Read the Latest Issue
HD MAGAZINE
Inspiration at your fingertips
Sign up for the latest edition of Hospitality Design magazine and HD's various newsletters
DIGITAL EDITION PRINT SUBSCRIPTION NEWSLETTERS
ARCHIVED ISSUES
HD EXPO + CONFERENCE
See you in 2025!
Save the date for the industry's leading event in Las Vegas, May 6–8th, 2025
HD EXPO + CONFERENCE
        • Projects
          • Development + Destinations
          • Boutique + Lifestyle
          • F+B
          • Hotels + Resorts
          • Retail + Commercial
          • Wellness + Sustainability
        • People
          • Interviews
          • Podcasts
          • Webinars
        • News
          • Business + People
          • Boutique + Lifestyle
          • Development + Destinations
          • F+B
          • Five on Friday
          • Hotels + Resorts
          • Retail + Commercial
          • Wellness + Sustainability
        • Products
          • Accesories + Art
          • Bath + Spa
          • Beds + Bedding
          • Flooring.
          • Furniture
          • Lighting
          • Outdoor
          • Roundups
          • Surfaces
          • Technology
          • Textiles
        • Videos
          • Awards + Events
          • BDNY
          • HD Expo + Conference
          • HDTV
          • Partner Spotlight
        • Awards + Events
          • HD Expo + Conference
          • BDNY
          • HD Awards
          • HD Summit
          • HD NextGen Forum
          • HD Platinum Circle Awards
          • HD CitySCENE
          • HD Wave of the Future
          • BD Forums
          • BD Match
          • Gold Key Awards
          • Senior Lifestyle Design Match
          • Event Photos
HD MAGAZINE
Inspiration at your fingertips
Sign up for the latest edition of Hospitality Design magazine and HD's various newsletters
DIGITAL EDITION PRINT SUBSCRIPTION NEWSLETTERS
ARCHIVED ISSUES
HD EXPO + CONFERENCE
See you in 2025!
Save the date for the industry's leading event in Las Vegas, May 6–8th, 2025
HD EXPO + CONFERENCE
Follow Along
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
M
POPULAR SEARCHES
PODCASTS
WEBINARS
FURNITURE
PROJECTS
VIDEO INTERVIEWS
INTERVIEWS
M
    
Search IconA magnifying glass icon.
  • News
    • Business + People
    • Boutique + Lifestyle
    • Development + Destinations
    • F+B
    • Five on Friday
    • Hotels + Resorts
    • Retail + Commercial
    • Wellness + Sustainability
  • Projects
    • Development + Destinations
    • Boutique + Lifestyle
    • F+B
    • Hotels + Resorts
    • Retail + Commercial
    • Wellness + Sustainability
  • People
    • Interviews
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars
  • Products
    • Accessories + Art
    • Bath + Spa
    • Beds + Bedding
    • Flooring
    • Furniture
    • Lighting
    • Outdoor
    • Roundups
    • Surfaces
    • Technology
    • Textiles
  • Awards + Events
    • HD Expo + Conference
    • BDNY
    • HD Awards
    • HD Summit
    • HD NextGen Forum
    • HD Platinum Circle Awards
    • HD CitySCENE
    • HD Wave of the Future
    • BD Forums
    • BD Match
    • Gold Key Awards
    • Event Photos
  • Videos
    • Awards + Events
    • BDNY
    • HD Expo + Conference
    • HDTV
    • Partner Spotlight
  • Subscribe
    • HD Newsletters
    • HD Magazine – Print
    • HD Magazine – Digital
    • BD Newsletters
    • BD Magazine
Read the Latest Issue

PEOPLE:

Interviews
May 30, 2017

Interview: Anchalika Kijkanakorn

Words by: Alia Akkam and Stacy Shoemaker Rauen
Renderings courtesy of Akaryn Hotel Group
Renderings courtesy of Akaryn Hotel Group
Anchalika Kijkanakorn
People:
Interviews
May 30, 2017

Interview: Anchalika Kijkanakorn

Words by: Alia Akkam and Stacy Shoemaker Rauen

Akaryn Hotel Group of course has a proper reservations department, but one afternoon, Anchalika Kijkanakorn, founder and managing director of the Bangkok-based portfolio of soon-to-be six small, luxe Southeast Asian resorts, responded to an email request directly. “Not that I do that all the time,” she says, “but I still like to be in touch with my customers and know what they want so that I can build the right hotels.”

Providing guests exactly what they desire reflects Kijkanakorn’s intuitive nature, which has steered her right since 2003, when she gave up a 10-year stint working for global financial giant GE Capital to transform her extended family’s vacation home into her first hotel, the Aleenta Hua Hin Resort & Spa on Thailand’s east coast, merely because she “wanted to create a place that I would personally like to go to.” Back then, when the big brands she sought out on business trips dominated the market, the concept of boutique or small luxury hotels wasn’t yet the norm in Thailand, she recalls. “I like to be part of the location, to feel like I’ve arrived at the place I’ve come to visit. I want to be part of the scene, yet I’m no longer 18 backpacking with a Europass and sleeping on the train,” she explains. Hotels should have “all the comforts that I deserve,” but also be private with unobtrusive service. “It should be there when I want it, and I should not see anybody when I don’t want to,” she explains.

