Skift Take
In a luxury brand, it's less about what technology can do for guests and more about what technology can do for staff who can use it to provide more personalized, smoother service to the customer.
Editor’s Note: This interview is part of Skift's CEO interview series. This particular series is with hospitality CEOs talking about the Future of the Guest Experience and the evolving expectations and demands of hotel guests. Check out all the interviews as they come out here. Also, enjoy the previous series on the Future of Travel Booking, with online travel CEOs.
Hong Kong’s luxury hotel collection Rosewood Hotel Group is embarking on an ambitious expansion strategy through 2015 with plans to nearly double its inventory of 54 hotels across 17 countries. There are nearly 40 new hotels currently under development.
In addition to the Rosewood brand, the collection also includes hotels under the business-oriented New World and design-drive Pentahotels brands. The collection also includes some iconic hotels around the world including The Carlyle in New York, Hotel de Crillon in Paris, and Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas.
Rosewood Hotel Group CEO Sonia Cheng was one of the few female chief executives in the hospitality industry. Prior to joining the group, Cheng specialized in real estate investments while working with a major international investment bank and American private equity firm.
Skift recently spoke to Cheng about the evolution of the luxury guest experience, how her hotel group is attempting to surpass their loftiest expectations, and the importance in hiring in order to executive on philosophy. An edited version of our interview can be read below:
Skift: What is the biggest challenge that you're fa
