Meet Jean-François Brun: Building a Fairmont That Belongs to Hanoi

How a veteran hotelier is shaping Vietnam’s first Fairmont around the history, warmth and changing rhythm of Hanoi.The first time Jean-François Brun visited the Fairmont Hanoi site, the hotel was still taking shape. Hoan Kiem Lake and the Old Quarter were close by, placing the property within one of the most storied parts of the […]

Meet Tim Neil: Building a New Benchmark for Golf in the Philippines

How a PGA Professional who first picked up a club at the age of five is shaping one of Asia’s most ambitious new golf destinations, high in the mountains of New Clark City.Tim Neil was five years old when he first put his hands on a golf club in London. He could not have known […]

THE BARAI Hua Hin: A Bold New Era for Thailand’s Most Distinctive Wellness Destination

Opening on 1 August 2026 as Thailand’s first hotel under The Unbound Collection by Hyatt, a celebrated wellness sanctuary steps into a bold new chapter as a complete luxury destination. Some places announce themselves loudly. THE BARAI has always done the opposite. Tucked along the beachfront at Khao Takiab on the Gulf of Thailand, it […]

Meet Michelle Ford: Twenty Years, One Town, and a New Way to Experience Hoi An

How a South African wellness pioneer turned two decades of living in Hoi An into Vietnam’s most talked-about new resort.Michelle Ford grew up in a small town in South Africa with no hotels and no spas. By fifteen, she knew she wanted to work in hospitality. That instinct carried her across the world – through […]

Meet Masayuki Kobayashi – Bringing Silk Path Dong Trieu’s Vision to Life

How a Japanese hospitality veteran is bringing world-class service to one of northern Vietnam’s most compelling golf destinations.It was early morning when Masayuki Kobayashi first stood on the property at Dong Trieu. The old pine forest was still. There was almost no sound except the wind moving through the trees. Nothing felt forced.“I understood this […]

Matthew Fryar: Perspective, Place, and the Quiet Art of Hospitality in Pattaya

Matthew Fryar didn’t set out to become a hotelier. But today, as General Manager of Avani Pattaya Resort, his path makes perfect sense. When he joined the London InterContinental, he came from retail sales with no formal hotel background. What shaped him wasn’t a mentor or a textbook – it was the environment. Working in […]

Ian Cording and the Making of a Modern Links at Ho Tram

When Ian Cording first arrived in Vietnam more than a decade ago, the country’s golf landscape was still finding its voice. There was energy everywhere, a sense that something was about to happen, but very few people could clearly describe what that future would look like. For Ian, that uncertainty was the attraction.“I was drawn […]

From Links to Leadership: A Chat with Hoiana Shores’ GM Wee Peng Siong

As the sun rises over the South China Sea, casting golden light across the windswept dunes of Hoiana Shores Golf Club, you can’t help but feel you’re somewhere special. This isn’t just another golf course in Asia’s burgeoning golf scene – it’s a links masterpiece where every visitor is treated like a member, if only […]

Category: Interviews