That philosophy spawned the Aleenta, and a new definition of barefoot luxury in Asia, as well as a longtime collaboration with Paisarn Krusong of Bangkok’s Simple Space Design. The resort features whitewashed buildings crowned with thatched roofs and guestrooms that come with private plunge pools. “We were called the first boutique hotel in Thailand. Most of the people who heard about us didn’t know what to do because no one could believe that I would open something with 10 rooms,” she says. It’s now grown to 23 rooms, just as sister retreat Aleenta Phuket Resort & Spa, which debuted with 32, now has 69 suites and villas deftly integrating the outdoors. Of the three brands in her collection, Aleenta—meaning “reward of life” in Sanskrit—is the one Kijkanakorn says is closest to her heart. To her, these hotels are “places where you come and give yourself a little pat on the shoulder because you’ve done well.”

Kijkanakorn, who has served on the Small Luxury Hotels of the World board of directors for the past nine years, and recently as chairperson for four, has diversified her roster with the Akyra Manor Chiang Mai, an upbeat hotel with a rooftop bar and 30 suites gathered around a courtyard from Singapore-based Manor Group. Named after her son, Akyra translates to “source of light,” and so the brand showcases that energy. “It’s passionate, it’s strong, it’s striking, it’s active,” she points out. These getaways include the just-opened, 59-room Akyra Beach Club Phuket from Simple Space, featuring rich sapphire hues and Andaman Sea views. The forthcoming 148-room Akyra Thonglor Bangkok, slated for January 2018, reimagines serviced apartments in a building originally by Bangkok’s Begray Architects that will nod to the artsy, gallery-packed neighborhood where it is found.

If the colorful design schemes of Akyra strike a chord with Millennials, Akaryn—a tribute to Kijkanakorn’s other son that means “ray of light”—is a more introspective and Zen band, attracting mature, high-end travelers. Consider the palatial, 32-room President by Akaryn in Vientiane, Laos, opening this summer. Bangkok’s Pathree Design paired high ceilings with marble to recreate an elegant French Colonial atmosphere. Like she first did 14 years ago in Thailand, Kijkanakorn brings something bold to the burgeoning Laotian hospitality landscape: Vientiane’s first 5-Star, luxury oasis, where she says it’s easy to picture a dignitary staying. “The hotel is intricate and there is so much detail, work, and thought that has gone into the construction, with a lot of wood and stone carvings, and gilded elements.”

There is more growth ahead, with a hotel development in Vietnam on the boards, and interest in nearby locations like Myanmar and Cambodia. If a potential property doesn’t jive with the ethos of her brands, or the locale is too far for her to logistically operate from, Kijkanakorn will simply walk away. “A lot of times when I make a decision, it’s not what the numbers say—coming from a finance background, I can make any spreadsheet work the way I want it to—but what feels right in my gut” usually does prove to work, she explains.

With each property she opens, Kijkanakorn places a priority on the environment. That’s why she founded the Pure Blue Foundation in tandem with the inaugural Aleenta, tasking hotel teams with ecological improvement projects. For instance, she emphasizes the importance of clean beaches to drive up tourism and the economy. “If you tell people in a language they understand, then they start to listen,” she says of breaking the ice with neighbors. “We wanted to work with the local community to protect where we make a living and ensure that it continues to be there
for our kids to enjoy in the future. All the places that we go to are places that we fall in love with, and I don’t want to be a cause for them to deteriorate.”

Interviews

SHARE

em

ln

fb

pn

tw

← Previous Interview Next Interview →
People Interviews

Experimental Group Balances Innovation and Legacy

Jun 04, 2025

People Interviews

Marfa Becomes a Canvas During Art Blocks Weekend

May 21, 2025

HD MAGAZINE
hospitality design magazine august 2024 issue product marketplace

Inspiration at your fingertips

Get the newest issue of Hospitality Design magazine

DIGITAL EDITION

PRINT SUBSCRIPTION
ARCHIVED ISSUES
HD NEWSLETTERS

Join the list

Sign up for HD's various newsletters
for exclusive weekly content
SUBSCRIBE

BD MAGAZINE + NEWSLETTER

boutique design magazine fall 2024 issue

Sign up!

Don't miss the latest from Boutique Design

NEWSLETTER SIGN UP

SUBSCRIBE

ARCHIVED ISSUES

About | Contact | Buyers Guide | Advertise | Advisory Board | Sitemap

FOLLOW US ON

  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow

Subscribe

Emerald Logo
© 2025 Emerald X, LLC. All Rights Reserved
ABOUTCAREERSAUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERSYour Privacy ChoicesTERMS OF USEPRIVACY POLICY

Sign up to stay informed about our latest awards and events.

Follow Along
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow

Sign up to stay informed about our latest awards and events.

Follow Along
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow