SPECIAL REPORT : HOTELIERS OF THE WORLD
A young Peter Borer was able to get an early taste of the hospitality world through his innkeeping parents .
A huge moment for The Peninsula Hotels came when it expanded to the United States in Beverly Hills . At the opening in 1991 ( L to R ) Peninsula Hotels executives Fraser Hickox , Felix Bieger , Peter Borer , Onno Poortier and Chairman Sir Michael Kadoorie were in attendance .
office , managing multiple projects — perhaps most importantly working on the plan for what would become The Peninsula Beverly Hills , the brand ’ s first foray outside Asia . “ I was in Onno ’ s office one evening when a packet arrived with the brochure about the Belvedere hotel in Beverly Hills ,” Borer says . “ I told him we had to get this hotel . We started negotiating , made an agreement and helped the owners build the hotel .”
Borer says the Beverly Hills hotel gave The Peninsula Hotels ’ owners , the Kadoorie family , the courage to buy the New York hotel as well . “ We also changed the business model and decided we would have a stake in each hotel , or buy them outright ,” he adds .
All along the way , Borer had one eye on the company flagship — the Peninsula in Hong Kong — and after a series of events caused the company to make plans to better utilize its hometown hotel , he decided the time was right to make his play to run the flagship and be an integral part of developing the new 30-story tower alongside active owner Sir Michael Kadoorie .
“ The most fun was changing the way we ran this hotel ,” says Borer of the hotel that in the late 1980s was still predominantly managed and run by men . “ I found wonderful people like Rainy Chan , who now runs the hotel . We brought in a different culture .”
Among the first items on his agenda was creating a new staff dining room , a lesson he learned from Nassikas at the Stanford Court . “ That showed people this is going to be a different hotel from now on , and change is something you really have to lead by example ,” he notes . “ It spread into other parts of the organization , and everybody bought in .”
Dreaming , inspiring Now at the traditional retirement age , Borer has been asked to stay on a little longer and has gladly accepted . “ I am very happy to continue to do what I am doing ,” he says . “ My biggest dream is to really be a small global company that has representation in the three most important cities in the world — New York City , Tokyo and London . We just announced a deal for London , which is a major milestone that makes me very happy .”
Borer ’ s advice to young hoteliers : Sniff around . “ Look at different companies and see if your personal values align with the values of that company ,” he suggests . “ Once you find one to associate with , work with passion , believe in yourself and show qualities of being a leader . If that company recognizes you , that is usually a good way up .”
For Borer , that recipe has been the right mix for the past 32 years with The Peninsula Hotels . Why so long with one company ? Borer responds , “ Because the values of this family are what inspires me and what I can respect . In return , I think I have earned their respect . So why change a good thing ?”
30 HOTELS November 2013 www . hotelsmag . com