How Martin Dishman created The One Hotel: Forbes’ #1 most exclusive hotel in the world

Martin Dishman is founder of The One Hotel collection, recently rated the world’s #1 most exclusive hotel by Forbes. (Another good story from Forbes)

In this 65-minute interview, we cover:

What inspired The One Hotel

[1:28] Why he went overseas and left the corporate scene.

[9:50] September 11, 2001 was a wake-up call. “Don’t wait until tomorrow to do what you want to do.”

[1:48] How a Thailand vacation inspired him to open The One Hotel: “Why am I not doing what I know I can do? I wanted to work for myself.”

[2:21] Why Cambodia? For starters, “Cambodia is really a unique place; people are so warm and friendly. There are a lot of misconceptions; Cambodia is on a growth trajectory.”

[5:05] How did Martin think of The One Hotel idea? “We could do two rooms, one on top of the other, but they’d be small, ordinary hotel rooms. The light bulb comes on; one room. Why can’t it be a one room hotel? I’m a hotelier; I can do this.”

[33:50] The importance of developing a unique concept: “If I hadn’t opened the One Hotel, if I’d had a three or four room hotel, I would have gotten 90% less press. But it wasn’t by design; [First] I found a place, then turned it into a one room hotel. 70% of the people we can’t get into the One Hotel can stay in Hotel B.”

Exceeding guest expectations, and “throwing the cookie cutter out the window”

[7:00] “In large hotels, there are things that are cost-prohibitive. The idea was to basically make it perfect… as perfect as you can. Everything fits together well, everything’s designed well, the finishes are fantastic.”

[13:38] On delivering exceptional guest experiences: “At the beginning, I met every guest at the airport; usually, I see them sometime after they arrive. I tell them, ‘my job is to get you here, then I turn it over to the staff.’ Cambodians, as I said, are so warm and friendly and sincere. It’s a great place to be a hospitality manager.”

[44:13] How does The One sound-proof their rooms? “We’re right in the middle of this walking street. People stop and think, ‘Oh the rooms are gonna be noisy!’ Well, I would be a really bad hotelier if I opened a hotel and had noisy rooms…”

How to define your niche

[21:52] Martin tells us about his target market: “Our guests are active; they’re engaged, engaging people. Because we don’t have a pool, we don’t get the kind of people that just lay by the pool all day. That’s not what they come to Cambodia for.”

[23:10] How does he find out what guests want? “I’m always trying out hotels, seeing what I like, what I don’t like, I like unique hotels. I think being unique is just about the best way to do it; give them something that they can’t experience anywhere else, something personalized that they’re not going to get at a chain hotel, and we really get to know the guests. We’ll go out with you and do things just for fun. It’s that kind of engagement with your customers that I think they really appreciate.”

Martin’s most essential amenities

[26:22] His #1 pet-peeve: hotels that charge for internet service. “It’s the whole ‘nickle and diming effect’ of hotels like that. And if you want to check out at 4, well that’s gonna cost you more money. At the One Hotel, if the room’s available, you can check out at 7 o’clock. There’s revenue I could be making, but to me it’s giving the guests value.”

[43:28] Another pet-peeve: “Nothing’s worse than a non-functioning hotel room.”

[28:54] Does it make for a better guest experience if you charge a little bit more for a room and give away more free amenities? “Every major hotel has a rack rate, but they never actually charge the rack rate. I don’t do that. I said, this is what my room is worth, this is what guests will find a good value.”

[30:00] The One’s amenities include airport transportation, breakfast, a fruit plate in the room when you arrive, and “more”. Martin describes how a few surprising touches and personal mementos can make a big difference in your guests’ experience.

How to successfully manage your team and collaborate with creative professionals

[14:40] “If you don’t like your job, find another line of work.”

[41:35] Martin’s team-member criteria: “I look for people who I respect for their abilities. John McDermott is a fantastic photographer. I know what I need from the hotel side, and he knows how to achieve it. John and I have got it down to a science. Also, I want to enjoy working with these people, right?”

[12:10] He’s a people person: “I’m the one that answers all of the emails and does all of the correspondence. I enjoy doing it, but I know I need to teach the staff, as well. But … I don’t want to let it go. It’s my baby. I can’t remember how many people I’ve interviewed; I’m a real people person; you have to be when you’re in this business.”

[39:40] “I’m so in tune with what we’re doing that I can manage it from a distance.” What’s his “secret weapon”?

[48:51] On setting standards and addressing problems; how does he communicate his vision and values to staff? “I care about them, so when there’s a problem that’s interfering with teamwork, or the customer service we provide, I’ve gotta solve that problem.”

[52:00] The One’s staff succession plan: “We usually take people that don’t have experience, and teach them in one position, they improve themselves, and move up to another position.”

[45:34] How to balance vision and creative freedom when working with creative professionals.

Martin’s marketing insights

[54:26] How and why the One’s opening generated good word-of-mouth: “Our only marketing budget is doing the website.”

[57:15] The One’s unique online strategy: “We don’t want to be on the big mainstream sites, listed with a bunch of other hotels in this location. We’re a niche property; we’re looking for a niche guest. We’re not a mass-market place, so I don’t wanna be on a mass-market website.”

[10:35] On being named “the most exclusive hotel in the world” by Forbes: “I was watching it when I was back home for Christmas with my mom and nephew…”

[58:09] How to tell if travel companies don’t understand your concept: “One of the local travel companies made a booking request for The One Hotel, and it came through with a request for an upgrade to a deluxe room. If they can’t sell us properly, we’re going to get guests that don’t want to be here.”

[58:52] Martin likes London-based site i-escape.com and Tablet Hotels but, “80%-90% of our bookings are direct.”

[1:01:00] When asked whether he encourages guests to write about his hotel online, Martin answers, “I think it’s a personal decision; it has to come from them. Those are going to be the genuine reviews, right?”

Here’s the conversation:

[Prefer to listen on the go? Download the mp3 recording]