GM Rodan Ivan, Wyndham Hua Hin Pranburi Resort & Villas: Building on the popularity of both destination and resort concept

Wyndam hotelier Rodan Ivan feature: The brand was awarded in the summer of 2023 to run the operations of the formerly established seaside resort Blue Lotus Hua Hin in Pranburi, Thailand (previously also under Evason Hua Hin by Six Senses). This means that the resort is now with a brand that avoids complicated rebranding exercises, but focuses on the respective property’s – here ingrained – characteristics. As a property, Wyndham Hua Hin Pranburi Resort & Villas continues to thrive at the back of many years in operations, and thus by now boasting amazing gardens and vegetation within its large premises. Coinciding with a visit, this also gave Happy Hour Asia the opportunity to get better clarity for our readers concerning the somewhat seemingly complex web of companies within the Wyndham group, now when Travel + Leisure Co. a brand known to many of us as the very established travel magazine (with the same name), has started managing the resort. General Manager Rodan Ivan is all smiles as he welcomes me to Wyndham in Pranburi, south of Hua Hin – one of Thailand’s most well-known and visited destinations.

Wyndham belongs to the upscale brands within Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. It is also part of the Wyndham Rewards loyalty programme (enabling its 95 million enrolled members the opportunity to redeem points at thousands of hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally.) Then, there is the aforementioned Wyndham Destinations (which has rebranded to Travel + Leisure Co. recently) – the world’s largest vacation ownership company (of which the Asia Pacific is a division, managing hotels in Indonesia, Thailand and more).

Resort walkway, Wyndham Hua Hin Pranburi

Travel + Leisure Co. is the management company for Wyndham Hua Hin (as well as many other Wyndham Hotels & Resorts properties in Indonesia and Thailand).

To explain the setup further Rodan explains: “Wyndham Hua Hin Pranburi Resort & Villas is under the Wyndham Hotels & Resorts umbrella, which is part of the second biggest hotel company chain in the world, with 10,000 hotels. But aside from that brand, we are also part of Club Wyndham Asia, a timeshare program, as an Associate Resort. In Club Wyndham Asia, you need to buy the shares as a vacation club member, that lasts until year 2040. But the Wyndham Rewards programme meanwhile has no expiry date.”

“In Thailand there are over 26 properties managed by Wyndham, or Ramada by Wyndham hotels,” he adds. Among previous hotels Rodan was the general manager for was Wyndham Garden Hoi An in Vietnam.

Hotelier Rodan Ivan

Well-travelled Wyndam hotelier Rodan Ivan

In terms of Asian experience, Rodan started out with a job at InterContinental Bangkok and was in the opening team of Holiday Inn Bangkok. His background is in food and beverage.

“But while in Asia, I started to be involved in learning everything; such as sales and marketing, revenue management, front office…back of the house… so wherever I went I liked to take the F&B further and improve things to a higher level. I like to help the owners in making sure that the profitability is good and to bring also new ideas to the table.”

Born in former Czechoslovakia, the hotelier says that he is well-travelled, having visited over 90 countries so far.

“I moved to the U.S. to work on the cruise lines, and I know that market very well. The longest time I worked was in Chicago for The Palmer House – Hilton. Then I returned to Europe and became part of the opening team for Four Seasons Prague – one of the famous hotels in Central Europe today,” recalls the General Manager.

After that he held various F&B and executive roles in Asia, mostly in Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar. “Those various Asia experiences are very important because I could compare various lifestyles and costs of living. I like the Buddhist way of life; for me it works very smoothly to implement any innovations and those operational changes as a result of Wyndham taking over.”

Bicycling kids, Wyndham guests

Activities in seaside nature

Wyndham is a hotel chain well-known for providing guests with comfortable and easy stays by offering thoughtfully designed rooms, convenient features, and great amenities.

Wyndham Hua Hin Pranburi Resort & Villas features an incredible array of facilities, including four tennis courts with lighting for play at evening; four courts for North American pastime pickleball; a skate park; archery range; beach volleyball courts; fitness room; children’s club and meeting rooms. The jewel in the resort’s crown is a massive lagoon pool of more than 1,250 square metres in area and with a 47-metre lap lane.

“The pool is a big selling point and favourite spot for the kids, couples… and especially families love our resort with direct ocean views and so we are very family friendly; we have so many of those activities, including at the dedicated kids’ club,” notes Rodan.

“It has always been an experience for weekends in nature when it comes to Bangkok as a feed market, but we like to expand and for Wyndham this is an excellent location and convenient access to the Thai market. This also promotes Club Wyndham Asia, so it’s a very strategic resort in itself. And it’s important for our operations that we really can fill up the resort during weekends from that huge Bangkok market and also international travellers.”

Wyndham Pranburi pool

“We are also working with the local tourism association to really promote this area as a destination; especially after Covid – during which locals could still travel within Thailand and could come here and enjoy the many activities on offer. People from Bangkok love sports and to be able to relax away from the busy city life. So, our sports activities and wellness and spa are very important for our resort and that is in the direction we’d like to go.”

Wyndham Hua Hin Pranburi Resort & Villas offers a weekly schedule with free daily resort activities, including wellness such as yoga, karaoke or another classes. A big bonus for guests are benefits such as free bicycles to go for a ride in the beautiful and serene surroundings.

“And each day one of the departments organise free afternoon classes; such as cocktail class with F&B, pizza classes with the kitchen, or Thai dance class hosted by our front office team.”

Wyndam hotelier Rodan Ivan looks to welcome more guests from overseas

On the branding, Rodan comments: “Generally, under Wyndham Hotels & Resorts umbrella, there are 26 sub brands. But it’s about the ease of travel: giving easy access for the guests to everything. We don’t like to implement any complicated things, but still provide that premium comfort in the nature. Wyndham gives us free hands to source local products and collaborate with the locals. We support in that way and for sustainability we follow the program Wyndham Green – which is very challenging, and not easy. We are in level number one and applying for level two, so we have a green team in the resort, consisting of various staff members. They are all involved in those changes and the implementation, such as saving water and energy and of course educating the local people how to save. So, there are many interesting things in what we do.”

Resort bungalow surrounded by lush vegetation at Wyndham Hua Hin Pranburi Resort & Villas

“Of course, during the takeover there are lots of branding changes, where we follow the standards that we have. And these are easily accessible online, where I cooperate with my Cluster GM, Dominic Egger at Wyndham Grand Phuket Kalim Bay. We always have something to improve, and I must say that the cooperation is fantastic because we can share all the information with other teams in Asia. It is a huge corporation and in that regard it’s easy to coordinate; everything is online, such as the brand standards, and where we can educate ourselves.”

“And if we need any help, we can even contact the headquarters in Singapore or New York! There is always someone there to assist – which I feel is fantastic about this hospitality company. Communication is easy concerning everything from marketing and sales to the booking and technical support,” he adds.

As the manager, he continues to build the all-year-round business, including the volume of guests staying also during weekdays – usually guests from overseas coming to the area on vacation.

“We are promoting towards the wholesale market, for travel agents from worldwide and towards DMCs targeting especially European, Southeast Asian and Australian markets with many repeating guests from Germany and Scandinavia. This property was already very well known in the German market in the past as an all-inclusive resort, and Germans love this style of nature with coconut and pineapple plantations that dominate in Pranburi.”