Monday, October 8, 2018

TOM ROELENS THE GENERAL MANAGER OF FOUR SEASONS KL IS TRULY A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS. READ MY EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ON WHY HE CHANGES HIS SOCKS AND UNDERWEAR ON SUNDAYS

KEE@FSWMAG.COM


TOM ROELENS---MAN FOR ALL SEASONS!

NO, TOM ROELENS IS NOT STANDING ON A CHAIR---HE IS JUST NEARLY A HEAD TALLER THAN DATO KEE HUA CHEE! NOTE HIS ENCHANTING BLUE EYEBALLS! WALAO EH
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Tom Roelens, the general manager of Kuala Lumpur’s best new super 5-star hotel Four Seasons is truly a man for all seasons. He started from freezy Belgium to desert Dubai to tropical islands of Bali, Maldives and Hawaii and now in the city centre of Malaysia’s capital!
DATO KEE HUA CHEE discovers the fascinating facets of the man for all seasons.

First thing you notice is Tom Roelens’ height. Accuse him of anything but midgety as he is like 2 metres which is an asset when one needs to marshal others into providing world class service. Ok his exact height is 192 cm!

Amazingly he says “I was quite short until I turned 17 and started shooting up. I think it was due to military service that triggered my growth hormones.”
 GENERAL MANAGER OF FOUR SEASONS KL IN TRIGONA BAR, NAMED AFTER THE MALAYAN HONEY  BEES. NOTE THE SPECIALLY MADE LAMPS THAT RESEMBLE KELANTAN'S SPINNING TOPS! 
LONG AND LEGGY LIKE THE 2 PANTHERS
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Then there is his natural sense of good humour. Ask his age and the reply is “Forever 21” but I managed to dig out his real age which is 47 now but will lapse into 48 before year’s end.

Tom Roelens was born in the Flemish part of Belgium called Deinz and his first passion was cooking. “I was 14 when the bug bit.” he recalls. “I was intrigued by the art and mysteries of cooking and I planned to be a chef. I was already making pastries and cakes and could cook very well. So I enrolled in Bruges hotel school in Belgium as I was impressed by the action in the kitchen and all the hustle and bustle.

“I dreamed of wearing white and mingling with tuxedoed staff in a 5 star hotel. My parents were unimpressed as they said during festivals and holidays I would be working instead of enjoying with family and friends. Mum was right of course but since I had the passion for service and delivery, I did not consider this as work as I really enjoyed the experience. I was really immersed in my vocation and did not even take weekends off. I worked Monday to Friday and continued Saturday and Sunday.

“I went home on Sunday night to change socks and underwear and then I was back to school.”


After completing national service at NATO Headquarters, Roelens switched from being a junior sous chef to hotel front line and went to France, the first time he ventured outside his native Belgium. Of course Belgium and France are not polar opposites but he admits it was outside his comfort zone for a young adult.

For 7 years he worked as chef while studying which was tough but he became an adept at juggling schedules. “My dream was to see the world and interact with all sorts of people and cultures.”

His first big break that would set the tone for the rest of his life was working in Dubai. Not the Dubai of today with Khalifa Tower and Burj Al-Arab the so called 7 star hotel but the Dubai of yesteryear.

“It was the original Dubai of the famous creek and pearl fishing which was nothing much to shout about but then Dubai was nothing much to shout about. Today Dubai is one of the world’s great success stories,” he recalls. “I went as director of catering at the Intercontinental and it was 1975. The Intercontinental was the first international hotel so I was there right in the centre when history was being made before my eyes. I was in charge of food and beverage, the front leader looking after 19 restaurants and bars. Yes I said 19! That’s a lot. The restaurants ranged from French to Spanish tapas, English pubs, even Persian and the usual Japanese sushi bar, Thai fish market and of course American burgers. The hotel however had only 200 rooms and had a novelty---a night club!

“I was only 26 so imagine how thrilled and fascinated I was to work in a totally alien world. A desert kingdom! As far away as possible from European culture.”

He met his wife Sara in USA when he studied Hotel Management at Cornell University during summer course and both ended up in Dubai. Sara worked for Forte hotel as assistant F & B director and later trainer and consultant. He grins mischievously, “We married because we were always feeding each other since both were in Food & Beverage!”

He notes Dubai remains the most liberal of all the emirates as most are conservative. “I was in Dubai when the visionary ruler laid the blueprint and foundation. Now 20 years later all has come to fruition.”

From the heat of the desert, Tom Roelens’ next port of call was the heat of the tropics. “I was again director of catering to Nusa Dua Beach hotel. It was built in 1983 and had 380 rooms and the design has been copied endlessly so most of the stylish hotel design had its genesis in Nusa Dua Beach Hotel, the original grande dame.”

