Meet the Belgian head of Lucio Tan’s hotel

Belgian Hotelier Philippe Bartholomi arrives for lunch looking dapper in black suit with a red tie.  He has just come from a meeting with the chair of the Lucio Tan Group of Companies, who made a surprise visit to discuss concerns about his property, Century Park.

As always, Lucio Tan comes via helicopter to talk with  Bartholomi, the general manager, or to order room service.

Asked about the state of the hotel, Bartholomi in his trademark diplomacy replies, “The  industry wants to see more arrivals.”

Still, the 500-room Century Park, a Filipino-owned hotel,  is ranked No. 2 or 3 in the Bay Area hotels, considering that it faces stiff competition with other deluxe hotels.

It’s been attracting the Asian travelers,  conventions market  and medical tourists. Bartholomi credits the success to the “human capital,” the warmth of the Filipinos, coupled with professional training.

The hotel celebrates its 35th anniversary this month, highlighted by an Indian food promotion. The event is partnered by PAL, another of Tan’s businesses, to promote the Manila-Delhi route.

Since he joined the hotel in 2008, Bartholomi was tasked to oversee the major overhaul of 120 deluxe rooms including the expansion of their bathrooms to accommodate the market demands. Because of the hotel’s size, complete renovation will come in phases in the next few years.

He often tells journalists he never follows the conventional career of a hotelier who worked his way up in the corporate ladder.

“I’ve tried all aspect of F&B from fine dining French restaurants  to a casual brasserie to extensive banquet services, exclusive membership clubs, to entertainment clubs to a small high-end beach resort to a business city hotel. That’s my achievement,” he says.

Playboy Club

After studying Hotel and Restaurant Management in Ecole d’Hotellerie de la Ville de Liege in Belgium, Bartholomi  worked as an executive chef in some Michelin-star restaurants.

One day, a former schoolmate who was working at the then Sheraton told him about a job opening for a chef in Silahis Hotel. Bartholomi had no idea about the Philippines except the Marcos dictatorship. He  was then  introduced to Leandro Enriquez, the owner of Silahis. Being sociable, charming and yet strategic in thinking Bartholomi was  promoted from executive sous chef to the manager of Playboy Club in 1986.

Men would have envied Bartholomi’s job of hiring the Playboy Bunnies. On the contrary,  process entailed stringent requirements.

“It was tedious,” he recalls. The Playboy Club became a success because of its strong branding and exclusivity. However, Christina Hefner, then CEO of Playboy Enterprises, had other plans other than the clubs.  The principals cut back its support of the local Playboy Club in terms of advertising and uniforms.  Bartholomi couldn’t find a local supplier who could produce the Bunny outfits which used whalebone to emphasize the hourglass figure. “They were like armors,” he says.

An Australian  then invited Bartholomi to be partner in a restaurant in Melbourne. “Australians are laid back. They’re off at 5 p.m. if the work is by the beach. Most people who work in hotels and restaurants are non-Australians because they don’t mind working late at night and on weekends,” he says.

In the early ‘90s, restaurateur Bill Stelton tapped Bartholomi to run La Scala on Jupiter street. It was the first in Asia to offer a concept of singing waiters, trained by a full-time musical director. The success was shortlived when the landlord did not renew the lease. Nonetheless, Stelton and Bartholomi opened Barbareeba Latin American bar, a few blocks down. It became famous for the dancing and Sabor Latino band.

In the mid-‘90s, Bartholomi was hired by Studebaker’s Asia Pacific, a chain of high-end restaurant-bars.   After opening in Singapore with a team of Filipinos, Bartholomi was sent to the Philippines to launch Studebaker’s in Glorietta 3.  It set the precedent with  a three-level dining and entertainment place, which consisted of a café, brasserie and music lounge and discotheque.

The company experienced problems at the corporate level. “We were affected,” he says.

Foresight

With another Belgian hotelier, Bartholomi formed a consultancy services concentrating on properties outside the city.  They worked on setting up the operations, training the staff and reviewing the business. The clients that included catering businesses, Day’s Hotel in Iloilo,  Lhuillier resorts in  Bais, Negros Oriental and Boracay.

When his partner left the business, Bartholomi went on his own. He was invited by the Manila Polo Club president to be the club’s general manager. “The board needed to do some overhauling. They were losing money especially in food and beverage. That was the bulk of the labor. There were too many people who were overpaid over the years because of the collective bargaining agreement. There was too much pilferage,” he recalls.

The staffers were retrenched with an accompanying paycheck. Bartholomi ran the outlets through a consignment, Makati Skyline. “We were guaranteed income from negative to positive at the Polo Club from then on.”

As his post was co-terminus with the Board, Bartholomi luckily met the owner for Friday’s Resort who was looking for a GM.

“Friday’s is rustic. I wanted to bring in more elegance. Because we have only a few rooms, we could project it as a very exclusive resort,” he recalls.

Bartholomi also had the foresight to convince the owner to buy an adjacent property. “Friday’s was landlocked. There was no access from the back. Everything came through the seafront. I convinced the owner to buy more  land to reach the road at the back. After the purchase, the local government banned arrivals from the seafront. It’s good timing. If we didn’t have the access at the back, we would have a major problem in bringing in the goods and the guests.”

Unfazed by the opening of Discovery Shores next door, Bartholomi built more private villas with a tropical ambience and modern facilities. Ultimately the resort has remained true to its concept—idyllic Robinson Crusoe huts with deluxe amenities. He adds that the foreign market  prefers to stay in a resort with local color rather than a standard modern hotel.

Bartholomi could have stayed longer at Friday’s as he has been one of the more longer-staying GM’s—all of six years.

“I’m very open, I look forward to explore. I’m not afraid of challenges. If I get an opportunity  to face changes in this industry I would do it,” he says.

Regardless of the size and structure of the organization, the business is the same. “We have expectations in terms of revenues and profits, quality and services offered and maintaining the image of product.”

Does he miss the beach?  Bartholomi says strolling along the seawall behind Mall of Asia reminds him of Boracay.

His priority is to gird for more competition as more hotels will rise in the Bay Area, catering a growing gamer’s market.  “We have to keep improving on the product. We can’t be left behind.”