Asia’s luxury hotel brands are slowly taking over Europe

When the Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky Amsterdam opens its doors officially in late May it will be, with 402 guest rooms, the largest Anantara property in the world. And, with 39 letters, possibly the only hotel name to make you swallow your own tongue.

It will also be one of the latest moves in the South-East Asian brand’s gradual expansion into Europe, bringing what Minor Hotels chief executive Dillip Rajakarier calls “Indigenous luxury” to the capital of the Netherlands.

The five-star historic hotel, which sits smack-bang in the centre of the city on Dam Square and faces the Royal Palace, grew out of the New Polish coffee shop (Nieuwe Poolsche Koffiehuis), which was bought in 1856 by Adolph Wilhelm Krasnapolsky and his soon-to-be brother-in-law August Volmer.

The grand interior of the Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky Amsterdam.

Krasnapolsky was a German-born tailor who worked in Nieuwendijk (a well-known retail hub even then) but found his feet as a restaurateur and hotelier when that side hustle on nearby Warmoesstraat – today more toke than bespoke thanks to the plethora of cannabis products on sale thereabouts – began to pay off.

The pair turned the failing coffee shop into a thriving restaurant before buying several neighbouring properties and adding hotel rooms. Krasnapolsky died in 1912 but the building that bears his name just grew and grew.

Altogether, the Kras (as it is sensibly abbreviated by smooth-tongued locals) has swallowed up 55 of Amsterdam’s famous canal houses.

In his time, Krasnapolsky was very much a pioneer – building his own abattoir, adding electric lights and even his own power plant – but his piece de resistance was undoubtedly the Winter Garden, a soaring conservatory with a domed roof and palm trees in the middle of the hotel.

It’s still there today and, with its distinctive black-and-white chequerboard flooring, remains very much an elegant centrepiece of the Anantara refurb and rebrand.

The Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky Amsterdam had a “soft” opening in April last year and has been welcoming guests while putting the finishing touches to the final tranche of rooms, suites, and some common areas.

Not that you would have noticed. We stayed in a Grand Suite in November and you’d have been hard put to know the place wasn’t finished. It certainly didn’t stop them organising a foodie walking tour of the city and a wonderfully extravagant five-course White Truffle dinner in the historic White Room.

Grand, ornate, high-ceilinged and beautifully blinged out in white and gold, the White Room is one of the oldest original restaurants in Amsterdam, and a fitting setting for Michelin-starred chef Jacob Jan Boerma’s contemporary cuisine.

The hotel’s White Room.

Another interesting feature is the ground floor bar, named The Tailor in honour of Mr Krasnapolsky’s original profession. Here, at a bar edged with a measuring tape, the tailors (don’t call them bartenders for god’s sake) will create bespoke drinks to fit your particular (or peculiar) tastes.

When the hotel officially opens in May it will be the culmination of an 18-month project overseen by general manager Arne Heuwekemeijer, an Amsterdam native returning home after 19 years working in luxury hotels in Asia.

There are now seven Anantara hotels in Europe – an expansion that began in 2016 with the acquisition of two Tivoli hotels in Portugal, which opened in 2019, and continued in February this year with its first hotel in France – the Belle Epoque Anantara Plaza Nice hotel overlooking the Promenade des Anglais.

A guest room at the Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky Amsterdam

Since starting as a particularly Asian brand home-grown in Thailand in 2001, Anantara has in just 22 years expanded to the Maldives, the Middle East and Africa. There are now 47 Anantaras in 27 countries. And, despite not having any properties in America, it was last year voted Best Luxury Hotel Brand in the world by USA Today.

Dillip Rajakarier, speaking from his office in Bangkok, Thailand, says the secret to the brand’s success is “the guest experience”.

“When we started,” he says, “it was all about experience, experiential travel. We were talking about this 20 years ago, unlike some other brands which are only now starting to talk about it.

“Each of the hotels have to curate what is the guest experience at each of the locations,” he says.

Despite the desire to make every property different, though, there is one overarching ethos that Rajakarier believes they’re bringing to Europe.

