ER
ADRIAN Zecha, one of the world’s most respected hoteliers and the founder of Azerai Resorts, recently visited the boutique hotel brand’s two properties in Vietnam ahead of the five-year anniversary of Azerai Ke Ga Bay’s grand opening.
Now 92, Zecha said people routinely ask him when he plans to retire. “I can’t sit there and do nothing,” he said. “I mean, come on, it’s crazy,” he added with a laugh.
“I feel that my new journey is just beginning. There’s so much to do,” Zecha said. “God gives your life, you should use it.”
Strolling through the ginger forest at Azerai Ke Ga Bay, the 56-key all-suites-and-villas beachfront resort in southern Vietnam, and gazing out over its 5-kilometer stretch of sand, Zecha said that embracing nature and local culture are two hallmarks of the Azerai brand.
“Nature brings me tranquility and peace, supporting my quest to explore new destinations,” he said.
Zecha, who previously founded the luxury hotel brand Aman Resorts in 1988, was joined at Azerai Ke Ga Bay by his longtime Australian-American business partner Jonathan Breene. The two co-founded Mahaman, which owns Azerai Resorts and develops other ultra-luxury residential and boutique hotel properties around Asia and beyond.
Breene, who first met Zecha in 1998, said he has long admired Zecha’s ability to identify elements of luxury hospitality or a site’s location that will most strongly resonate with guests. There’s no “set formula” for what defines an Azerai property.
Azerai Ke Ga Bay, an elegant and secluded oceanfront escape, opened in 2020 as a counterpoint to the brand’s other property, the historic 122-room Azerai La Residence, Hue, set in the bustling former imperial capital of Vietnam.
“I found it nice, the difference between the two properties. I liked both. I thought: Why not do two?” Zecha said when asked about the genesis of Azerai Ke Ga Bay.
Zecha has long been praised as a visionary in international luxury hospitality, spotting trends early and executing his vision with passion. For his part, however, Zecha credits the people around him over the years, including those at Azerai, for helping to enable his success.
“I lead fantastic people who will continue these legacies, and I’m delighted to be working with them,” Zecha concluded. [sources/photo special]
