Goodbyes are part of the job for hoteliers but does saying it ever get easier, Yeoh Siew Hoon wonders as Adrian Mueller leaves Thailand to start a new chapter in his career.
There I was, dining by the Chao Phraya River in the company of hoteliers.
There was Peter Caprez, general manager of JW Marriott, Bangkok. I first met Peter when he was the number two at the Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok, working for the late Franz Wyder. He had moved from Hong Kong. Peter's spent most of his career in Thailand, other than a brief stint in London when he was running the Renaissance there.
There was our host for the evening, Rainy Chan, general manager of The Peninsula. Rainy started her career in Hong Kong, moved to the US, returned to Hong Kong and then moved to Bangkok a year ago.
Rainy had organised the dinner at Thiptara, The Peninsula's Thai restaurant, to say farewell to Adrian Mueller who, after 10 years with Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, has decided to return to his native land, Switzerland.
Like the return of the prodigal son, Adrian's bought THE hotel in his hometown of Chur.
When Adrian was growing up in Chur, the Romantik Hotel Stern was THE address in town.
In case we wonder how Adrian got the money to buy the hotel on a general manager's salary – I am always told by general managers how little they earn despite the somewhat sumptuous lifestyles they seem to lead – he is quick to tell me that he raised the funds with a group of investors.
I remember when Adrian first told me about what he'd done. My first reaction was, how romantic – returning to his roots and, most of all, daring to give up the illusion of stability of the corporate world for the reality of the uncertainty of the entrepreneurial world,
I suspect that most people's reaction to his news is a mixture of admiration and envy.
Peter admits, "My first thought was, how brave to become an entrepreneur. My second thought was, five years from now, I'll say I wish I had done that."
Rainy agrees, "It's very courageous – to leave a company that you've been with for so long. You know them so well and they know you so well."
Having written about the hotel industry for so long, I've always been fascinated by the creature called The Hotelier or, more precisely, The General Manager. They are usually obsessed about their jobs and they treat every hotel they're in like their homes. It's like they're the mini-God in their property – some even believe that while some only behave like it.
Yet they move from homes to homes with such ease. They are the original nomads, the soldiers of fortune – two or three years in one place and then they move on to the next in their climb up the ladder, hoping the next home will be bigger, better and grander than before.
Adrian had just said farewell to his staff at Shangri-La Hotel, Bangkok the day before. I asked him if he cried. He said about 100 of them lined up to say goodbye and they sang a song. He doesn't remember the song, he said, "because there were so many people to say goodbye to".
Did you cry, I persist.
"Nearly," he smiles. "Big men don't cry."
Rainy laughs. "I always cry," she says. I expected that from her – she did get her nickname from being a ‘cry baby' in school. Plus, she's a woman, right? And women are allowed to cry.
I suspect though that all general managers, male or female, cry when they leave a place they've called home for a few years.
Says Peter, "Professionally, you get used to it but personally, you never do."
To Adrian, this next stage in his career was an opportunity he couldn't pass up on. "It was up for sale and I knew if I didn't do it now, and waited another five years, I would never do it."
And he laughs, "I'll probably regret it in a few months when I see the bills."
For the moment though, Adrian's started the first chapter of a new book in his life – a book I suspect most of his hotelier friends wish they could also write.
The SHY Report
A regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry by one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, Yeoh Siew Hoon.
Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her company's mission is "Content, Communication, Connection". She is a writer, speaker, facilitator, trainer and events producer. She is also an author, having published "Around Asia In 1 Hr: Tales of Condoms, Chillies & Curries". Her motto is ‘free to do, and be'. Contacts: Tel: 65-63424934, Mobile: 65-96801460Check out Siew Hoon's new website, www.shy-connection.com, which features a newly-launched e-zine with a difference. 
