Adrian Zecha

Adrian Willem Ban Kwie Lauw-Zecha (born 1933), better known as Adrian Zecha, is an Indonesian hotelier and the current owner and founder of the Azerai hotel in Laos' Luang Prabang Province.[2]

Adrian Zecha
Born	Adrian Willem Ban Kwie Lauw-Zecha[1] 1933 (age 86–87) Sukabumi, Indonesia
Nationality	Indonesian
Occupation	Hotelier, businessman
Known for	Founder of Aman Resorts
Spouse(s)	Bebe Lauw-Zecha
Children	Ajai Lauw-Zecha
Parent(s)	Aristide William Lauw-Zecha (father)
Relatives	Alwin Zecha (Brother) Lauw Tek Lok, Luitenant der Chinezen (paternal great-grandfather) Louisa Zecha (great-grandmother) Sim Keng Koen, Kapitein der Chinezen (step-great-grandfather) Lauw Ho (paternal great-great-grandfather) Michelle Saram (daughter-in-law)

Family history

Zecha was born in Sukabumi, Indonesia into the Lauw-Sim-Zecha family, part of the Cabang Atas or Chinese gentry of colonial Indonesia.[3] His family is of Peranakan Chinese and Bohemian roots.[3] He is a great-grandson of the late nineteenth-century magnate and mandarin Lauw Tek Lok, the first Luitenant der Chinezen of Bekasi (a high-ranking post in the civil bureaucracy) by the latter's controversial interracial marriage to Louisa Zecha, an Indo plantation owner of Bohemian descent.[3][4] On being widowed, Louisa Zecha went on to marry another Chinese magnate, Sim Keng Koen, the first Kapitein der Chinezen of Sukabumi, where her great-grandson Adrian Lauw Zecha was born.[3][4]

Zecha's father, the plantation owner Aristide William Lauw-Zecha, was the first native-born Indonesian to graduate from an American university (Iowa University in 1923).[5][6] The connection with America continued with Zecha and his four brothers, who were all educated in the States.[6][7]

Zecha is also a cousin of the Malaysian royal, Che Engku Chesterina (née Sim-Zecha).

Early life and career

Zecha attended Dickinson College in Pennsylvania.[8][1]

In 1956, when President Sukarno nationalised the country's private businesses, many members of the Lauw-Sim-Zecha family fled to Singapore, The Netherlands and other countries. At the time the 23-year-old Zecha was in New York, working at Time magazine.[7] In 1961, Zecha launched Asia Magazine, the first regional newspaper colour supplement in Asia. When the magazine faltered a year later, Rupert Murdoch was persuaded by Zecha to invest in the magazine (in what was his first Asian investment). The magazine was a part of English speaking families until 1998. It was held above water for its last ten years by Mr.Giro Semba and Mr. Olav Mueller-Uri until it finally closed in 1998. Olav Mueller-Uri is the person responsible for getting Air France back into Vietnam.

In 1970, Adrian started a new travel and lifestyle magazine named Orientations based in Hong Kong. With the advent of in-flight magazines, Orientations dropped its travel content and progressed over the years to become a publication focused on the arts of East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Himalayas. It is now the leading magazine in this field and its contributors are renowned scholars and researchers from around the world.

Hotels

Zecha's first experience of the hotel business was when a friend asked him to help the Marriott Hotel chain broker land deals in Asia. This experience led to Zecha joining with Robert Burns and Georg Rafael in 1972 to found Regent International Hotels, which was one of Asia's first luxury hotel groups.[9][10] The trio built 12 hotels before in 1986 Zecha sold his 30% stake for $30 million. He then moved into real estate speculation, forming an investment fund that, among other deals, bought Bangkok's Regent Hotel and London's Dorchester Hotel before eventually on selling them.[7]

While in Phuket looking for a site upon which to build a holiday home, Zecha was walking along Pansea Beach when he came across a coconut plantation which occupied a prime location.[11] Plans to build a home on a site soon developed into an idea to build a small boutique resort in partnership with longtime friend Anil Thadani. The two spent mainly their own money as no banks would lend for the project due to the small number of planned rooms, instead of the 500-room hotel they thought would be more practical.

Amanpuri opened in January 1988 at a cost of US$4 million with only 40 rooms. Its success, followed by that of Amandari in Bali, confirmed to Zecha the viability of a chain of minimalist boutique resorts in remote, natural settings.

