LEGEND
Michael Kadoorie , at age 12 , about to embark on his first helicopter flight , on a weekend out from boarding school in Bern , Switzerland . With him is Leo Gaddi , the legendary former GM of the Peninsula Hong Kong .
A full-size replica of L ’ oiseau Blanc , the 1927 biplane that sits outside its namesake restaurant and suspended over the courtyard at eye level .
Sir Michael , left , and his father , Lord Lawrence
Kadoorie
History has played out elsewhere : The Shanghai hotel was bombed in the 1930s during China ’ s war with Japan ; the flagship Hong Kong Peninsula was seized by Japanese troops in World War II , and Elly Kadoorie died in 1944 after a two-year internment in prison camp .
“ It ’ s really a fascinating story and a rich story , and a story that ’ s filled with privilege and despair ,” says the hotel company ' s chief operating officer , Peter Borer , who joined Peninsula in 1981 . “ And I think that ’ s why we ’ re a company that in all this privilege right now still faces life with great doses of reality and humanity .”
The company ’ s philanthropic activity is spurred by Sir Michael . “ Their family motto is ‘ adhere and prosper ,’ and that ’ s very much what we do ,” Borer says . “ We want to be not just driven by profit , but also by a great chain of human values of recognizing talent , of letting the name , Peninsula , shine and have lots of people behind it that prosper with it .”
OBLIGATIONS , REWARDS “ With the privileges come the obligations and the responsibilities , and I ’ ve been very fortunate in that ,” Kadoorie says . “ I think probably the most fortunate part of all of this is to have wonderful colleagues , people who know far more than you do … And to be part of that team , it ’ s very invigorating .” Particularly now , as his “ little company ” of 10 operating hotels works on three projects in London , Yangon and Istanbul .
He is a non-executive director of CLP Holdings , which supplies power to Hong Kong , and the company ’ s real estate arm is larger as well . But hotels are tangible . “ One has great satisfaction . You meet people . Everyone has different ideas and different thoughts , different cultures , and it ’ s a challenge but a well worthwhile one .”
His aim : “ To be the best in the city that we ’ re in , and I think everyone collectively tries for about 140 % and if we get somewhere around to 80-odd , then hopefully we ’ re doing a little bit better than someone who ’ s trying for less and not reaching that
18 hotelsmag . com April 2017