Transcript: Episode 165: Purple Flower Luxury

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[00:00:00] Susan Barry: This is Top Floor episode 165. You can find the show notes at topfloorpodcast.com/episode/165. 

[00:00:13] Narrator: Welcome to Top Floor with Susan Barry. This weekly podcast right up to the top floor features tangible tips and excellent stories from the experts and characters who elevate hospitality. And now your host and elevator operator, Susan Barry.

[00:00:32] Susan Barry: Welcome to the show. Florence Li grew up in the hospitality industry and leads the international sales effort for Songstam Resorts, her family's collection of boutique luxury hotels and destination experiences in Southwest China and Tibet. Her career includes hands on experience with Six Senses and the iconic Taj Hotels, deepening her expertise in high end, culturally immersive tourism. Today, we are going to talk about the art of Chinese and Tibetan hospitality, luxury tourism in remote areas, and cross cultural experiences for international travelers. But before we jump in, we need to answer the call button.

Call button rings 

[00:01:35] Susan Barry: The emergency call button is our hotline for hospitality professionals and anybody else with a burning question. If you would like to submit a question, you can call or text me at 850-404-9630. Today's question was submitted by Randall and Randall asks, How difficult is it for a U. S. citizen to travel to China? What does that entail? So, Florence, I'm guessing that you've got some insight for Randall on this question. How difficult is it?

[00:01:58] Florence Li: Well, it's not that complicated nowadays. I mean, so if you want to travel from United States to China, you have to apply a tourist visa. And normally you can apply through a third party agency because they're going to help you to, you know, gather all the documents and information and then they will help you to submit, you know, your passport and all the documents. And then within two weeks in general, you can get it. And then once you get it, you can get it for 10 years, multiple entrance.

[00:02:32] Susan Barry: Oh, wow! I didn’t know that.

[00:01:58] Florence Li: Exactly. So meaning that in the coming 10 years, you can, you know, travel to China whenever you want. So there is another option is also there is a six days transit, you know, visa free policy. Meaning that if you fly to China in certain hubs, like certain major hubs, if you transit there for six days, you don't actually need a visa.

[00:02:59] Susan Barry: That's surprising. Well, it's a lot easier than I would have expected. So, Randall, once you hear about Florence's family hotels, you're going to want to make a trip. So, now you know how to do it. It's much more simple than expected. So, Florence, what made you decide to go to hotel school in Switzerland? 

[00:03:17] Florence Li: Well, I think first of all, I, because I was born in this family and I grew up, you know, in this boutique hotel with my family. So I got inspired because every day I see, you know, guests coming and going and then naturally I think I want to learn more about it. And then I think, fate has decided this for me. And then I joined the Swiss hotel management school when I was much younger. And I got my bachelor degree there. Yeah. Which is a very meaningful and beautiful beginning of my career. 

[00:03:55] Susan Barry: You mentioned your family. Your father was a documentary filmmaker before opening the first hotel in the collection. What made him do that? That seems like quite a change of careers. 

[00:04:08] Florence Li: Yeah, actually, everyone keep asking me the same question. And then it's a very fascinating story. He used to be a documentary filmmaker and his hobby or his passion was about to showcase the beauty of the landscape of our hometown, you know, in Tibet, to people from all over the world. And then there was an opportunity in 1995 that he went to Paris to receive a film awards, a small film awards. And then by that time he stayed in a boutique hotel. And then he got really inspired because back then, you know, in the 1995, there's no, you know, boutique hotel, the concept in China, you can only find like, government owned hostels. And then he got really inspired because he thinks, Oh, it's a nice platform to showcase the culture by putting, you know, different art pieces and you know, furnitures with unique interior design together to showcase the culture. And then when he went back to our hometown in 1999, he converted our ancestor house into our first boutique hotel. So this is how the story of Songstam started from 1999. 

[00:05:35] Susan Barry: That's amazing. Is that property still operating, the first one? 

[00:05:39] Florence Li: Yes, it's still operating and, it's a very cozy and very family style luxury hotel right now. Now it's popular for European travelers and also for Americans as well. 

[00:05:58] Susan Barry: Were there any cultural experiences from your time at Taj Hotels or Six Senses that shaped your approach to how you work in your family's business?  

[00:06:12] Florence Li: I got a lot of inspiration because like, I used to work with one of the property in Rajasthan in India with Taj. So Rajasthan is a state, it's very rich in cultural heritage. And then every day in the afternoon around 4:30, they offer this heritage walk in a particular palace hotel. So there will be a guide, you know, to show you around that palace, that's a real palace. And then to explain you, you know, the history behind it, who used to be the owner, who is the current owner, and then where do they get all these art pieces, and then what's the art to call symbolize. So it's very inspiring because I didn't know that you can actually do a heritage walk in the hotel because, you know, normally you can only get it in museums. 

[00:07:12] Susan Barry: That is so interesting. I wish every hotel would do something like that. Are there any key differences that you've noticed between Chinese hospitality and the Western approach that you were probably taught at school in Switzerland?

