Being a boss isn’t easy; being a leader is even more challenging. Just ask your line manager (if you even have that kind of relationship with them). Now try overseeing 92,000 team members, more than 1,900 hotels across 12 different brands across Asia Pacific, and more than 224 million guests choosing to do business with you. Despite this gargantuan scope of work, and besides the many achievements he’s accumulated ever since he joined the Hilton group in January 2018 as president, Asia Pacific—including the aforementioned guests statistic in 2024, as well as adding more rooms than any other year and exceeding 1,000 trading hotels in the region also in 2024—Alan Watts is particularly proud of this: for eight consecutive years, Hilton has been the No.1 ranked hospitality company to work for in the Best Workplace in Asia list by Great Place to Work.
“Hilton’s been around for 106 years. It seeks to be the world’s best hospitality company. We believe in providing the same level of hospitality to team members as we show to our owners, our guests, and our communities. A lot of businesses seek to have that aspiration, but the reality is their back- and front-of-house operations are two different things,” Watts says. “I’d like to think that, wherever you work in the Hilton family, the experience is one of team members treating each other the same way they treat their customers. That’s an ingrained value and culture within Hilton.”
Robb Report Malaysia met Watts during the grand unveiling of the very first Waldorf Astoria in Japan, located in Osaka, in April this year. It features interiors designed by Andre Fu, with plenty of brand legacy elements such as afternoon tea at Peacock Alley, Art Deco aesthetics in its 252 rooms, and a speakeasy-inspired bar, as well as plenty of tributes to the city affectionately known as Japan’s Kitchen. “I’d say what stands the property apart is the design matching a sense of purpose and place,” Watts says. “Fu’s ability to bring to life a truly authentic mid-century modern interpretation of the Waldorf Astoria and then blending it with a sense of place in Osaka has just been amazing.”
Within the Waldorf Astoria universe, what are you most excited about this year?
I’ll give you my favourites that are coming up: Waldorf Astoria making its debut in Japan in Osaka. I’m excited about the Waldorf Astoria New York reopening this year, after being completely remodelled, and which also had to be delayed due to Covid. Next year, we will open the Waldorf Astoria Admiralty Arch in London. I’m also excited about the Waldorf Astoria Hanoi and the Waldorf Astoria Kuala Lumpur.
What can you reveal about the Waldorf Astoria Kuala Lumpur?
Nothing. We’re sensitive to the fact that we want the opening events of the brand to be an unveiling. In KL and in Hanoi, they’re both in existing structures and iconic heritage architecture buildings. It takes a number of years to reformat and renovate these buildings. All I’ll say is that it’ll be worth the wait.
Up until now, what’s been your most memorable achievement in your career?
Opening hotels. The hardest thing you can do in the hospitality industry is bring a hotel to life—from concepting it to the architecture, from the construction to operationalising it. And when you get it right, you’ll see the brand’s logo on the side of the building and, because of the nature of the assets, that logo can be there for 30 or 40 years. It always gives me such a sense of pride about the thousands of careers that will be launched every time we launch a hotel brand, no matter what that brand is. If you see a Hilton hotel that’s been around for 30 or 40 years, it has put smiles on the faces of millions of people.
What is always worth paying for?
Time. We live busy lives, and time has become a commodity. So, the best value we can return to our customers is ease of experience and returning time to them.
What is always in your hand luggage?
A portable charger. I enjoy travelling and I travel for a living. But it’s also a time to put your head down and get work done.
Where in the world is your favourite place to go on holiday?
Maldives. My youngest child makes the holiday decisions, not me.
If you could learn a new skill this year, what would it be?
I want to learn to make the Rob Roy, the iconic cocktail from Waldorf Astoria. I’m pretty efficient at drinking them, so it’d be handy to know how to make them.
What’s the first thing you do in the morning?
Work out. I like to exercise in the morning and start the day feeling calm. I believe that our teams deserve the best of us. And I think the best version of me is a centred leader when I arrive at the office.
How do you find calm?
I often say to my team that the definition of anxiety is worrying about things that you can’t change. So, I have a mantra: Take a breath. Enjoy the moment. I don’t need quiet to find calm. I can sit in a hotel reception, watch our team do what they do, and welcome people and farewell them—and find all that a calming experience. Enjoying the moment and watching the world go by.
What was the last piece of advice you gave?
Slow down. Take a breath. Enjoy the moment.
What would be your last meal on earth, and where in the world would you be enjoying it?
I’d drink a glass of champagne and watch the sunset at the Waldorf Astoria Maldives. I’m not sure I’d need the calories for where I’m going.
How would you like to be remembered when your time on Earth is up?
I’d like to think that, through hospitality, I’ve helped people do and achieve things that they didn’t know they could in their careers. Hospitality is a great meritocracy. My world is full of people who started carrying bags or working in pot-washing. Fifty per cent of all our general managers have a high school education or less. We have general managers from all over the world who’ve started in frontline positions and, through the power of hospitality and being a member of the Hilton family, they’ve found themselves all over the world, raising their kids in different environments. So, they work their way up by providing great service and caring about their team. It’s my role to help them and our team members get to levels they never could’ve dreamed of.
Photography by Yutaro Yamaguchi
