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.”
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.
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.
SCULPTURE ART IN LOBBY
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