“Networking is the secret weapon to success, and I thank my father,” says Marcel Thoma, general manager of Swire Hotels’ The Upper House, Hong Kong. Thoma senior, a scion of Zurich Insurance back in Switzerland, traveled widely for business and was extremely active in many charities and job-related organizations.
Growing up, Marcel Thoma was also interacting with his five older siblings so that when he went on to École hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland, it was natural to be overtly social. And he has not only continued networking but he continues to enhance his contacts (on Sunday, he hosts an evening-long At Home in Cannes, France, on the eve of the annual International Luxury Travel Market, ILTM, which this year expects over 5,000 delegates, of whom around 1% are on the Thoma guest list).
In Hong Kong, sit with Thoma at Café Gray Deluxe, The Upper House’s 49th-floor brasserie that is a meeting place for locals and others who happen to be in town, and he is, as always, working two iPhones simultaneously – but so discreetly that he appears to be giving 100% of his attention to the person he is talking to.
The hotel, which has 117 rooms, of which 23 are suites, will close around 80% this year, average stay three nights. About 38% of guests are regulars, and Thoma believes in keeping in touch with those, wherever they are in the world. This is why such other hoteliers as Mariano Tribelhorn, international sales director of Dolder Grand Resort, above Zurich, Switzerland, regards Thoma as a personal concierge if, regardless of where he is in the world, he needs anything before his next visit to Hong Kong.
The Thoma contacts list is also heavy with locals. As a result of his professional friendship with Victoria Tang-Owen, daughter of the founder of the Shanghai Tang brand, he became involved with Hong Kong’s Down Syndrome Association. Earlier this year, 10 young adults were brought on as interns, and four have since been hired permanently (“It warms my heart to see how everyone, employees and guests, have welcomed them”, says Thoma).
The number of Hong Kong celebrities using The Upper House regularly includes its designer, André Fu, who first trialed his now-famous avocado palette here when the hotel opened in 2009. Interacting with big names is, incidentally, a great incentive for his 240-strong team, says Thoma – who now also oversees Swire-owned Pacific Place apartments adjacent to the hotel (another 100 work there, full time).
“My father did actually say that if you fail in life you can always become a hotelier, it is so easy,” laughed Thoma. He never realized he would work so hard, seven days a week, not only interacting direct but following social media, especially Instagram, to see what others, including a great mentor, Nihi creator James McBride, are doing.