Mr. Vitavas Vibhagool is currently the CEO and member of the executive committee of Grande Asset Hotels & Property Public Company Limited. Concurrently, he also serves as the managing director of Royal Orchid Sheraton Public Company Limited.

Eventhough he was trained in architecture, Mr. Vitavas has held many finance roles in the past. After graduating from Chulalongkorn University, he continued his master’s degree in the US and spent many years working there. After the economic crisis hit Thailand in 1997, many businesses went under. During that crisis, Mr. Vitavas was also affected. However, being an extremely optimistic person, he managed to stay strong and eventually overcame the obstacles.

From 2006 to 2007 Mr. Vitavas successfully led the land purchase and, thereafter, construction of the PANO, a luxury condominium project by ChaoPraya River. From 2008 to 2009, along with Property Perfect and Thai Property, where he was the managing director, Mr. Vitavas was instrumental in the take-over of Grande Asset Hotels & Property.

Since the take-over, Grande Asset Hotels & Property under his leadership has transformed and emerged from the brink of collapsing into a financially healthy enterprise. Mr. Vitavas was crucial in negotiating with banks and financial institutions and restructured huge debts for the company. At the same time, the company had to manage the transformation in key aspects such as personnel, staff, cash flow, and key human resources management.

From 2018 to 2019, with full backing of the board, Mr. Vitavas almost single-handedly managed and successfully secured a take-over of Royal Orchid Sheraton, a 700-key hotel adjacent to Chaopraya River. This talk-of-the town takeover has transformed the company and enlarged the portfolio of hotels under ownership to more than 2,000 rooms.

As a keen real-estate developer, Mr. Vitavas has helped the company secure land plots in prime areas of Bangkok, whether in main Sukhumvit 11, Sukhumvit 59 and riverside land plots.

The key to his success is attributable to his keen sense that business relies not just individual companies, but also on him finding the right partners to joint-venture with. For example, Mr. Vitavas initiated a joint-venture partnership with Fraser Holdings from Singapore for the PANO condominium undertaking. Recently, he signed joint venture agreements with Sumitomo Forestry from Japan to develop high-end condominium projects in Bangkok’s CBD.

Under his leadership, Grande Asset Hotels & Property has successfully built Hyatt Regency Sukhumvit, a 3,000 million baht five-star hotel in the heart of Bangkok’s CBD, HYDE SUKHUMVIT 13, a 5,000 million baht 454- unit luxury condominium in Sukhumvit Soi 13, and HYDE SUKHUMVIT 11, a 4,000 million baht 476-unit condominium in Sukhumvit Soi 11. He also played key roles in listing Sheraton Hotels & Resort Hua Hin into the REIT in 2017.

Many of the designs and projects that were under his preview have received many accolades and awards, including Best Residential Project 2001-2003, Best Interior Design, and Best Mixed-Use Development Award.

An Interesting side of Mr. Vitavas Mr. Vitavas values friendship in business and in personal life. He is most well-liked among many respectable personalities. An architect by training, the entrepreneur loves and appreciates arts as reflected in various forms such as paintings and sculpture. He incorporates his love of art into various areas of real-estate development as well as hotel projects such as Hyatt Regency Sukhumvit, Hyde Sukhumvit 13, Hyde Sukhumvit 11, Hyde Heritage Thonglor. Furthermore, he maintains an open door policy in his office and is very much approachable by staff at all levels within the company.

Future Plans
Mr. Vitavas sets the vision of Grande Asset Hotels & Property to venture into hospitality and real-estate development. In the near future, he plans to launch hotel and mixed-use development projects near the Eastern Economic Corridor, a mega project to be connected with high-speed rail links, which is a key driver for Thailand’s growth.