Hospitality Design - July 2017 - 180

CHRISTOPHE VIELLE
CEO
GCP Hospitality
Bangkok
In 2008, as operators jockeyed to open properties
in time to catch the gold rush that was the
Beijing Olympics, a new kid on the block joined
the fray in the party district of Chaoyang. Now
known as a collection of design-driven urban
properties, Hotel G Beijing was the first of the
G hotels and residences. Designed by Taipeibased British designer Mark Lintott and Moroccobased French-Algerian Imaad Rahmouni, Hotel G
Beijing was also Christophe Vielle's first opening after
launching GCP Hospitality (GCPH) in 2008, the hotel
arm of Gaw Capital Partners founded by Goodwin Gaw.
"G stands for gap, and how we fill that gap in the market," says
Vielle. "For every city, we look at the market and come up with a
unique identity for each property that we open there. As owners
and operators, Vielle says the company relies on being flexible.
"When working with owners, we look at what's happening in the
hotel market and what's missing, as well as how the business can be
turned around."
Vielle left his home in Angers, France at 16 to pursue a career
in hospitality by learning on the job. "I cooked, I served, I worked
front of house, I learned to manage-all before I was 18," he says.
Five years later, at 24, Vielle wanted to go to the U.S. but couldn't get
a visa. Instead, he decided on Australia, with a plan to pass through
Hong Kong on the way. "I stayed there to make money for my onward
ticket, working for Edward Kuok [chairman of Shangri-La Hotels
and Resorts]. That ended up being a year, and then I moved to
Taiwan to work in a private club." Vielle never made it to Australia.
He learned Mandarin, got married, and has been based in Bangkok
for the past 25 years, working for the likes of Accor and King Power
Hotel Management Company, among others, and met Gaw when he
launched the Mercure Hotel Pattaya, owned by the real estate mogul
and his family.
GCPH has now expanded to 42 employees, with branches
in Beijing, San Francisco, and Seoul, as well as the parent GCP

office in Hong Kong. With 23 hotels-a mix of
independent brands and more mainstays like
Accor, Hyatt, and InterContinental (the company
acquired the InterContinental Hong Kong in
2015)-GCPH recently launched Residence
G Shenzhen, a 178-key hotel and serviced
apartments in Nanshan, designed by Hangzhou's
LYCS Architecture. While Residence G Hong
Kong, from Shanghai- and London-based Neri & Hu,
originally operated as an extended stay property when
it opened three years ago, Vielle has since tweaked it. "[It]
turned out to be more profitable as a daily. We tend to build
our properties with flexibility, though units are generally smaller for
hotels and larger for long stays," he explains. "Each hotel is different,
depending on the city, and our F&B targets the neighborhood. For
example, we opened Scarlett in Residence G Hong Kong, the first
Western restaurant on Austin Road. For guests (90 percent of whom
are in the creative industry), it provides a nice table to meet others
over dinner or drinks. It helped us create a sense of community."
Similarly, for the newly opened Macau Roosevelt by Los Angeles
firm Gulla Jónsdóttir Architecture & Design, Vielle aims to offer
something unique to the highly saturated Macau market. "We
approached Roosevelt Macau like a G," he says. "It's not on the strip. It's
a lifestyle hotel that caters to families, with strong F&B offerings." For
the property, Jónsdóttir channels the Hollywood property's modern
glamour (also owned by Gaw and recently redone by Yabu Pushelberg)
"with a similar period-centric twist to the first overseas extension of the
brand," Vielle says.
Following the 2014 opening of Hotel G San Francisco (designed by
New York's Hun Aw Studio) and the acquisition of the Public Hotel in
Chicago from Ian Schrager (now managed by Journal Hotels and set for
a facelift), GCPH is looking to acquire more hotels in the U.S. Through
a joint venture with Journal Hotels, which is currently managing six
historic buildings, plus three Gs planned in Myanmar, Beijing, and
Seoul, Vielle is taking GCPH to the next level.

A bright and airy LYCS Architecturecrafted serviced apartment in the
Residence G Shenzhen

Hospitality Design - July 2017

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