Trends In Luxury Hospitality: Andreas Bergel of Hotel Indigo Bali Seminyak Beach On Future Trends Of the World’s Most Luxurious and Unique Hotels

The hospitality industry is continually evolving, with luxurious and unique hotels setting new standards in comfort, design, and guest experiences. From cutting-edge technology to eco-friendly practices, these hotels are at the forefront of innovation. What trends will shape the future of the world’s most luxurious and unique hotels, and how are they preparing to meet the demands of tomorrow’s travelers? As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Andreas Bergel.

Andreas Bergel is Area General Manager for IHG Hotels & Resorts in Indonesia and General Manager of Hotel Indigo Bali Seminyak Beach. His career began through hospitality studies and hands-on apprenticeship at Raffles Vier Jahreszeiten and Park Hyatt Hamburg. He later spent almost a decade in Dubai, progressing from managing two hotel bars to overseeing food and beverage operations across large luxury resorts. At Madinat Jumeirah, this meant working within a complex of three hotels, 890 rooms, 35 dining venues and more than 1,400 colleagues. In 2013, Andreas moved to Bali to join W Bali–Seminyak. Over the following eight years, he advanced from Director of Food and Beverage to Hotel Manager and interim General Manager, while helping establish the hotel as a leading destination for dining, music and sunset experiences. Since joining Hotel Indigo Bali Seminyak Beach as General Manager in 2022, he has focused on connecting strong hotel performance with a clear sense of place. His interest lies in how restaurants, design, local stories and everyday service details can make a hotel feel part of its neighbourhood rather than separate from it. Appointed Area General Manager for Indonesia in 2024, Andreas now supports a wider portfolio while remaining closely involved in hotel operations.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! To start, can you share a bit about your early background and how it influenced your journey into the luxury hospitality industry?

I often joke that I never really had a chance to escape hospitality. My family has been in hospitality for four generations, so some of my earliest memories involve bar counters whilst even using beer crates to reach the top, summer and Christmas markets and rooms buzzing with people who want to enjoy their evening. That was a normal weekend with family and their friends. With 18 years it was clear, no more Algebra but instead a hospitality school. I was given the chance to study English abroad and then, like many people in our industry, I didn’t start with a suit in an office in my first hotel. I started as an apprentice where everyone should start, learning the operation. My first official task was in a hot and steaming pot wash station just before carrying luggage and cleaning rooms for months. Those experiences were humbling and give me until now enormous respect for every single staff member and their duties inside a hotel.

What inspired you to pursue a career in this field, and can you share the story behind your decision?

There was no defining moment, it happened gradually and at some point it became the only logical choice to make a hobby my career. I think “devotion” is a good word here as I realized early enough that I enjoyed making people happy to a point that you care more about other than my own interests. Later I realized that hospitality combines business, psychology, creativity, flexibility, operations, leadership and culture. There are very few industries where all those elements collide every single day. My first real passion was Food & Beverage. I’ve always loved bars & restaurants because they’re like theatre. Every evening the curtain goes up and you are on stage. Hundreds of little things need to come together perfectly yet every service is slightly different. You can have the best planning in the world, but sooner or later somebody does something unexpected and you need to deal with it. It never got boring so far.

What’s the most intriguing or memorable experience you’ve had since starting your career?

At first thought it would be the private events with celebrities from Music and TV. Include the room service especially during many concert after shows… but on second thought, it was definitely the pandemic period being in South East Asia. Like everyone in hospitality, we spent almost two years writing reopening plans, only to realize that these plans had roughly the lifespan of fresh milk. The real deeply rooted experiences were interpersonal. Hotels are emotional places. They work with people and they only work when people feel optimistic, energetic and genuinely happy. During COVID, our teams had every reason to feel uncertain about their own family future, yet every day they still came to work, supported each other and showed strength and resilience like I have never seen before. During these 2 long years I had many personal lessons but this experience also changed my understanding of leadership. A glass can be half full or half empty when it needs to be and sometimes even a leader does not have an answer but can provide calmness and confidence.

As a successful leader in the industry, which three character traits have been key to your success?

Curiosity: It has probably contributed more to my career than any management course I’ve attended. Even today, I make a point of walking the hotel every day. It’s not because I don’t trust reports, they communicate through people and experiences. You notice a different playlist in a restaurant, a guest waiting a little longer for their coffee, or a barista who suddenly carries themselves with more confidence after weeks of coaching. Those small observations often tell me far more than KPI reports. Curiosity has also shaped my relationship with Indonesia. One of my favourite ways to explore is on a motorcycle, riding through villages, stopping at small local restaurants, joking around with locals, and discovering places most tourists never see. Those experiences have taught me more about the country’s culture than any guidebook, TikTok or IG video ever could. You can’t create authentic hospitality unless you genuinely understand the community and destination you’re part of.

Humility: Is just as important. Hotels have a wonderful way of reminding you that titles don’t make beds, prepare breakfast or welcome guests, People do. Because I began my career in tough operational roles, I’ve never believed that any task is beneath a General Manager. I’m not suggesting every GM should jump behind the counter and check in guests, -this usually ends badly, but I do believe leaders should remain close enough to the operation that the team knows they’re part of it. Some of my proudest moments haven’t been receiving awards instead they’ve been watching colleagues since they were in entry-level positions grow into department and even hotel leaders years later. Helping people develop creates a far more lasting legacy than producing another accolade.

Resilience is another lesson that hospitality teaches, whether you ask for it or not. Weather changes, markets change, guest expectations evolve, and economies fluctuate. The pandemic simply accelerated all of those realities. One lesson has stayed with me ever since: you can’t control everything happening around your business, but you can always control how your team responds. When borders closed, we couldn’t influence international travel. What we could do was maintain our hotel, invest in training, improve our product, and strengthen our culture. When travel returned, we were ready. To me, resilience isn’t pretending everything is fine. It’s accepting reality quickly, adapting with purpose, and continuing to move forward.