In 1992, Zecha sold a controlling interest in Silverlink, the holding company which owned Aman Resorts, to Clement Vaturi, an old friend whose family owned the Hoteliere Immobliere chain of French hotels. Zecha was left with only 45% of the share holdings.[12] The arrangement was satisfactory to both parties until Vaturi's controlling interest effectively came under the control of Los Angeles-based Colony Capital, a real estate investment fund. A lawsuit between Vaturi and Colony Capital promised to drag on, putting Zecha's plans to expand the number of Aman resorts on hold. Dispirited, and by now owning only 45% of Silverlink's shares, he resigned from his position as CEO in 1998.[12]

By 2000, Colony Capital and Vaturi had settled their lawsuit, which led to Vaturi getting his Silverlink shares back. He soon sold his shares to Lee Hing Development, a Hong Kong property fund which was affiliated with Thadani's Schroder Capital Partners (a Singapore-based fund). With the controlling investors now sharing his vision, Zecha returned as chairman and CEO.[7]

In the intervening period Zecha founded Maha Resorts, which opened its Hacineda de San Antonio in Mexico in October 2000.

In 2007, Zecha announced that he had reached an agreement with DLF Ltd, India's largest real estate company, to form a partnership to acquire a controlling interest in Aman Resorts for US$250 million. DLF Group sold the company in 2013 to a joint venture between Russian real estate investor Vladislav Doronin and American entrepreneur Omar Amanat for US$358 million. Controversy ensued when Doronin announced that Zecha was stepping down as CEO and that he would assume the position. A London High Court injunction against Doronin reinstated Zecha as CEO, alleging that Doronin did not have board approval to remove him.[13] The ruling, however, was limited, as it returned Zecha to his role for only 17 days. Olivier Jolivet, a longtime Aman executive, was appointed to the role which he held until February 2017.[14][15][16]

In addition to his history at Aman Resorts, Zecha is also chairman and director of General Hotel Management Ltd (GHM), a developer and manager of luxury hotels and resorts with locations in Bali, Switzerland, Oman and Vietnam.[17]

Zecha was also a partner with Georg Rafael in Rafael Hotels Limited, a company that was sold to Mandarin Oriental Group in May 2000.[7]

In February 2017, Zecha began the soft opening for the first hotel under his new Azerai hotel brand which aims to provide more affordable lodging for adventurers and "the younger crowd".[18]

Awards

In 2005 Adrian Zecha was awarded the Innovation Award at the 16th annual Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP).[19]

In 2010 Adrian Zecha was awarded the 2010 Travel & Leisure Design Champion Award. The celebration was held at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.[20]

In 2011, he was awarded an award for lifetime achievement during the International Luxury Travel Market event in Shanghai.[21]

References

1. "Adrian B. K. Lauw-Zecha, 1952 Dickinson College". archives.dickinson.edu. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
2. Yang, Patsy. "Luang Prabang's slow pace of life is blissful". shanghaidaily.com. Shanghai Daily. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
3. Tan, Mely G. (1963). The Chinese of Sukabumi: A Study of Social and Cultural Accommodation. Cornell University. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
4. "Adrian Zecha (né en 1933) : ses hôtels hors de prix de la chaîne Aman ressemblent au paradis". Capital.fr (in French). 28 January 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
5. Lombard, Denys (1996). Nusa Jawa: Batas-batas pembaratan (in Indonesian). Gramedia Pustaka Utama. ISBN 9789796054527. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
6. "International Alumni Profiles". students.tufts.edu. Tufts Student Services. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
7. Hilditch, Tom. "Paradise Regained." Asiaweek.com, 15 June 2001.
8. Smith, Jack. "Feature: Aman's Man". Robb Report.
9. Barden, Carol. "Amanresorts' New Jackson Hole Hotel", Travel + Leisure, 27 May 2009. Accessed 8 February 2016.
10. Zuckerman, Laurence. "Checking Out of Regent Hotels:How Chairman Was Bumped", The New York Times, 20 August 1992. Accessed 8 february 2016.
11. Miller, S. "Be My Guest, Please." Condé Nast Traveller, Dec. 2007, p. 125.
12. Kan, W. "'My Resorts Are Not Otherworldly.'" Time.com, 21 March 2001.
13. "London Court Rules Doronin Must Step Down as Amanresorts CEO" Wall Street Journal, 14 July 2014.
14. The global battle for the ultimate luxury hotel chain
15. An exclusive look inside Aman Resorts' Tokyo hotel
16. Gostelow, Mary. "Hoteliers On The Move, February 2017". Travel Market Report. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
17. Team page, GHM Hotels
18. Weinstein, Jeff (31 March 2017). "HOTELS Profile: Adrian Zecha takes luxury downscale". Hotels. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
19. "Robert Burns, Georg Rafael and Adrian Zecha to be Honored at the Upcoming 16th Annual Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific". Press release, hotel-online.com, 14 June 2006.
20. "Travel And Leisure Design Awards", SFLUXE. Accessed 07 June 2016.
21. "Amanresorts' Adrian Zecha receives Lifetime Achievement Award", Luxury Travel Magazine. Accessed 08 February 2016.