In Bali he got another major break as he became Hotel Manager of Nusa Dua Beach Hotel, the first time he was elevated to this post and has never looked back since.
He met the president of Four Seasons in Bali and joined Four Seasons Jakarta which was then called Regent Jakarta. Now he has come full circle as GM of Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur!

But that was 18 years ago and in 2000 Roelens moved to Newport Beach in California as beaches and him seemed to be synonymous. And would you believe it he then decamped to Maldives which is nothing but beaches!

“I was contracted to open 2 luxury properties in Maldives and you can forget all thoughts of me lying in the beaches under shady coconut trees---I was in a massive construction site for a year!”

Again Tim Roelens considers himself blessed because like Dubai, Maldives was in the early days of tourism and he was again the pioneering juggernaut. Today water villas and trendy huts on stilts are a dime a dozen but it was Tom Roelens who initiated this concept! He grins, “I will let you into a secret. Back then the huts on stilts built over water in the sea was originally meant for those who could not afford the hotel rooms on land or villas high on hills. Today these water villas are meant for the rich!”

Roelens says running the big hotel on a small island was akin to running a township, from sewerage to feeding guests and staff. “I ran a hotel with 100 villas and 400 staff looking after just a hundred villas and serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Getting there was a 45 minute flight as Maldives is an island nation consisting of over 1,000 coral islands with some of the planet’s most astounding hotels.

“But go there soon as Maldives islands are just 1 to 2 feet above sea level so with global warming, they may be the first to go,” remarks Roelens ruefully.

Maldivian names are notoriously difficult to pronounce and spell so he wrote the names of the 2 hotels---Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraavaru. “The islands are only 400 and 800 sq metres and they shrink at high tides!”

Like most hotels, Roelens ran a 10-bedroom catamaran called Explorer for 3, 4 and 7 day cruises.

Roelens lorded over his 2 Maldives islands for 3 years before, can you believe, moving to another island nation Hawaii which is more of the same. But he begs to differ.

“This Hawaiian island called Lanai is owned by 1 man not a state or government or conglomerate. He visited Lanai and fell in love with it. Most people in this situation would simply buy a property or build a dream home. But he decided to buy the whole island for RM 1.3 billion. He got 98% of the island, 90,000 acres, a town with 3,200 inhabitants and 2 Four Seasons hotels!

“Of course he was no ordinary man but Larry Ellison the co-founder of Oracle. On this idyllic island you feel like you are all alone and the views are beyond belief. You don’t even have to stay in the penthouse suite at nearly RM 100,000 per night to feel like you are king of the island.” 

Those on a budget can stay in the cheapest suite which is around RM 6,000 per night. Compare that to Four Seasons KL which averages RM 1,000 per night, some six times cheaper.

Bill Gates possibly the richest man ever lived, loved it so much he got married at the 17th hole in the golf course. For RM 8,000 you can take flying lesson in a World War 2 plane. With horse riding, archery, clay pigeon shooting to scuba diving and snorkelling and spa, there is something new to try on land, sea, sky and midway. Roelens call it ‘reimagination’.

As for food, God forbid it’s barbecued fish caught from the sea (you can have that if desired) as Chef Nobu visits often and cooks here for fortunate guests. Well, Larry Ellison is an investor of Nobu restaurants in Malibu and Los Angeles for starters.

“Honolulu is just 20 minutes flight but Lanai is so different and unspoilt with 7 micro climates and second tallest sea cliffs in the world. It has rainforests, beaches and even deserts!”
You would think life could not get better and Tom Roelens would live on this paradise island till he dies and gets buried here but after 10 years, perhaps the bright lights of city life can be irresistible.

“So I came to KL! Yahoo!” he laughs gleefully. “Living on islands is a blessing but after 3 years in Maldives, 3.5 years in Bali and 10 years in Lanai, I think city living is permissible.”
Obviously he would only run a super deluxe hotel after his experiences. “Four Seasons KL is unique as we have 27 serviced apartments, 242 private residences and 209 rooms and suites. Four Seasons manages the entire tower and I was here nearly a year before its opening so I think it is my karma to be involved in hotels from construction to opening day and I love it.

“The staff at Four Seasons KL make the hotel special and unique as they are trained to be intuitive rather than simply take orders. Then there is our undisputed luxury, incredible location and sleek design/architecture.

“Believe it or not, there were around 35,000 applications for just 350 positions so only 1 % was selected. This meant we picked the cream of the crop, the crème de la crème to fill our vacancies including Dato Rosemarie Wee who had been with Shangri-La KL for around 30 years! So I can say---the best for the best!”

Tom and Sara Roelens have no children which is not surprising. “We gazed into our crystal ball and saw a disruptive, jet setting, unsettled life so we decided no kids as education would be a problem. But this is our choice and we are happy.”

To my great distress they have no poodles either, my favorite breed.



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