Hong Kong’s Five Star Hospitality Veterans

From Sheraton to The Peninsula, these revered veterans of the hospitality industry have devoted an average of over 30 years between them in these five-star establishments

By Tim Cheung, 13.Feb

From Sheraton to The Peninsula, these revered veterans of the hospitality industry have devoted an average of over 30 years between them in these five-star establishments

Five Hospitality Veterans

If you think you’ve worked long and hard, meet these five long-serving hotel veterans who have committed their careers to service in Hong Kong’s top hotels. Combined they have over 150 years of experience in hospitality under their belts and have seen the hospitality industry evolve and flourish over the years.

In recognition of this group of hospitality veterans, we sat down with them to recall some of their most memorable experiences and share industry anecdotes: a senior bartender from The Peninsula, for example, has followed his parent’s footstep at the prestigious hotel and brought the “screwdriver” cocktail to Hong Kong; the guest relations manager from Conrad shares with us how she dealt with a fastidious Malaysian royal last summer.

Eunice Ho

Hotel: Conrad
Position: Guest relations manager
Years of service: 15

“All you have to do is to put yourself in your customers’ shoes,” says Ho.

That succinctly sums up hospitality, and with that motto Ho has risen from a guest relations officer to duty manager and now she is the guest relations manager today, earning herself a nickname “Big Sister” among colleagues.

In the past 15 years, she has served many VIPs including several head of states, but none has made a deeper impression on her than a Malaysian royal who demanded an icy cold president suite, in the summer.

“It was an impossible mission, but we went all out,” enthuses Ho, recollecting her memory. “We had the engineering team tweaking the whole air-conditioning system and we even placed coolers in the suite to keep every corner chilled.”

Johnny Chung

Hotel: The Peninsula
Position: Senior bartender
Years of service: 54

In 1957, then teenager Johnny Chung Kam-hung joined his father at The Peninsula, who was a captain at the Lobby, and joined The Peninsula team as the catering department messenger.

Soon after, Chung was promoted to bar busboy, and eventually took charge of the bar. Chung is now a senior bartender and the longest serving team member at The Peninsula, with a staggering 54 years of service. Ask anyone at the hotel, they will all point to Chung as he is somewhat of a true legend at the establishment.

Chung says he has had countless famous encounters over the years, including actor Clark Gable who introduced the cocktail “screwdriver” to him, which Chung later introduced to the rest of Hong Kong.

Although no longer showing off his shaking and dicing skills in front of guests, Chung is still the mastermind behind the hotel’s restaurants and room service orders, concocting your favourite seasonal cocktails.

Catch Johnny Chung create the Screwdriver cocktail here.

Samson Sam

Hotel: Sheraton
Position: Executive housekeeper
Years of service: 24

“I remember there was a flood in our hotel in 2000 and everyone, including the back of house members, started to panic,” recalls Sam.

Sam says situations like this have really helped build team spirit at the hotel. Since 1988, he has worked in different positions in the housekeeping department.

“Of course I love it here, otherwise I wouldn’t have stayed for over 20 years,” says Samson as he lets out a laugh. “I sometimes feel this is more like home to me because I have so many long-time colleagues here.”

So Kei-pak

Hotel: Hotel Nikko
Position: Head chef of restaurant Toh Lee
Years of service: 22

Originally from the Panyu district, Cantonese chef So Kei-pak, has been head chef at Toh Lee, the Chinese restaurant at Hotel Nikko, since 1989. Over the years, he has created numerous dishes to give his patrons the best dining experience and is always seeking new challenges.

“My favourite dish I’ve created is the sautéed pork stomach with kale, Chinese celery and pickled lettuce,” says So. “It’s a very famous dish in my hometown and a complicated one even for the most skilled chefs.”

So says his hard work and dedication is paid off whenever dishes and promotions are well-received. One of the dishes in fact resulted in a gold medal at the Hong Kong Food Festival – it goes to show, hard work pays off.
ASIATATLER

Danny Lai Ping-pui

Hotel: Mandarin Oriental
Position: Executive assistant manager - Guest relations
Years of service: 40

Few people genuinely look forward to working in the morning, but Lai of the Mandarin Oriental is an exception: “Every morning when I go to work, it feels like I’m going home!” says the forever-young Lai. “I feel much happier in the hotel than at home.”

He first joined the Mandarin Oriental as a part-time porter in 1972 and became a full-time employee the following year.

Danny says there are thousands of interesting stories he could share, but at end of the day, it is the smiles from guests and compliments that motivate him: “The smile on the face of our guests, make us happy, excited and delighted.”