What Artotel Indonesia CEO Erastus “Erry” Radjimin seems to have in his favor is clarity, which may have evolved from his youth when he followed his property developer father to construction sites and started to fall in love with the hotel business. Add his family’s great appreciation for art and it merges into an integrated business model and a brand called Artotel – still a small, accessible, homegrown brand that is uniquely positioned in the Indonesian market, as well as a millennial-driven brand that the 30-year-old Radjimin believes has global potential. “Currently this is the only thing that I know and what I know best,” Radjimin says with a confidence rooted in a desire to find the right people who focus on service excellence.
“I would love to see Artotel have a significant impact not only on the hospitality industry but also on the development of contemporary art in Indonesia,” he adds. “It is truly a rewarding experience to see the growth of the artists after we collaborate with them.” The collaboration begins by scouting for new contemporary artists from local communities to work together and continually promoting them through the hotels’ periodically rotated Artspace.
This structure will be a core foundation of the company that has two hotels open and nine in the works through 2018 before it expands to the international stage. “I just dedicate myself to Artotel, simply put, because it is my passion and my life,” says Radjimin, who after graduating from Boston University in business marketing and hospitality management in 2007 worked in sales for Marriott and then for travel agencies in Jakarta.
Radjimin says it simply might be genetic or that his father is skillful in subtle persuasion, but hospitality has always been his passion. “I love the process from the very beginning, such as choosing the land site, understanding the local environment and its local lifestyle, partnering with local designers and artists to collaborate, until the last process of opening and operating the project.”
The best part, Radjimin says, is the non-stop marathon once the hotel comes alive. “To me it’s more a journey than a destination to develop and operate hotels. I love every step of the process along with each unique challenge,” he confesses, adding that whenever he can, he makes time for traveling, catching up with good friends over a glass of whiskey (or two) and getting insights from everyone he meets along his journey.
The biggest challenge, Radjimin says, is coping with the human resources: “Finding the right souls” to fill positions in each property and educating them about the brand has turned into a real, ongoing challenge. “It is like finding a needle in the hay, but luckily the needles are many if you know where to search,” he says.
Radjimin also operates according to the philosophy that “business is not only a business. You need to give back to the community where you are located,” he says. “In our case, we are improving our core business, and at the same time contributing back to the society, especially the local creativity scene. It is a two bird one stone analogy (or maybe even more with bigger stone).”
This philosophy stems from Radjimin’s belief that his millennial customers are much more aware and educated and, therefore, Artotel emphasizes improving its uniqueness while elevating customer service. Eventually, he says, what becomes effortless impacts the hotels’ ROI. “The hotel is basically a human interaction, which is what I am fond of,” he says. “It’s about relationships and service, and I am a people person. Therefore, I see the hotel business as my playground.”
The man who says he especially enjoys watching his son grow up and looks forward to having another addition to the family tree is also results oriented. “As a startup company we are looking forward to the result. This has to be done, that has to be done with satisfying results in a timely manner,” Radjimin says. “As Artotel grows bigger, we have met and worked with fellow artists who I can really rely on and manage. And since then we formed ourselves as process oriented. At the end, I want the results to be executed within detail process.”