Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin made his fortune building a property empire. He rose to fame as the jet-setting owner and chairman of Aman, the resort name favored by A-list celebrities and the billionaire crowd.

STORY RYAN SWIFT

It has been a tumultuous legal road, but property magnate Vladislav Doronin has finally gained sole ownership of a particularly glittering jewel – the Aman. Doronin brings many things to the business: a sense of scale, appreciation of wellness, love of architecture and above all, ambition. The Peak posed a few questions to the proud owner of one of the world’s top names in luxury hospitality. 

Tell us about the new Amans in the pipeline. Where are they and what’s your broader growth strategy?

I have installed a new top management team who are driven and motivated to grow the business.

We do not have plans to radically transform the brand but we will improve and strengthen it; bringing in new architects and expanding our wellness, food and beverage concepts for guests.

My strategy is to continue to build the same Amans but not horizontally, we will build these vertically in cities. To grow our portfolio, we are already exploring possibilities in Hong Kong, New York, London, Paris and Sao Paolo.

The strategy is to continue to grow our resorts in the most outstanding locations. We recently opened our first “Urban” hotel in Japan; Aman Tokyo is the largest Aman with 84 rooms and since its opening has been hugely successful, enjoying the highest rates of any hotel in Japan, has been consistently fully booked, and was widely acclaimed to be the world’s best new hotel and spa.

How would you compare the future Aman under your leadership to the original Aman?

The reason I bought Aman is that it is one of the most exceptional brands and has a good platform to expand into urban development. This strategy was proved correct with the successful opening of Aman Tokyo, setting our benchmark moving forward.

What is on your priority list when opening a new Aman resort? What are you looking for in a location, setting, and environment?

The most important factors for any Aman is the location and the aesthetic. Aman Tokyo overlooks the Imperial Palace gardens, Amangalla is set in a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sri Lanka near a 16th century fortified city and Amanjiwo in Indonesia is moments away from the 9^th century Buddhist temple of Borobudur. Our locations are unique, we never compromise and we never will. This is the approach we are taking with the “Urban Amans”. If the top location is not available, we would rather wait.

Read the full article here: The_Peak_HK_June_2016