[00:07:30] Florence Li: I would say, um, because hospitality has been developed for a very long time in Europe, particularly in Switzerland. So they have a like international standard about it. But for Chinese hospitality, we don't have like a rule or a certain standard, especially with Songstam, with us. We have like 92 percent of our employee are from local village, so they just, we just, train them to, you know, ask them to give very authentic and natural and very warm service to our guests. So you feel like this is something from the bottom of their hearts, and then we get a really good positive feedbacks from our guests about it. 

[00:08:19] Susan Barry: So maybe less formal, but more heartfelt. 

[00:08:23] Florence Li: Yeah. Yeah. Less formal. It's like, just one example, like when, when they serve the food, like we don't really require them to do it clockwise or anti-clockwise. Like we don't have a rule like that. 

[00:08:37] Susan Barry: Interesting. What do you think - So if there's that sort of lack of formality or not maybe following all of the old fashioned rules from Europe, how do you define luxury? Like what does luxury mean to you when you're talking about these more remote, culturally immersive destinations, properties? How, how does it become luxurious? 

[00:09:06] Florence Li: I think luxury is a kind of emotion. Like, you want to, you know, get the emotion that you are elevated. That's the essence of luxury. It's not about, you know, how the quality of a particular object is designed or something like that. And so for us, we don't say that we are doing this business because we are a luxury brand. We say that we are doing this work because we want to promote local culture and we want to connect our guests with the local community. So that's, I think, what we truly value. But of course we have like a high quality amenities and also we have a fleet of Land Rovers. We work with La Mer. So these are brands, you know, they have a value and provide high quality. So that's what we really think we are. 

[00:10:14] Susan Barry: I'd love for you to walk us through a typical guest experience at one of the flagships, like maybe Shangri La or Lhasa, and just talk about what someone could expect if they stayed there. 

[00:10:26] Florence Li: Right. Of course. I would be happy to. So actually, Shangri La, it's like a small town and then many Tibetans, they live there. You'll find one of the most famous Tibetan monasteries there. The history can be dated back to a thousand years ago. Until today, there are four monks that live there. So we actually have our flagship behind this monastery. And it's a bit, you know, location is a bit at the outskirt of the town. But you see, you know, very beautiful landscape, you know, from the property. I was actually chatting with two travel agents this evening and I was trying to tell them, we can actually stay there for four days and then each day you can experience different activities.

On sites, there are many sports that you can do. You can go horse riding. We have many horses. You can do archery. So it's like Tibetan style archery. And besides that, we also provide, art experience. We have like onsite, Tanka painting master. So Tanka painting is a kind of traditional Tibetan painting style. So this master will show you how to do a Tibetan auspicious symbol. And then you can just do your own art piece and then take it back home as a souvenir. That's really cool. And also we also offer like Tibetan incense making, you can make your own incense and we provide a lot of wellness program, like morning yoga, morning meditation. Wellness is the global trend nowadays. People do longing to do some meditation in Tibet because it's a very mysterious destination and to experience the very unique frequency or energy there. And then we have like a Tibetan medicine bath.

And a very popular activity nowadays in China is that you have, you can dress up like a Tibetan. You can choose your costume and then dress up and then take some photos. So actually, yeah, there are many things that you can do in a flagship. And of course we have a lot of food options. We have local food, we have western food, we have barbecue restaurants. And then next year we are going to open our stargazing building. So we will keep several, how do you say that? You know, you can see the stars with the telescope. 

[00:13:20] Susan Barry: That's so amazing. All of those things are not amenities that you can experience anywhere else. And they're all so creative. It just seems like you would never want to leave the property. You just go and make art and dress up and meditate and have a wonderful time. It sounds really exciting. 

[00:13:41] Florence Li: Yeah, it's very immersive. Exactly. 

[00:13:44] Susan Barry: We like to make sure that our listeners come away from every episode of Top Floor with some specific tips that they can try either in their business, in their personal life, in their travels. So for travelers who are new to Tibetan culture, what customs or practices would you recommend that they be aware of before visiting? What should they know as they're coming to town? 

[00:14:11] Florence Li: Well, that's a great question. I always say Buddhism is very inclusive. So we don't really have taboos, you know, it's like certain things you, you cannot eat or certain things you cannot say. It's not like that. But if you go visit like, Tibetan stupas, if you walk there, normally, you have to go always clockwise. So that's our tradition. We believe that if you walk clockwise, surrounding the pagoda or stupa or the monastery, it's a kind of accumulation of merit. And then if you walk like anti-clockwise, it's a deaccumulation of the merit. And then whenever we see someone is walking anti-clockwise, you know, we always stop them and then ask them to walk the other way around. It's very interesting. 

[00:15:10] Susan Barry: That is a wonderful tip to know. I'm going to be paying attention to whether I'm walking clockwise or not for the rest of the day, for sure. How do you ensure that your guests feel both at home, comfortable, and also very immersed in the local culture? Like it seems like that's a delicate balance.