“I think Asian hospitality is very different to Western hospitality. Especially Asian hospitality in Thailand, which is totally different to Asian hospitality in general. I think in Thailand people believe it’s their duty to make people happy, it’s not just their job. Which is a big difference. What we have done is take that culture and take it outside of Thailand.

“For example, when we opened up our first hotel in the Middle East, they said ‘we want an Anantara spa and we want the Thais to come and work for us because we love their hospitality and we love the way they serve and we love the way they look after the guests’.”

It’s part of a trend that has seen a slow but steady move into Europe by Asian luxury hotel brands such as Mandarin Oriental, Shangri-La and Raffles Hotels and Resorts. Mandarin Oriental purchased its first European hotel – the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park – in 1996 (spending £57 million to renovate it) and now has 12 properties in Europe, with three more – in London, Zurich and Greece’s Costa Navarino – planned for 2023.

The Shangri-La group started life in 1971 in Singapore but only dipped its toes into European waters in Paris at the end of 2010 and has since opened hotels in Istanbul (in 2013) and London (in the Shard tower in 2014). Choon Wah Wong, co-head of the Middle East, India, Europe and Americas region for Shangri-La Group, says the group is actively looking at more “opportunities in key cities across Europe” and adds: “Shangri-La is known and loved for our genuine and heartfelt care shown to guests and colleagues, hallmarks of our Asian heritage that makes us unique and special in the world of travel.”

Raffles, meanwhile, has hotels in Paris (opened in 2010), Istanbul (2014) and Warsaw (2018). Its first London property – Raffles London at The OWO (the magnificent Old War Office building at the corner of Horse Guards Parade and Whitehall) – is planning to open in the northern summer.

Omer Acar, Accor’s chief executive for Raffles and Orient Express, says that part of the Raffles brand’s charm is the “refinement of an earlier era” and a spirit of adventure. “Raffles was founded in Singapore in 1887, during the Golden Age of Travel, and became a natural magnet for luminaries, locals and literati – a place where travellers from the world over could meet to exchange ideas and be inspired. This authenticity of experience is the thread that runs right through the brand to this day.”

Today’s guests, he says, “will discover luxury that … touches the emotions through harmonious design, culinary excellence and rituals for serenity, as they experience the elegance, grace and generosity instilled in the brand those 135 years ago”.

Acar says they are “beyond excited” about the opening of the Old War Office building in London this year. There is a ribbon cutting ceremony in April to mark the completion of the restoration – and a few small private gatherings at the hotel to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III on May 6 before a full opening in the summer.

As for the future, Acar says they have their eyes set on “world-renowned destinations, rich with history, beauty and culture”, putting European cities such as Athens, Barcelona, Florence, Milan, Munich, Prague, Rome and Vienna in their sights.

Back at Anantara, Rajakarier says they “feel that there is a marketplace there for us as a luxury brand that also brings that high-end luxury from a service perspective as well. And we define luxury not as the bling-bling, we define luxury as experience. If the guest can have a fantastic experience, a great storytelling experience, that’s what we need.”

And to achieve that Anantara sends in a Thai “taskforce” whenever it opens a hotel. They train the staff, stay for a year or two and then return home.

“And then we do the reverse,” says Rajakarier. “We bring people from some of the European hotels to us and we immerse them in the brand and the experience and all those things, at least for three to six months prior to the hotel opening.”

With so many hotels opening, says Rajakarier, there’s also something of a void in terms of trained hospitality staff – an issue the company sought to mitigate by opening a hospitality school in Thailand during the global pandemic.

“We have one of the most fantastic campuses set up in Thailand now. The benefit is that the campus is in one of our hotels so you can study in our campus, you can work in the hotel and, when you finish, you can get a job in one of our hotels.”

The Anantara Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky Amsterdam is situated on Dam 9, just a 10-minute walk from the Central Train Station. Rooms from €348 ($585).  See anantara.com

Keith Austin travelled as a guest of Anantara.