Skift Take
Deepak Ohri positioned a brand on a global scale with just one hotel. The CEO of Lebua Hotels & Resorts thinks the time has come to grow the network. But each Lebua will be different. No doubt a common trait is that each will be audacious.
Lebua Hotels & Resorts is seeking a public listing in either Bangkok or Singapore to fund new concepts and expansion outside its home base in Thailand.
Having conquered the skies with his “vertical destination” shout from the rooftops, CEO Deepak Ohri is coming down to earth with new initiatives in 2020 that include floating river clubs and container hotels in Asia.
The hotel company will most likely become public in a year or two, said Ohri, without providing any details on what it plans to raise in capital.
The current Lebua portfolio is small but hefty, built on the foundation of the towering 247-meter tall Lebua hotel in Bangkok.
Ohri transformed the lusterless serviced apartment complex into a luxury hotel in 2006, capping it by marketing its golden rooftop dome as “the world’s first vertical destination.” The Dome at Lebua today has four restaurants, two of which are Michelin starred, and a string of specialty bar concepts, all offering unrivaled views of the Chao Phraya River.
That, and audacious stunts such as throwing the world’s most expensive dinner in 2007 costing one million baht per guest ($25,000 at the time) made Lebua a global brand overnight, thanks to world media coverage.
Inviting people to dine and bar hop from floor to floor instead of door to door now brings in an average food and beverage revenue of $80,000 per day, Ohri told Skift. Eighty pe
