A year on from Pan Pacific’s London Launch: An interview with Anne Golden

Anne Golden

General Manager, Pan Pacific London

inVOYAGE: Firstly, thank you for taking the time to speak with us today! It’s been just over a year now since you launched your first European hotel here in the heart of London. Could you tell us a bit more about this? What was your experience setting up in London and what were the biggest challenges?

Anne Golden: With London being one of the most competitive markets for luxury hotels in the world, it was very important pre-opening that our marketing and sales strategy stood out in some way. We had to ask ourselves “why” do we want to open yet another luxury hotel here?  Our answer: to bring a touch of Singapore to London – something that has not been done before. We wanted guests from South East Asia to be able to stay with us and feel a nostalgia of being at home whilst inspiring those who have never been there to try something new. This gave us a purpose and a target to aim for and we could really start building on that excitement.

In terms of challenges, we were of course impacted by the industry-wide staffing shortages and the supply chain crisis of 2020/2021 but, for us, one of the difficulties as a team was that Pan Pacific London was a new brand to Europe and London, so we have had to work that much harder to earn our place as a luxury offering in the market. 18 months in and we are delighted to have been awarded FORBES Five Star for 2022 and 2023 and Hotel of the Year 2022 and 2023 by AA Hospitality.

inVOYAGE: Congratulations! That’s brilliant news and very well deserved.

Now, I know Pan Pacific is very much guided by their core values and brand philosophy, but can you give us a bit more of a sense of this? What are the brand values here at Pan Pacific London?

Anne Golden: For us bringing hospitality to heart of house, and not just to front of house is very important.  When recruiting, we are very vocal about hiring people with attributes of kindness, humility, passion and attention to detail.  We strive to have a very strong culture of forgiveness and nurturing talent, allowing people to make their own mistakes so they can learn. All of these things build a family sprit and a strong genuine culture. When your heart of house is healthy, you have great guest engagement and people feel they are loved. This is key.

inVOYAGE: That’s great to hear! Anne, you spoke earlier about this feeling of nostalgia and a home away from home. Can you tell us how you’ve gone about providing that here in London?

Anne Golden: A great question, thank you. The way we’ve done this is through individual touch points and applying a lot of attention to the smaller details in life that most remind us of home.

Luxury brand Dyptique, for example chose a fragrance for us which stems from their humble beginnings as a brand and pays homage to our hotel as a new face emerging into the market. The scent is “Philosykis – an ode to the fig tree: focusing on the green freshness of the leaves, the milky flavour of the figs, and the density of the white wood. Our guests absolutely love it! It’s become the hotel’s scent and you can find it in the bathroom amenities in all 237 rooms and suites.

Our accommodation décor are reminiscent of the United Kingdom and South East Asia, designed to evoke the charm and serenity of English and Asian gardens, using layers of colour, artistic imagery and texture. In-room and suite books reflect both cultures and any stay in one of our rooms or suites is made to feel exceptionally cosy and residential. We have chosen one of the world’s best mattress brands for a good night’s sleep, guests love it and have described the experience as sleeping on a giant marshmallow.

Our floor to ceiling glass windows have allowed us to achieve a sense of place with the backdrop of twinkling city lights at night, and warm tones of sunrise – bringing the city to life in the morning and providing a real home from home setting.

inVOYAGE: Now that you’ve set up here in London, what would you say was the biggest consideration in opening a new icon in a city like London?

Anne Golden: You need to ask yourself the question why, which will give you your blueprint to make yourself relevant. It will also give you purpose.  You need to be able to offer something that a guest cannot get anywhere else, to make a difference.  Bottom line, keep things simple, but what you do, do it well.

inVOYAGE: Could you tell us a bit more about your F&B Culture?

Anne Golden: We are weaving a story with our food and drinks offering, bringing a slice of Singapore to London. Our gorgeous patisserie on the Plaza is called SHIOK! which is Singlish for something you would describe as being awesome or amazing. It’s a playful take on modern Singapore.  Dazzling confections include Moorish chocolate bonbons; a Chinese Red Lantern flavoured with jasmine, pear and black sesame; Pineapple Honeybee Madeleine and Pistachio Choux – to name just a few.

The Orchid Lounge offers traditional afternoon tea with a twist. Come here and you can enjoy Kopi Tiam Afternoon Tea with its authentic South Eastern flavour. Exquisite patisserie, steamed buns and dumplings alongside other Southeast Asian flavours pay homage to the hotel’s Singaporean roots.

Straits Kitchen, our signature restaurant offers a taste of home beloved by all nationalities. With stories behind heritage dishes of family recipes passed down from one generation to the next, this combined with touches like oshibori towels makes the dining experience engaging and compelling.

inVOYAGE: What can you tell us about the event spaces you have here at Pan Pacific London?

Anne Golden: Our Pacific Ballroom has become firmly cemented into the event circuit having hosted a myriad of diverse events from weddings and Bat Mitzvah, to awards ceremonies and live astronaut feeds into the international space station. At Meeting Place, five versatile meeting rooms make up a single floor and guests are transported back to the early years of London with all meeting rooms and break out space named after the coaching inns that once graced Bishopsgate in the mid-1400s. Market Square is a little less formal and is a relaxed creative meeting space consisting of four meeting rooms named after local London markets within the Market Mile.  

inVOYAGE: What a lovely touch! Well, Anne – thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us, we’re certainly excited to see your property in person and we look forward to seeing you in Oman later this year!