Rising Sun Residence

by Rungtip Hongjakpet Izmen

Wipa Tanmanatragul, Assistant Managing Director of the Rising Sun Residence

It’s hard to pin down what part of Thailand Wipa Tanmanatragul is from – she has spent so much of her life moving from one part of Thailand to another, first as her parents moved from place to place, and then later as the wife of a hotelier, following her husband from one hotel to another. But she and husband Methee are now settled in Phuket where she runs the couple’s Rising Sun Residence, an estate with up-market villas for holiday rent.

Here she talks with Phuket.Com about what makes Rising Sun Residence different, and special.

Farewell to nursing

Rising Sun Residence lobby/reception

After years of moving around with her parents, Wipa Tanmanatragul did manage to settle down for a while, in Australia, where she trained as a nurse, after which she spent 10 years working in hospitals. But then she met Methee Tanmanatragul, a well-know Thai hotelier and businessman with more than 30 years’ experience in the hotel industry. They married and she stopped work as a nurse and has never gone back to it.
Khun Methee managed a succession of hotels in Bangkok and Phuket. He was an early GM of the Phuket Arcadia Resort, now the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa. He also served with many reputable industry organizations such as the Phuket Tourism Association and Skal International Phuket. “I find that being a nurse and hotel staff are similar in a way, because you have to have a service mind to do either one well,” Khun Wipa says. “So for me to run Rising Sun Residence was not a totally new thing.”
She also grew up in a family who liked to entertain people. When she was young, her parents often had guests over for dinner and she always helped her mother in the kitchen. “I learned the art of entertaining people from that and also from my host family in Australia,” she says.

Out and about

PIWC scholarship

Khun Wipa is not and never has been a full-time housewife. She has always found herself doing things either for friends or charity. She used to be a guest lecturer on hotels and tourism at a local university. At one time, she was president of the Phuket International Women’s Club (PIWC) and she is still an active member. The PIWC was founded in 1989 and raises funds for grants to Phuket students who cannot afford school tuition fees and such.
“I have a daughter who is studying in university in Bangkok. Now the 20 or so staff [at Rising Sun Residence] are like family to me. Some of them have been here since we first opened. We have been through a lot together.”
Some of them had previous hotel experience, but many did not. “When I interview potential staff, I always look for attitude first. If the person has the right attitude but does not have industry knowledge, it really doesn’t matter. We hire them anyway and fill them with the knowledge later. It’s always better that way.” says Khun Wipa.

Hard times

Rising Sun Residences flowers

Originally, 10 years ago, the villas at Rising Sun Residence were built for sale. But things did not go according to plan. At that time the demand was all for homes on the west coast of the island. Rising Sun Residence, as its name suggests, faces the other way. So Khun Methee and Khun Wipa switched to Plan B – rentals rather than sales. The first guests checked in in November 2004. A month later the business was hit again, this time by the disastrous Boxing Day tsunami.

“We did not give up. My husband has been in the industry for long time. He has seen a lot of ups and downs. He has knowledge and also vision. When we started the holiday villa concept, we had set a goal and we pursued it without losing the focus. It keeps us running toward the direction we always wanted, I guess.”
Business was flat until March 2005, when it started to pick up again, though slowly. During the hard times Khun Wipa and her team spent time coming up with new marketing ideas and plans, including an introductory promotion package. They also worked on improving Rising Sun Residence’s website. “We never stopped. We just kept on working,” she says.

Hands-on owners

Tom Yam Koung - Thai spicy shrimp soup

Khun Wipa and Khun Methee want their guests to get the best possible value for money. They ensure that every guest is met on arrival by one of them or by or the estate manager. They also check guests’ need every day, and make sure the whole team knows about these needs and meets them.
“The way we work here is very flexible,” Khun Wipa explains. “Everyone in the team has to be able to do two jobs or more. Our housekeepers also cook breakfast for the guests in their villas every morning. Our head chef also helps me teach our Thai cooking classes. I think what we are doing here is new. We are trying to offer something at a much more personal level than one can get staying in a hotel.”

Unique personal touch

Ingredients selection - Khun Wipa & guests

“I set up a cooking class for guests who want to learn how to cook Thai food. It is called ‘Wipa’s Thai Cuisine’. Part of the class involves going shopping at a nearby morning market for fresh ingredients to use in the class. After they learn to cook the dishes, the guest can enjoy the food they have made,” Khun Wipa smiles.
There are no Western dishes on the Rising Sun Residence menu. Khun Wipa explains that this is because her guests prefer to eat Thai food; they do not want to eat the same dishes they can get at home. “During their stay, if they feel like eating something other than Thai food, we simply organize a booking for them at the restaurant of their choice. Phuket has such a wide variety of good restaurants. With our car service, guest are not stuck in one place for the whole holiday.”

To the limit

Villa living room

“We are doing what we can – sometimes we even go beyond guests’ requests. But there are certain things that we cannot do and we have to be fair and tell customers about these before they make a booking with us. For example, we cannot supply a maid to stay in a guest’s villa around the clock. If we can not meet a requirement, we do at the very least offer advice. On the maid issue, we would suggest that they bring a maid with them. We can prepare a proper room – the space is already there in each villa. That’s is not a problem; we just need to set up a bedroom. But at the moment we just cannot produce a maid who speaks good English and can be on call 24 hours a day. Not just yet,” says Khun Wipa.

An easy sell

Villas one bedroom

Khun Methee’s long experience in the hotel industry is paying off for the couple. He has good connections everywhere, and introducing Rising Sun Residence to the holiday villas market has not been difficult for him. “We have guests from everywhere,” Khun Wipa says. “We have many Singaporeans staying with us, along with expatriates living and working in Singapore. At the moment, we seem to be getting more and more honeymooners from South Korea. Our estate is a place where family and friends get together. We have many successful young executives who came to relax and have a good time with their friends.
“Soon some customers from Denmark will be arriving – this will be their fourth stay with us and they will celebrate the anniversary of their long and happy marriage here. This time they have booked more villas for friends and family too. These are the kind of guests we are getting.
“I think we are probably the only holiday villa estate in Phuket that is run with such dedication by the owners. As I said, this has created a more personal holiday for guests.”