ASIA Travel Tips.com

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As hotel and resort construction booms all over Vietnam, and demand for seasoned hospitality professionals grows like never before, one resort company has made a significant investment in the cultivation of its own talent.

“With new properties underway in Ninh Binh, Sapa, Halong Bay and Danang, it’s become abundantly clear that we’ve got to train our people to meet international expectations. With the dramatic rate of growth in this market, we’ve really had to ramp up our own program so we could satisfy our own demand,” said Chris Duffy, the resort company's general director.

Over the past several months, Life has made its most significant investment in the company’s human resources ever. Gloria Martillano joined Life as the new group training manager. Stuart Murphy jumped from the general manager’s post at the Blue Oceans Resort & Spa, under management by Life Resorts, to a new role as the company’s resorts operation manager. Natalie Devoy has stepped in as the group’s service training officer.

As Life’s group training manager, it’s Gloria Martillano’s job to polish the resort’s suite of services to a high sheen. Martillano is now working on the development and implementation of systems to ensure high job performance, quality service and effective management.

Martillano’s career in hospitality spans 29 years, the development of 42 programs and work at properties throughout Vietnam, Malaysia,  Cambodia, the Philippines, China and the Middle East. Prior to her appointment at the Life Resorts, she was the group training manager for Victoria Hotels & Resorts.

As resort operations manager, Stuart Murphy is charged with oversight of operations at all of the resort group’s properties, both managed and owned. He is developing and setting standards, enhancing current standards and working on operational strategies for each of the properties. 

A 20-year veteran of the hospitality industry, Murphy’s career includes stints in hotels in Australia, New Guinea and the Fiji Islands. He’s worked for such chains as the Sheraton and Crowne Plaza, and, prior to his work as general manager of Blue Oceans, managed the Tanoa Plaza Suva in the Fiji Islands for four years.

Like Martillano, Natalie Devoy’s new post at the Life Resorts is focused on training. As the group’s service training officer, she’s working to bolster service staff know-how throughout Life’s properties.

Starting at Life-managed Blue Ocean in Mui Ne, Devoy will spend three months at each of the company’s resort properties. She plans to initiate the overhaul with an assessment of staff competency levels. Once that information is obtained, she will develop and implement a clear set of standard operating procedures — a kind of  bible for employees to go by in order to boost guests’ experiences.

A graduate of Glasgow Caledonian University's hospitality management program, Devoy has spent her career sharpening her leadership talents. Among the posts she has kept are housekeeping supervisor for the Hotel Pulitzer Amsterdam and hotel trainer for the Hue Tourism School. 

Beyond these three positions, Life expanded its roster of personnel with the hiring of a new group director of sales and marketing, Maria Loleth So; a group development manager, Wouter Roelofs; a spa training manager, Suvapa Sittidach; and a group business manager, Do Thi Diem Thuy.

Currently, Life Resorts owns and operates two properties in Vietnam, and manages two more.

Inspired by Cham architecture, the 63-room Life Wellness Resort Quy Nhon is a hideaway boutique on the south-central coast where a 3,000-square-meter landscaped garden overlooks a curvaceous coastline, outdoor spa bungalows and an exquisite stretch of private beach.

The 94-room Life Heritage Resort Hoi An evokes the colonial splendor of a bygone era on a quiet stretch of the Thu Bon River, within walking distance of the old trading port’s world-famous downtown. That resort will be undergoing extensive renovation through the early summer of 2008.

Life Resorts manages the Blue Ocean Resort in Mui Ne and Ho Tram Beach Resort & Spa in Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

Completely refurbished for a 2008 relaunch, the Blue Ocean Resort is the latest addition to the growing portfolio of properties under management by Life Resorts. The 78-unit resort features a range of accommodation, from rooms and suites to seaview family bungalows, all set against the finest sandy swath of Mui Ne Beach.

Just two hours by car from downtown Ho Chi Minh City, the Ho Tram Resort & Spa has mined the depths of Vietnam’s architectural traditions with an inspiring collection of garden houses on a secluded beach. Under management by the Life Resorts, the 38-room boutique retreat is a family-friendly haven, featuring two pools with waterslides, a playground and a casuarina-fringed sandbox on the ocean.

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