[00:15:33] Florence Li: Yeah. So in order to make our guests feel at home or feel comfortable, we tend to provide personalized service, like, address them by their name or always note down their preference. Like what are their favorite flowers and how do they like to do the turn down service, any special amenity we need to provide for them, or is there any particular anniversary or a special event for them? We tend to really note it down and then take special care of them. And then when you say that how to actually make the experience immersive, I think that's one of our advantage. So we tend to actually connect our guest with the local community by taking them to do handicrafts with local people in the remote Tibetan village, for example, black pottery making. So we always take our guests to go to a very remote village called the Nishi, to sit down with the local artisan and then make this black pottery in their house. And then while they came, they're making this handicraft, they can chat with the local artisan. And then after that, they can take souvenir back home. So it's a very immersive experience. We do offer like a Tibetan like dinner experience. And Nashi calligraphy experience. So it's a lot of option. 

[00:17:16] Susan Barry: Mm hmm. It sounds like it. We've reached the fortune telling portion of our show, so you have to predict the future and then we'll see if you were right. What is a prediction that you have about the future of luxury travel in remote cultural destinations? 

[00:17:35] Florence Li: Well it's a very good question. I think the trend for the future is people may be becoming more aware of their surroundings. And then when they choose where to travel, they tend to think about whether they can actually do something good or support the local community. So this is what I can see from the pattern of our guests. So it will not only be, Oh, I want to go to this place because it's beautiful. But also they think, Oh, if I go there, you know, am I going to do any contribution to this destination, to support the local community there? So that's why I'm going. And then I went and I spent time with them and I feel much happier. And then I feel like my life is more fulfilled because of my occasion there. 

[00:18:41] Susan Barry: Okay, if you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about international hospitality toward preserving cultural integrity, what would it be?

[00:18:53] Florence Li: Preserving cultural integrity, I think, everyone needs to do it, in their life. It's not like we travel to a certain place to do a certain thing, and then after we get back home, we only keep the memories, but we get back to our life. So suppose if I go to Tibet and I tried a special kind of mushroom, I think it's really nice. Why don't you just, take this recipe or take the dried mushroom back home, and then this recipe or this dish is going to be a part of your daily life in the future. Yeah, that's something beautiful. 

[00:19:44] Susan Barry: What is next for you and what's next for your company? 

[00:19:48] Florence Li: I always go with the flow. Yes. I think, uh, personally. So for our company, because we want to actually preserve the Himalayan culture and advocate the Himalayan culture. So perhaps we will develop some new hotels in Nepal as well in the coming future. 

[00:20:11] Susan Barry: Ooh, that's exciting. I hope it happens. Okay, folks, before we tell Florence goodbye, we are going to head down to the loading dock where all of the best stories get told.

Elevator voice announces, “Going down.” 

[00:20:27] Susan Barry: Florence, what is a story you would only tell on the loading dock? Um, 

[00:20:34] Florence Li: I think I realized that some some travelers or some guests, they travel to a particular destination for very small but unique things. So I remember when I was very young, I was in Shangri La in my family hotel.

There was a couple, they always come back in the same season every year. And then I thought, Okay, they just want to come back to visit the monastery or to try the food there. But when I actually talked to them, they say, No, that's not our main purpose. Like, they say that when they go out for walking, they find out a very beautiful, purple flower in the wild, they don't even know the name of it, but it's so beautiful and then it touched them so much.

So every year this couple, they come back to find or to see the same flower again. So that's the purpose of their traveling.

[00:21:39] Susan Barry: Oh, wow.

[00:21:40] Florence Li: Yeah, I think it's something, you know, very beautiful, very inspiring because you understand that even a very small thing like a wild flower can actually give you so much inspiration and then, you know, give you so much beautiful memory in your life.

[00:22:01] Susan Barry: I wish I had a picture of the flower that we could put in this show notes. Do you know what kind it is or is it a mystery to you too? 

[00:22:08] Florence Li: It's not a mystery because she, she showed me the photo of it. Yeah, I can, I can share the photo with you! 

[00:22:18] Susan Barry: Oh, I want to see it. Excellent. Florence Li, thank you so much for being here. I know that our listeners are all planning trips to China now, and I really appreciate you riding with us to the top floor.

[00:22:30] Florence Li: Thank you so much. 

[00:22:34] Susan Barry: Thanks so much for listening. You can find the show notes at topfloorpodcast.com/episode/165. Jonathan Albano is our editor, producer, and all around genius. He even wrote and performed our theme song with vocals by Cameron Albano. You can subscribe to Top Floor on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen. And your rating or review will go a long way in helping us give you more of what you like.  

[00:23:09] Narrator: Thanks for listening to the Top Floor Podcast at www.topfloorpodcast.com. Have a hospitality marketing question? Reach us at 850-404-9630 to be featured in a future episode.