Can you introduce One Thousand Island Lake as a touristic destination ?

Qiandao Lake is a quiet town of 100,000 souls located in Zhejiang province within 2 hours drive away from Hangzhou and 4.5 hours from Shanghai.

There you can find real nature, pine forests and dramatic views over the 570 square kilometers lake scattered with thousands of micro islands.

Lake water is very pure, speaking of which Nongfu bottled water comes from Qiandao Lake and a local crafted beer – Cheer Day – is produced with the Lake water.

You can discover here Qiandaohu fine cuisine which is pretty different from Shanghaienese and Cantonese cuisine. With fishes weighing over 20 kilograms, fish head is a very popular dish. 

What are the main attractions offered by InterContinental One Thousand Island Lake resort ?

InterContinentalOneThousandIslandLakeresort is a destination by itself. Surrounded by wild nature, the resort is the perfect destination for a quiet retreat. With five stores only, the hotel is part of the natural site.

Located on a peninsula half an hour away from the city our resort is nested right between the lake and pine forests. Without any direct neighborhood, you access the hotel through a private path in border of the lake.

With fireplaces and exposed wooden rafters, the place resembles to a luxurious lodge.

Far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, our hotel is very adapted to brainstorming activities as well as team building sessions. With an overall meeting capacity of 1500 sqm, including two ballrooms and four breakout rooms, the hotel can cater for 100 to 150 guests residential meetings.

We recently hosted a group who organized a pretty innovative team building session during which the participants had to handcraft cockleshell boats and to race around the lake.

You can also enjoy a great number of on-site activities such as yachting, fishing, golf and even scuba diving to explore villages immersed under 90 meters depth.

For gourmets our hotel features an all-day dining restaurant and a Chinese restaurant serving products from local farms, fish from the lake as well as vegetables grown in the hotel dedicated kitchen garden.

Can you describe your role as GM of the hotel?

I came on board in June 2010 and the hotel opened at the end of April 2011 almost a year after my on boarding.

Before the pre-opening period, my role was to build a consistent team, to participate to the hotel design and to define actions to place the property on the market.

Today four months after the grand opening, as a general manager my role is to keep an eye on the daily operations and to ensure the hotel profitability. I have also to make sure that the quality of service matches InterContinental brand international standards, and to train our 350 employees.

Being a westerner, what are the main challenges you face in China?

After living inChinafor almost two years and half, the main challenge for me is Chinese language.

I have worked in several countries all around Asia, Europe and North America and I consider that speaking the local language is the straightest way to communicate with everyone – customers and employees – all the more that I am the only westerner out of a 350 persons team!

What is your best memory as the GM of InterContinental One Thousand Island Lake Resort?

Just before the hotel opening, we planned an outing event with my team. We decided to go fishing and rented boats to a local fisherman.

Upon our arrival, we discovered that the man had prepared a delicious lunch for all of us. This was totally unexpected and we shared an unforgettable moment.

I feel that local people are very proud of the ongoing development of the area, and the focus on tourism carries a lot of hopes for the future, which is very much encouraging.