DEBBIE OAKES meets up with the charismatic GM of Accor Group’s flagship Pullman brand Hotel in Bangkok, to discover a little more about the man, the brand and that famous wine bar!

I must mention first off, the biggest surprise of the day…the hotel is so easy to get to. Historically, the mere mention of “Victory Monument,” was enough to make me break out into a cold sweat. Now that I’ve been to the Pullman Ho­tel…my life has extended slightly further down Sukhumvit Road. Exiting the BTS, I was there in 5 minutes! The hotel lobby has a real buzz. Guests (and there are many) from all corners of the globe it seems, chat together in the happy purposeful way of international travelers. The staff- like the interi­ors, are cool, chic and warm. The five restaurants and bars are ambi­ent and inviting- modern Asian elegance with a large slice of “come on in!’ I am curious and keen to meet the man who has orchestrated such a scene in today’s difficult economic climate.

Christophe Vielle does not disappoint. He has the impressive presence of a gentleman and his pleasingly Gaelic charm has not diminished in more than 25 years of living in Asia. I ask him, why did he become an hotelier? “I guess you could say it was by accident. I was very good at mathematics, so at 15 years of age I was in a spe­cial school where they pushed us way too much- out of 30 students none completed the course. Every Wednesday we had to sit 5-hour long exams. One day I heard about a test to join France’s top cater­ing school. 2500 people sit the exam and only 64 are selected. Just as I was about to sit my math’s exam I found out I’d been accepted to the hotel school… so I decided to go for it.”

The school was Thonon- five kilometers from Evian and France’s best at that time. “At 15, I left my home and went to live on the other side of France. After graduating I worked in Evian at “Le Royal” a very famous old palace converted to a big casino and hotel. I started out as a room service ‘commis’ or assistant. I realized that in order to be successful I had to speak English so I moved to Lon­don where I worked for four years. I went from barman to general manager of a restaurant, also opening two wine bars, which gave me a great foundation of expertise for starting WP, the wine pub at the Pullman.”

“I still remember the day I first came to Bangkok- the 14th of July 1988! I was on my way to Australia…but I never left Asia. At that time it was quite difficult to get work in the restaurant industry so I moved to Hong Kong. I had an interview with Edward Kwok, the owner of The Shangri-La Group’s (Robert Kwok) nephew. I had no nice clothes and no money! So I took a risk and sold my return ticket to London to buy a suit. Luckily it went well and although I was ready to work as a captain for 5000 HK Dollars- they offered me 18, 000 which was far more money than I was earning in Lon­don as a GM.” He laughs and says, “I called my mother and said they are crazy here!”

“I eventually moved to Taiwan to work as an F&B Director. I met my wife and learned to speak Mandarin- there weren’t a lot of foreigners there then!”