In-conversation: Jack Widagdo, MD, Mandala Group Indonesia
“...Maybe you meet someone, a potential partner of life, or simply a new connection to share life’s wonderful stories”
Jack Widagdo has spent more than 24 years working in hospitality across Australia, China, Indonesia, and Thailand. He’s led teams and operations for brands such as Ritz-Carlton Reserve, Kempinski, Alila, Six Senses and Kimpton. In 2019, he won the General Manager of the Year Award presented by Hyatt for his leadership at Alila Anji, a remote resort in regional China.
In his latest role as the Managing Director of the Mandala Group in Indonesia, Jack now ventures beyond hotels to deliver luxury across diverse hospitality formats. Here, he outlines a compelling vision for member-only experiences that provide curated access to community and lifestyle. It’s hospitality that’s a little more amorphous, but can be as fine as the best hotels. Maybe more.
A sales pitch in high school that sparked a career in hotels.
“A sales lady working in a hotel school came to speak to our final grade in my last year of high school in Australia. She was very cool, smooth and polished. And of course, the pictures that they show of hotels in these sales presentations are always nice. Up on the TV screen, it all looked like living the dream. This was in the 90s.
It got my attention. That’s where it all started. Very simple reason.”
Leaving hotels behind, for now, to join Mandala Group.
“I’d spent eight years working in China. It had become the same drill every day. After Covid-19, I decided to go away and travel for 6 months. During my travels as far up to the Himalaya, I re-evaluated, and decided that I wanted to try something different. That’s when I found Mandala. It’s just different.
Mandala Group started as a members-only club in Singapore. The bread and butter is providing a good space for people to dine, connect, celebrate and play. It’s hospitality, but it’s not a hotel.
In Indonesia, we’re already a very diverse business. We have the villas, the beach club, and a soon-to-open members-only club.”
Creating differentiated and remarkable experiences.
“How would you define luxury? Unlike being in a public space, in our club you’ll only see people that you want to see. You get access to people that can help you with your business or next opportunity in life for example. The price of entry is a one-time joining fee and a monthly membership fee. I think that is luxury. Such a club doesn’t exist in Bali yet.
With our club in Singapore, what we do better than any other club is our programming. Every day or two there's constantly something for the members to look forward to. Let's say tonight it could be for an ex global MNC exec conducting a fireside chat. For members, it means you could meet someone outside your current network. Potentially people from the same industry. You’re giving them opportunities to interact - maybe you meet someone, a potential partner of life, or simply a new connection to share life's wonderful stories.
With our villas, luxury comes with small touches. For example, at Mandala the Rocks - we welcome guests with a ‘wet arrival experience’. You go down about 50 steps towards the ocean, and then out onto the rocks. To get to your villa, you have to get a little wet. Some people may not be comfortable taking their shoes off, but we tell them in advance about what to expect. We take them a little out of their comfort zone. It’s different. Guests find it interesting. That also creates a sense of luxury, not necessarily polished white gloves butler service.
The guest experience is also different. For example, at Mandala the Oasis & Mandala the Bay - we allow you to party at the villas. Our team will help the guests with the planning to make sure they have a great time, but at the same time don’t turn the villa into a mess. How many others would allow villas to be used for parties?”
Private member spaces as the future in hotels.
“These days, hotel brands do try to launch their own fan or a kind of membership program. Most of the time, it’s still not holistic. For many, membership can be confused with loyalty reward programes: example, share your email address, and you get free Wi-Fi, plus X, Y, or Z.
Some do it better though. Take Rosewood [in Hong Kong]. They have Carlyle & Co which is a venue that only paying Rosewood members can enter. That’s closer to what we do.
In Singapore, we reopened Mandarin Oriental’s business club lounge as a Mandala lounge. A typical hotel business club lounge is very boring. You see business people in suits pick up a newspaper, eat some cereal and watch some CNN on the TV. If you go to Mandarin Oriental’s club now, it’s very Mandala. Everything from the colour scheme to programming. Members can enjoy complimentary programs, such as wine tasting classes and other Mandala programming. It’s not just a facility.”
How technology can elevate hospitality.
“Technology can be used to automate more of our back-of-house systems, so we can operate with leaner finance, HR and engineering teams. Ideally, you automate everything from front-to-back so that you also require less manual reporting.
Technology can also help us to serve our guests better. You don’t want to replace the human factor, but maybe AI can enhance it. Let’s say you contact our butler from your villa, depending on who is on service that evening, there may be inconsistency in how they respond to you. Perhaps in the future - AI can help our staff to deliver more consistent service.
At the same time, hotels have started using AI with their customer support help desk, and guests are now faced with the same robotic response each time. I once conversed with a company where the help desk always finished their sentence with an angry exclamation mark! You don’t want that either.
Technology can also come in handy with sustainability. For example, can you educate the guest to take 5 minute showers instead of 10 minutes one? Perhaps each shower can be capped at 5 minutes, and you need to wait another 5 minutes before you can turn it back on. Initiative worth trying.”
The importance of getting owner buy-in with technology.
“At the end of the day, hospitality is not just people-driven, it’s also owner-driven. They have to see the benefits. You have to reduce the cost for the business, and ideally the cost of the technology itself. Perhaps [vendors should] charge a commission instead of a fixed fee so that it’s more affordable. If the owners believe in automation, this could be a very different industry in 10 years.”
