Exotiq and GLA
Exotiq is proud to announce a joint venture with GLA Hotels to bring professional villa management and marketing services to Bali. GLA Hotels, created in 1985 by Grace Leo, is a Paris-based company specializing in managing and marketing independent luxury hotels worldwide. GLA managed hotels are known for their exceptional design and unparalleled service.
The move came about as GLA were looking to expand in Asia and were seeking a company with the right kind of cache and a strong brand that could complement their business. "GLA approached us because they see Exotiq as the market leader in Southeast Asia's resort-based real estate," says Dominique Gallmann, Director of Exotiq in Indonesia and co-founder of the brand. "GLA hotels is conversely very well established in Europe, so marrying the two is of great interest for us both."
"They were looking for a niche market and saw that the villa market badly needs professional management," says Gallmann. "Most villa managers in Bali lack marketing and hotel experience and all over the world the agents are getting tired of the unpredictable quality of villa products in Bali. There are no major brands behind them to drive the guest experience, ensuring consistent quality and the ability to be able to go out and market villas properly," he says.
The merging of GLA Hotels and Exotiq is an opportunity to bring in a top-level management company that has the skills in running smalland medium-sized boutique hotels at a five star plus level. "They have a classic marketing machine, they know how to manage hotels and they know how to market to the world," says Gallmann. "This is complimented by the sales force of Exotiq and their know-how on the ground. We can package the product, sell it and manage it, as we have full control of it and can then give a much better service, ultimately providing a consistent portfolio of only the very best five star villas in Bali."
Rodolphe Gomis, Director of Public Relations for GLA concurs. "Exotiq is the best partner we could have chosen because of their long time knowledge and experience of the local real estate market in Bali and Thailand. The success of our partnership is based on our complementarity - the combination of GLA 's international commercial network and our managerial competence and the clout and the vast sales force of Exotiq in Asia."
The first project to get off the ground is Villa Nyaman, which is due for completion and operation in August 2009. The principals of GLA are building the hotel, which is sold through Exotiq Real Estate, and at the same time it will be managed by GLA and Exotiq together, driving high yields and ensuring that the investors make maximum gains on their investment. After Villa Nyaman is up and running they will be choosing other luxury villa complexes to run and then expand to other locations in Southeast Asia.
What the merger means to the owner / investor is that they are better able to make the right operator choice; a choice which will offer them a very good value for money proposition with the best possible profitability in the short to medium term. Villa holidays are hugely popular right now but the quality is not consistent, and this new venture seeks to rectify that. For this reason the group wants to focus only on the top villa complexes and assuring a guest experience second to none.
