Face-to-face: Clinton Lovell, general manager of Avani Atrium Bangkok

1) Tell us a bit about AVANI Hotels? 

AVANI Hotels are the new upscale brand of Minor Hotels. Today there are 18 AVANI hotels with seven more due to open in the next year or 18 months in Korea, Australasia, Indian Ocean, Middle East and Europe and we can expect many more to follow.

The first to open was in Sri Lanka with Thailand and various locations in southern Africa in quick succession.

AVANI is an upscale brand with some exciting hallmarks which separate it from other upscale competitors. It’s a brand specifically designed to service Millennial mindset travelers addressing whats really important in their lives and travels. AVANI hotels each have unique personalities and features but always deliver “design for life” living spaces, sleep satisfaction & Honest Food.

2) What are the key selling points?

The AVANI Atrium Bangkok is the largest of the AVANI hotels with 568 keys, banquet facilities, a signature BENIHANA Japanese Steakhouse restaurant (rated as one of the most popular restaurants in the city). PUBLIC is our all day dining, PANTRY Grab and Go concept and more. The hotel is a full service downtown Bangkok social hub offering well-positioned access to all the best and brightest of Bangkok and its surroundings.

AVANI Atriums design for living spaces are carefully designed to offer comfort, privacy and connectivity for those down times or the opportunity to socialize as may be preferred. The building is somewhat of a Bangkok icon but 3 years ago when it became an AVANI, it went through a full renovation so its totally new.

Sleep satisfaction is guaranteed with the latest bedding. Our regulars appreciate their visits and losing themselves in the comfort of an AVANI bed. Honest Food at AVANI Atrium means straight forward transparent menu pricing, decent portion sizes, lots of fun details about the sourcing of our food mostly from local organic or boutique producers. There is always a wonderful story to match our cuisine and our excited team members are eager to tell it!

3) What is your customer service philosophy?

At AVANI hotels we embrace a philosophy of “Its the details that matter” which effectively means delivering what’s important to our guests. When we conduct on-boarding of our service team or refresh training – this philosophy is embed this into our mindset. Its a can-do attitude and a confidence to meet the needs and wishes of the many cosmopolitan guests AVANI Atrium welcomes.

4) How long have you worked for the company and what do you like most about your role?

I’ve had the privilege of working as a GM for Minor Hotels for four years, my first assignment was the beautiful Anantara Seminyak Bali and I’m now approaching two years at the AVANI Atrium Bangkok.

The view from the office is a little different but it’s hard to beat the opportunity to welcome guests to a great hotel in the middle of one of the worlds most exciting cities.

I’ve really enjoyed working alongside some really talented and creative professionals being part of a team re-positioning a great hotel pioneering an exciting and aspiring new brand. It continues to be quite a thrill to see these efforts and innovations from our team translate into wonderful commercial and guest satisfaction results.

5) What are your plans for the next 12 months?

We’ll be focusing on delivering an improved AVANI on-brand experience to our growing number of fans . We are trialing some exciting new tools, technologies and innovations which will improve our guest service experience further and really hit home the details that matter to our guests. We are targeting real-time service engagement, seamless arrivals and departures, trialing some exciting new honest cuisine and basically working hard to ensure our guests are always safe, comfortable, connected and more than satisfied.

6) What trends are you experiencing?

We’ve noted that understanding from where and how food is prepared is increasingly a concern of our guests. It’s especially relevant here at AVANI Atrium as we welcome large numbers of Chinese and some middle eastern travelers – particularly sensitive about this.

We are blessed in Thailand to have so many great taste sensations and producers to work with so it remains our mission to match these to the discerning expectations of our guests. Connectivity and real time response to service requests we feel is increasingly important too.

At AVANI Atrium, guests are invited to connect with our social media channels not just during stay but pre-arrival so in addition to the usual service channels, we engage them electronically using their preferred social platforms. As well as social media service lines we offer instant online table reservations, live chat functionality on our web site and more -all part of the arsenal we to ensure delivery of the details that matter, faster!