How do you envision the role of technology transforming the guest experience in luxury hotels over the next decade?

I believe the best hotel technology will become almost invisible. Guests shouldn’t remember the software. They should remember that the hotel anticipated what they needed before they had to ask. AI will play an important role by helping us with guest preferences, reducing repetitive tasks, and allowing teams to deliver more personalized service. The value isn’t replacing any of our talent but allowing them more quality time to connect with guests while AI helps on administrative tasks in the background.

What unique architectural or design trends are emerging in the world’s most luxurious hotels?

Luxury hotels are moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach, that includes brands too. Instead of importing the same design language around the world, the best properties are embracing their destination through local architecture, craftsmanship, materials, and culture. That’s exactly why Hotel Indigo Bali Seminyak’s philosophy resonates with me, it does not occupy a destination, it belongs to it. In Bali, that means respecting open spaces, gardens, natural ventilation, local artistry and community rather than importing a design language from somewhere else.

How are luxury hotels incorporating sustainability and eco-friendly practices into their operations?

Sustainability is no longer about the visible gestures alone. While eliminating single use plastics is important, the biggest impact comes from the decisions guests rarely see. Rethinking procurement, measuring and reducing food waste, improving water and energy efficiency and sourcing more locally. Guests may never notice that we choose local fish over imported salmon or that we design dishes around seasonal ingredients with less reliance on protein but those choices have a real impact. At our hotel, we try not to leave any part of the operation untouched. Just as importantly we want every team member to understand why these changes matter and carry that mindset beyond the workplace. For me, education is the biggest piece of the puzzle. If people genuinely believe in what they’re doing, those values naturally influence their families and the next generation. When our team member understands the story behind these decisions they can share it naturally with guests. That’s when sustainability stops being an operational initiative and becomes part of the guest experience.

How are luxury hotels balancing exclusivity with the increasing demand for personalized and immersive experiences?

The current young travelers aren’t looking for manufactured experiences; they’re looking for authentic ones. They arrive well informed, so the experience has to live up to the promise. They also want flexibility, blending work, leisure, and exploration in the same trip. The role of a luxury hotel is no longer to keep guests inside its walls, but to connect them with the destination through genuine local experiences. We balance these by focusing on the “Neighborhood Story.” Exclusivity today is defined by access to experiences that cannot be found elsewhere — personalized, immersive journeys into the local culture that make our 270 rooms and 19 private villas feel like a true gateway to discovery.

Wellness becomes a reason to travel

Based on current guest interests and what I have been reading I believe wellness will become an even stronger reason for choosing a destination and hotel. When I say wellness I include fitness, overall health and longevity as well. People are increasingly using their holidays to invest in themselves. They want to sleep better improve their fitness recover from stress eat well and spend more time outdoors. I expect this to influence the entire hotel experience. A spa and healthy menu will no longer be enough. The room design sleep quality lighting food activities and surrounding environment will need to work together. For me the opportunity is simple. Guests should leave feeling better than when they arrived.

AI discover next destination

I expect more travellers to use AI when researching and comparing hotels. Instead of opening many websites they may simply ask for the three properties that best suit their needs. This could change how hotels present themselves online. Accurate information strong reviews and a clear identity may become even more important. Technology can make the experience faster and easier.

Luxury is access to local experiences

From what I see luxury is gradually moving away from being defined only by space expensive materials and formal service. Guests are also looking for access to people places and experiences they would struggle to find on their own. This could mean meeting a local artist visiting a family-run producer or discovering a part of the destination that is not designed around mass tourism. I believe hotels have an important role here. We should not manufacture local culture. We should build enough trust within the community to introduce guests to it in a respectful way.

Family Travel

I believe family travel will become broader and more complex. We are already seeing grandparents travelling with grandchildren adult children travelling with older parents and several generations celebrating important occasions together. This will require more than connecting rooms. Hotels will need flexible accommodation better accessibility dining options for different age groups and experiences that families can enjoy together. The opportunity is to become more than the place where a family stays. A hotel can become part of the memory they share afterwards. Bali is know to have created this generational travel.

Sustainability to be an experience

From my reading and experience most guests support sustainability but they do not want it to reduce comfort or feel like a compromise. I believe the next phase will be about making the more responsible choice also feel like the better choice. Local ingredients should taste fresher. Energy-conscious rooms should still feel comfortable. Refillable amenities should look and feel better than disposable plastic. Reducing food waste should lead to stronger innovative menus and better kitchen discipline. For me sustainability becomes more credible when it improves the guest experience supports the local economy and produces results that hotels are willing to measure and share.

Do you have a favorite quote that has influenced your life?

Something my Dad always says and it just makes so much sense “Never walk with empty hands” You could now portrait this on many episodes in daily life but I want to see it as ‘Don’t waste time and energy unnecessarily’. Stay spontaneous but spend a few seconds to plan your next move.

With your considerable influence, if you could start a movement to make a significant positive impact, what would it be?

By investing in apprenticeships, internships, and mentoring for young people from local communities, hotels can create opportunities that extend far beyond the guest experience. Great hotels shouldn’t just create memorable stays; they should help develop future leaders. I genuinely believe the industry develops not only professionals but culturally aware and respectful people.

How can our readers stay updated with your work online?

Readers can stay updated through the official hotel website on seminyak.hotelindigo.com, and by following our journey on social media channels including Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook where we share the latest news and neighborhood stories from our property. Personally, you could also find my work on LinkedIn; Andreas Bergel.

Thank you so much for the time, the expertise and the stories you shared with us. We look forward to following your continued success!