who is no stranger to special events. “In Washington, D.C., we frequently had up to three heads of state in-house at any one time, and I coped with an inauguration and a state funeral, but this is different, a complete buy-out of our 78-room hotel and three villas-to-let. We are now totally immersed getting ready to host our delegation – and sorry, I cannot tell you which it is (security!).”
The hotel is ready for anything. In early June public areas in the scenic West Lake area of the city were planted with the exact flowers that will be blooming next week, both for official approval and also for photo-taking. By that time, strict security vetting of all 320 team members, which include the hotel’s own security, was already taking place. The adjacent West Lake was combed by divers, and all primary roads for a significant area around were closed off.
Allocation of which delegation would stay in which hotel was actually made back in June, and although the GM and his executive committee have been sworn to secrecy, even at that early stage, once the delegation was known, protocol from its embassy in Beijing started working with the hotel. What to do? What special foods and drinks would be required?
Apart from culinary and some back-of-house departments, staff at this 5-year-old hotel are remarkably young (“this is the first generation to be excited by hospitality,” explained their GM, who personally does all fourth, last, interviews, talking about anything that excites passion, which is often football or social media). All intra-hotel communications are on WeChat, but it is strictly banned to use smartphones, or have them visible, in front of hotel guests. Because of new openings, all of which seem to pay better, he has a 20% turnover, but many later want to come back. They work five days a week, unlike their GM, who is typically in and out at weekends.
At 12, staying in Florida at The Breakers on a family vacation (his father ran two significant companies back in Belfast, Northern Ireland) he started helping out valet parkers. The legendary Tom Wicky, then managing director there, came past and asked what he was doing. The crew explained how helpful he was. Mr. Wicky picked up a phone, pressed a single direct-call button, and summoned a can of Coca-Cola. In the pre-teen’s memory a flunkey ran up in no time, the chilled can on a silver tray. “I am going to be a hotel GM,” Alastair announced to his parents.
His determination never lessened. At 15 he got a summer job working for Paddy McStrachan at The Culloden Hotel, Northern Ireland (he had to practise exactly picking up silver salt and pepper containers with a spoon and fork until he was perfect, he remembers). After high school, he went to Strathclyde University, with stages at Gleneagles (MD Peter Lederer was inspirational). Without speaking a word of German he moved to Nassauer Hof in Wiesbaden and acquired one more hero, Karl Nüser. A friend then suggested approaching The Regent Hong Kong, now InterContinental Hong Kong: He arrived in time for the 1997 handover to China, and has been with Regent, and now Four Seasons, ever since – his latest mentors are Chris Hunsberger and Guy Rigby.
“I have never thought of hospitality as work, it is my lifestyle, and despite everything, G20 is going to be lots of fun,” he declared, with a big smile.