One of Indonesia’s “coolest” businessmen just got a bit cooler.
As the co-founder of the PTT Family, Ronald Akili started an empire of restaurants and bars that have been voted among the best in Indonesia. This year, Akili will open PTT’s first hotel – The Katamama in Bali. Two additional hotels in Bali are scheduled by 2019.
HOTELS spoke with Akili about his debut in the hotel industry as well as his goals as he expands the PTT Family.
HOTELS: What can you tell developers and hoteliers about the emerging and hot trends within the Indonesian hotel scene and its regional guest preferences? How are those trends being reflected at The Katamama?
Ronald Akili: Over the past decade, the Indonesian hotel industry has grown immensely, especially in Bali, and there is now a very large deluxe market with an array of luxury resorts, stand-alone hotels as well as villas with independent local operators and international groups. As with many tropical locations, the main trend in hotel development in Bali has been to work to incorporate local culture and nature into their designs, preserving the landscape on site.
Although located in Seminyak, Bali’s most upmarket urban area, The Katamama incorporates all many elements of Bali’s natural surroundings and local culture seen through the prism of our company’s contemporary context. Unlike many of our peers in the business, we are not simply paying lip service to the notion of conservation. From our custom-made in-room amenities and hand-woven and dyed fabrics to the local ingredients used in our cocktails and restaurant menu items to the bricks that are used throughout the building, we are truly supporting the local communities.
HOTELS: How and why did you get started in the hotel business? How did the Katamama concept come to be and can you offer more specifics about future developments?
RA: The move into hotels is a natural one for me, and something I have been dreaming about and planning for many years. The travel and the hospitality business played a large role in my life, as my family created Smailing Tour, one of Indonesia’s leading travel management companies.
The Katamama is the first hotel created by our group, PTT Family. We currently run operations in Jakarta, Bali and Singapore, including the restaurants and bars Potato Head Beach Club Bali, Lilin Restaurant Bali, Three Buns Jakarta & Singapore, Potato Head Folk Singapore, Potato Head Garage Jakarta, and a 20 villa estate synonymous with cutting edge environmental design and a leading contemporary Indonesian art gallery.
Our second hotel in Bali, The Kataoma – collaborating with world-renowned architecture practice OMA, headed by Rem Koolhaas – will open in 2018. Larger than the first, it will have approximately 200 rooms. The third, The Katamama Canggu will be designed by Marcio Kogan’s MK27 practice, will follow in 2019 and be sited next to a beach and surf club, also designed by the architect.
H: There are a lot of great lifestyle hotels in the markets in which you are developing. What will you do to distinguish and differentiate your hotels from the competitors?
RA: The markets in which we are working are well developed. They are also blessed with ever-increasing visitor numbers and a trend to more and more sophisticated travellers. We very much recognize that today’s luxury travellers want more in a vacation than a simply an indulgent break. As such, The Katamama has been created using “home” as a watch word, with all aspects of the experience based on this philosophy. The familial yet highly professional service culture our group has become known for throughout our establishments will be at play here, creating unforgettable experiences at every level for our guests.
In addition, PTT Family’s unique position in Bali, as homegrown operators with international experience, allows us to offer guests the chance to experience Indonesian culture through our contemporary context. The architecture, sophisticated design and exciting international brand collaborations from the disciplines of design, fashion, music, art, mixology and the culinary arts will truly differentiate us from our competitors.
H: What do you see in the hotel world that you like, and where do you see opportunity based on what is lacking in the business?
RA: This is a very difficult question to answer, as I see so very much that I like in the hotel world, and it has always been my ambition to join it. My personal preference is to try and avoid the large, corporate and impersonal chains, although they certainly have their place for the business traveler. I recently enjoyed stays in The Chiltern Firehouse and Babington House in the UK. I’ve long admired the work of Andre Balasz and Nick Jones. I feel there will always be room for another beautifully designed hotel, created individually from passion in any market, which is our ethos behind The Katamama.
H: Can you describe the design aesthetic for your hotels?
RA: Every facet of our first hotel has been personally designed and created by Indonesia’s finest craftsmen, utilizing the dying arts and artisan practices that are unique to the island and nation as a whole. Contemporary design elements pay reference to the Balinese lifestyle and lush green gardens epitomize the natural beauty of our island. The hotel will is finished with Indonesian materials such as Balinese bricks, teak, hand-made tiles from Java and terrazzo made on site and offers some of the largest living spaces of any hotel in Bali, in each of its categories. The suites will be filled with curated artwork, handpicked furniture and cherished collectibles, many of them originally part of my personal collection.
H: Who will be managing your hotels and how are you developing a management team and support staff?
RA: We are fortunate in having a highly experienced operator as our managing director for the hotel division, Andrew Steele. A veteran of the industry he is a graduate of the Ecole Hoteliere Les Roches in Switzerland and began his international journey in Hong Kong as part of the pre-opening team of the Island Shangri-La, spending almost 16 years with the Shangri-La Group. We also have a fantastic creative team based in Bali that works across all our businesses and who are highly involved in the cultural and aesthetic direction of our hotels, alongside myself and my business partner, Jason Gunawan.