Kurt Wachtveitl will retire after 42 years as General Manager of the hotel he had made famous: the Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok. For over four decades German born Kurt Wachtveitl had set new standards for the global hotel industry. When I was an aspi...
Reading time: 1000 words / approx. 3 minutes The fine dining Goya Restaurant. I am having breakfast with Christian Tavelli, right at the time the new edition of our book HOTEL RITZ MADRID hits the market. On my way to the restaurant I am c...
BORN 12 December 1951. EDUCATION Received an MBA from the ESSEC business school in Paris. CAREER 1977: joins the electronics giant Philips. Goes on to hold various roles, including director for operations in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Peru and Italy. 1990-95:...
A room at the Oriental in the 1920s, at the time of Somerset Maugham's arrival Fighting White Ants by Andreas Augustin At The Mandarin Oriental shop, and present in every room, the book about the Oriental's history is more than j...
A video from Mandarin Oriental Dream Wonderland — this time a most realistic affair — pre checking in a very special client.
Birth of A Modern City (Excerpts of chapter 2. of the book HOTEL RITZ MADRID) While César Ritz was busy constructing his hospitality empire, Spain’s own empire was in the process of disintegrating. In 1898 the country w...
Author Andreas Augustin visits a good old friend. Once called one of the “Maidens of the East”, today one of the Grand Old Ladies of South East Asia. The Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok keeps its reign as the most famous hotel of Thailand, b...
Valerie Marie O’Neill (1929–2010) To commemorate the centenary of The Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, Melbourne born Valerie Marie O’Neill was commissioned to do a painting of the original hotel from a surviving postcard. This painting...
The first pool at The Oriental (1959) Exactly 50 years ago, swimming pools were not necessarily part of the basic facilities of an Asian hotel. In the 1960s, The Oriental in Bangkok was among the first hotels to have its own pool, long bef...
Johannes Baur, born in Austria in 1795, was a visionary entrepreneur who profoundly shaped Zurich’s hospitality industry. In 1837, at the age...Read More
The historic building (top, slide to the right): The "new" Raffles main building in 1899. It opened on 18 November 1899, featuring the all new...Read More
Since decades “The Oriental”, as it is affectionately known by travellers from all over the globe, leads the lists of most...Read More
In 1952, a group of wealthy individuals including Donald Deskey, the fabled designer (among his works the Radio City Music Hall); Harvey Firestone,...Read More
You don your safari gear during the day, but you always dress for dinner. Because Mount Kenya Safari Club Nanyuki is an exclusive retreat. High on...Read More
