Alma’s Herbert Laubichler-Pichler named Vietnam’s Best General Manager

A hospitality veteran with life-long experience making guests feel welcome at hotels and resorts in Asia and Europe has been recognized as “Vietnam’s Best General Manager” in the prestigious “Travel + Leisure Luxury Awards Asia Pacific 2024”.

Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, Hong Kong & Macau readers deemed Herbert Laubichler-Pichler, who has been at the helm of 30-hectare resort Alma for five years and worked and lived in Vietnam since 2008, the country’s best general manager. He received the accolade last night at an awards ceremony in Bangkok.

“Austria-born Herbert Laubichler-Pichler is the hospitality life-timer at the helm of Cam Ranh’s Alma―a 384-suite resort with 14 food and drink outlets and 12 beachfront swimming pools. Having worked across Vietnam’s best hotels for nearly 18 years, the industry veteran brings together leadership, vast experience, and local cultural familiarity to showcase Vietnamese hospitality at its finest,” Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, Hong Kong & Macau’s website states.

Laubichler-Pichler, who, in addition to Alma, has managed some of the country’s most acclaimed hotels including the Nam Hai in Danang, The Reverie Saigon and The Anam Cam Ranh, said he was thrilled to receive the recognition but wanted to share it with the resort’s “hugely supportive” owner and “exceptional” team at Alma.

“I am so thankful for the privilege to work with such a genuinely supportive owner and talented team of hospitality professionals at Alma, who tirelessly work day in and day out; our staff members are our greatest ambassadors and obviously play a crucial role in the guest experience,” he said

Born into a hotelier family, Laubichler-Pichler started out in the industry working at his parents’ guesthouse in his native Austria as a bellboy at 10 years of age during the summer season. He later studied hotel management at the Hotel and Catering College Schloss Klessheim and became a certified chef before steadily rising through the ranks to become the general manager at properties in Austria, Germany and Cyprus. He also studied an Executive MBA in Hotel and Tourism Management with Chur University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland.

Readers of Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, Hong Kong & Macau also voted Alma in the top five of the “Best Hotel Pools in Vietnam” category.

Alma is home to an awe-inspiring host of world-class facilities including 12 swimming pools that cascade down to the beach, an eclectic range of restaurants helmed by leading chefs, a science museum and a 6000sqm water park with a lazy river, wave pool and water slides.

Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia, Hong Kong & Macau said of the awards: “Taking in the hospitality industry in 15 countries and territories as well as the travel industry more broadly across Asia-Pacific, the Travel+Leisure Luxury Awards winners for 2024 reflect the ballots of you hotel guests, frequent fliers, cruise-lovers, points guys, and wellness junkies, and highlight the places and people that make for the best high-end wanderlust. With so many tried, trusted and true hotels getting your votes, and well as the slew of new openings in the region and ideas in luxury hospitality percolating out there, we’ve put together a special print edition: The Hotels Issue 2024.”

Alma Promotes Chefs Despite COVID-19’s Impact on Tourism

CAM RANH, Vietnam (December 18, 2020) – The Alma resort has appointed two executive sous chefs who bring more than two decades of hospitality experience to 14 restaurants and bars at the new 30-hectare beachfront property.

 Alma’s general manager Herbert Laubichler-Pichler this month named Mai Ly Huong and Francesco Conzattu as executive sous chefs at the five-star family resort overlooking Long Beach on Vietnam’s Cam Ranh peninsula.

 Born and bred in nearby Nha Trang, Huong received a Certificate of Cooking from Nha Trang’s Huong Duong Vocational Centre and started her career at Sheraton Nha Trang Hotel and Spa in 2012. She worked at Sheraton Seoul D Cube Hotel in South Korea, Aloft Al Ain in Abu Dhabi, JW Marriott Phu Quoc and Sun Aqua Iru Veli at the Maldives before joining Alma as a sous chef in September 2019.

Describing herself as “able to not only operate but thrive in a high-pressure and high-volume environment”, she said a priority in her new role was to continue developing her leadership skills to help her kitchen staff develop and realise their full potential. 

 Francesco, who was born in Sassari, Italy, decided he wanted to be a chef at a young age when he started helping his grandmother and mother cook. He completed a six-year full-time hospitality course with the Professional Institute for Hotel and Tourism IPSAR Sassari before launching a career in 2007 that has seen him steadily climb the ladder at leading hotels and restaurants in Italy, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Dubai. 

 He has worked for the likes of both Starwood’s Hotel Cervo in Porto Cervo and Leading Hotel of the World Hotel La Perla in Corvara, both in his native Italy, as well as the Cavalli Club, Restaurant and Lounge in Dubai. He was chef de cuisine at Italian restaurant Armani Deli at Armani Hotel, housed in the world’s tallest skyscraper Burj Khalifa, before his appointment at Alma as chef de cuisine at Alma in September 2019. 

 Francesco, who describes himself as “self-motivated, hands-on team player”, said he wished to “keep learning and growing” in his new role, including learning everything required to oversee the culinary operation of the resort and support the entire F&B team.

 Bold, spacious and emblematic of Vietnam’s maturation as a destination, the independently owned and operated Alma features 580 oversized suites and pavilions, 14 food and beverage outlets, and a cascade of 12 beachfront swimming pools. Other drawing cards include a science museum, 6000 square metre waterpark, 13-treatment room spa, art gallery, cinema, convention centre, amphitheatre, youth centre with virtual games, kid’s club, water sports centre, gymnasium and yoga room and an 18-hole putting green.

Alma is a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts. To contact Alma or to make a booking, please visit www.alma-resort.com or email info@alma-resort.com

-ENDS-

About Alma 

Situated on Vietnam’s emerging Cam Ranh peninsula fronting Long Beach, Alma resort commands some 30 hectares of inspiring ground. Emblematic of Vietnam's maturation as a destination, the bold and spacious integrated resort offers 580 oversized suites and pavilions that all afford sweeping vistas of the ocean, including contemporary three bedroom oceanfront pavilions each totalling 224sqm with a living room, four bathrooms and a private pool. Alma features a broad spectrum of restaurants helmed by top chefs, a food court with an array of local and international cuisine, as well as a sports bar, pool bar and beach bar. Other highlights include 12 swimming pools cascading down to the beach, a waterpark, 13-treatment room spa, 70-seat cinema, convention centre, amphitheater, art gallery, science museum, gymnasium and yoga room, 18-hole mini golf course, a youth centre with virtual reality games, a kid’s club, water sports centre and even an 'Alma Mart' mini supermarket