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Manfred Weber, the Man Who Climbs Upward

When Manfred Weber was growing up, he wanted to become a professional mountain climber. Born in Austria, he enjoyed the Alps, the challenge and exhilaration of scaling rock faces to get to the top. His life direction was anchored when his father told him to stop dreaming and to do something real. One of Weber’s friends was connected to a hotel management school so he enrolled. Ever since then, Weber’s continued to advance and climb upward in the hospitality industry.

Weber likes his line of work, because he gets to work with people and he gets to see the world. He managed hotels in Europe, the Middle East, and Korea before coming to China for the first time, seven years ago. In his first China assignment, Weber managed the Peninsula Hotel in Beijing. After five years, an opportunity to join The Ritz Carlton came when he was offered the chance to manage the Portman Ritz Carlton in Shanghai. After two years there, he was tapped as the general manager for the new Ritz Carlton’s Beijing CBD hotel.

When Weber returned to Beijing in December 2006, the hotel site was but a concrete shell. In a year he saw the hotel painstakingly, yet rapidly, come together, block by block. “It's like birthing a baby,” he said. Since then, Weber has also met and interviewed each person who will work in the hotel. He describes his main job as keeping his staff motivated to do their jobs well. He says the hotel cares for its employees: “If we took the time to carefully select them, we must also take the time to care for them.” 

When Weber talks about his work, his enthusiasm and passion comes through. The motto of The Ritz Carlton is “We are Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen;" so Weber approaches his staff as such. He talks about how the new hotel’s ladies and gentlemen are always on the lookout for ways to enhance the experience of their guests. Weber strongly believes the essence of good service lies in their ability to anticipate what the guests might need or want before they even ask for them. 

Weber likes working in China and finds his staff to be fast learners and highly adaptable. He also finds them earnest and straightforward. He fondly recalls a story to make his point: Weber was doing his normal walk around the hotel when he spotted a banquet server with white socks. The socks contrasted sharply against the dark uniforms so Weber quickly asked the server to change into dark socks. When Weber returned later, he saw the server off to the side, finishing colouring his white socks with black markers. “I am sorry, Mr. Weber,” the server said sheepishly, “I forgot my black socks today.”

The hotel never closes and has a life of its own, so Weber must make a conscious effort to go home and rest. When he leaves, he reflects on the day, and quite often, he can go home feeling the satisfaction of having helped someone. Once at home, Weber relaxes and enjoys being served by others. When he gets the chance, he and his wife like to cook for friends, and bake a family favourite: apple strudel. Weber still likes to climb mountains and hopes to make it out to Tibet soon. However, he knows, as the GM of a new hotel in the Olympic city, this will have to wait until after the 2008 Olympic Games.