When Robert Riley left Melbourne's Crown Towers & Casino a few years ago, amid a blaze of speculation that he had received a golden handshake fit for a king's retirement, few industry players expected to see him back again in the saddle.

But firmly back in the saddle he is and this time, as chief executive officer of Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts, a hotel company that has been rocked by so much change that even its staff have become immune to it.

Consider the changes.
In late 1994, the brand, founded in 1972, was bought by Forte who in turn was bought by Granada Group in 1996. In the summer of 2000, a merger took place between Granada Group and global contract catering group, Compass Group. The two companies de-merged in February 2001 and the ownership of of the Forte Hotel Group and its three brands – Le Meridien, Heritage Hotels and Posthouse hotels) – passed solely to Compass Group.

In May 2001, Nomura International acquired Le Meridien from Compass Group for £1.9 billion and Le Meridien was merged with Principal Hotels, which was acquired in February 2001.

In December 2003 Lehman Brothers Holdings acquired the senior debt of Le Meridien and became the principal shareholder of the group.

Yeoh Siew Hoon caught up with Robert Riley, who became CEO of Le Meridien in January this year, to find out what's next in the chain of change.

Q: Why did you return to the corporate world?
Riley: I flirted with retirement but found it didn't suit me. This service business really gets to you. Plus, you can only go on the golf course for so long. I ran ResidenSea for a while – the only true condominium luxury ship – but decided to return to hotels, which is where I belong.

Q: So your first priority is a recapitalization plan to get Le Meridien's balance sheet back in order?
Riley: Yes, we are working on a recapitalization and restructuring plan with Lehman Brothers to get our debts and equity in order. I had some experience with that with Crown. What I bring to the table is that I understand the operations side of the business and I also have the ability to communicate with all parties involved. I understand the challenges that senior management and customers face and I also understand how to deal with the banks and lawyers – the key is to keep them separate.

I trained as a lawyer, so I am a hotelier who used to be a lawyer.

When I looked at the business in 2003, and when everyone was saying the company was in chaos, what surprised me was that I realized the business wasn't broken. It was just that the balance sheet was not in order. I felt I could make a contribution and address the balance sheet.

Q: What went wrong?
Riley: They paid the highest price at the height of the market in 2001 and then we had the worst disaster in September. It was not surprising it had balance sheet problems.

Q: You're also talking about an affiliation with Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
Riley: The refinancing plan could include an affiliation with a multi-brand if ir creates good value. No one has ever done affiliation without ownership before.

Whatever happens, whether the deal with Starwood goes through or not, the Le Meridien brand will stay independent. If it goes through, we will just plug into Starwood's architecture. Starwood is one of the most robust multi-brand companies and it's not that big – 800 hotels. If we bring 140 hotels to the deal, it is significant enough to make a contribution.

Q: All these changes must surely lead to owner confusion?
Riley: I've given full support to the regional team and we are talking to all owners, explaining what we are doing. They recognize that we are doing a good job for them, they don't want to change and they know we are taking steps to fix the balance sheet.

Q: Given a choice, which would you prefer – to stay independent or to go with a multi-brand?
Riley: We will find ways to make the best of both. It is taking longer than expected but a decision should be made in the second quarter of next year.

We are continuing business as usual yet we are careful about new initiatives such as developing IT programmes. But it hasn't held us back at all as far as the customer is concerned.

We have been developing aggressively – in 2003, we added 15 new hotels. We have another 15 properties phased to open over the next three years. We will have 140 hotels by year end.

Q: What are the highlights in your expansion?
Riley: Shanghai – China is an important outbound market and it is good to have Chinese people know who we are. We have four hotels in France, which is an accredited destination of the Chinese government. That positions us nicely.

Q: You ran Mandarin Oriental before. Which Asian-based hotel company would you say was doing it right in terms of going global?
Riley: Shangri-La's starting to do it finally. Taj and Oberoi are also companies to watch. Jinjiang Hotels has a lot of growing to do still.

Q: And Mandarin Oriental?
Riley: It's already there.

Q: You ran Crown Casino before. Do you think gaming's the way to go for tourism and for destinations such as Singapore?
Riley: Gaming can add a dimension to the destination. I'd look at the Australian model. They have a limited number of casinos, each state has a licence, they permit bars to have slot machines.

I think in Asia, governments are seeing revenues go to other destinations and they see it as good source of tax revenues. The key is controlling it. If people want to gamble, why not let them but do it in a good way such that organized crime and the addictive elements are addressed.

Q: What are the three big trends that will drive our business in the next three years?
Riley: Wellness. The continued proliferation of small independent companies – as places start looking the same through globalization, there will be a core of people seeking to break out of that. And the harnessing of technology so that we really know that technology is to serve us and not be an impediment.