{"id":554313,"date":"2026-08-01T07:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T07:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/554313\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T07:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T07:08:13","slug":"kiwi-hotel-boss-gavin-faull-expands-swiss-belhotel-with-two-new-resorts-in-bali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/554313\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiwi hotel boss Gavin Faull expands Swiss-Belhotel with two new resorts in Bali"},"content":{"rendered":"

On July 16, the business opened a second hotel<\/a>, the four-star Ashva Swiss-Belresort 5km away, priced at US$63 to US$186\/night, Faull said.<\/p>\n

That second hotel is much larger with 94 rooms accessed off multi-level open walkways where rooms face a river, overlooking the rice paddy fields.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Ashva Swiss-Belresort Ubud, in Bali, is surrounded by outdoor terrace pools. Photo \/ Swiss-Belresort<\/p>\n

The hotel is aimed at being a respite from the noise, bustle and dense traffic of the highly congested area.<\/p>\n

Faull said the area\u2019s rising popularity drew the business there.<\/p>\n

\"GavinGavin Faull (left) with son Matthew Faull at the popular Tegalalang Rice Terraces, Ubud, Bali. The Faull family has opened two new hotels in the area. Photo \/ Anne Gibson<\/p>\n

The Faull family owns the Swiss-Belhotel International business with Tam, joining in 1999 to take over an international hospitality management group.<\/p>\n

Back then, it had just three hotels.<\/p>\n

The Faull family owns 100% of the hotel business outside Indonesia.<\/p>\n

\"GavinGavin Faull at the new M\u0101ua Olea Ubud hotel, Bali, Indonesia. <\/p>\n

Swiss-Bel now has 170 hotels in the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.<\/p>\n

Faull said the M\u0101ua Olea is near some of Ubud\u2019s most popular attractions, including the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary.<\/p>\n

The site was chosen partly because it is off a main road, resulting in a quiet place, yet within close proximity of major attractions, which also include the Agung Rai Museum of Art.<\/p>\n

\" The new hotel, Ashva Swiss-Belresort Ubud, opened on July 16, 2026. Photo \/ Anne Gibson<\/p>\n

The larger new riverside Ashva hotel is flanked by curved multilevel outdoor pools on its lower levels, facing the river.<\/p>\n

That hotel is 3km from the popular Tegalalang Rice Terrace, a Unesco World Heritage site visited by thousands daily.<\/p>\n

Swiss-Belhotel does not own either of the two new hotel properties, Faull said.<\/p>\n

Instead, it has long-term management contracts with the owners to run them.<\/p>\n

\" M\u0101ua Olea Ubud, a new hotel in Bali, opened in early June 2026. Photo \/ Swiss-Belhotel<\/p>\n

Both new hotels were developed by Indonesian-based companies with which Faull has worked previously.<\/p>\n

Agreements are struck via a memorandum of understanding between the Swiss-Bel business and the property owners who lease the properties.<\/p>\n

There were good reasons for investing in that area, he said.<\/p>\n

Ubud was known as the cultural heart of Bali and for its lush landscapes and wellness retreats.<\/p>\n

\" The central pool at the new M\u0101ua Olea Ubud hotel, which opened in early June, 2026. Photo \/ Swiss-Belhotel International<\/p>\n

So it was important for the business to continue to expand there, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are now employing about 15,000 staff in 20 countries,\u201d Faull, 78, originally from Taranaki, said.<\/p>\n

At breakfast in the new K\u014dwhai Restaurant in the M\u0101ua Olea, he told of expansion plans, particularly at the luxury end of the market.<\/p>\n

At the M\u0101ua Olea, large villas with their own private in-ground swimming pools in enclosed courtyards are priced from US$150 to US$250\/night, depending on the time of year.<\/p>\n

\"EdwardEdward (from left), Oliver and Matthew Faull with their parents Gavin and Carol Faull, pictured around 2024\/2025. The family owns the Swiss-Belhotel International hotel business and Faull Farms in Taranaki. Photo \/ Swiss-Belhotel International<\/p>\n

Faull would like to see rates go higher, but noted that the weakness of the Rupiah made such hotels globally affordable.<\/p>\n

Most trade is from Indonesia, but also comes from other surrounding Asian, Australasian and European destinations.<\/p>\n

Faull\u2019s three sons are all executive directors and senior vice-presidents.<\/p>\n

They have big roles in the business and each worked outside the chain before joining it.<\/p>\n

Auckland-based Oliver Faull, a chartered accountant, had worked in New York and had a group finance role with the giant UK-based Carphone Warehouse. He is the head of Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Jakarta-based Matthew Faull, who has a computer science degree from the University of Auckland, previously worked in Russia, the Philippines and Japan. He is head of information technology, e-commerce and distribution.<\/p>\n

Auckland, Jakarta and Vietnam-based Edward Faull has a background in construction. He worked as a civil engineer for about 10 years, initially here, then in Papua New Guinea and Hong Kong. He is head of construction for the group.<\/p>\n

Gavin Faull estimated each of the rooms at the luxurious M\u0101ua Olea is worth about US$500,000.<\/p>\n

That puts a potential value of US$16 million on that new hotel.<\/p>\n

Before the July 16 Asha opening, Faull toured rooms with management staff.<\/p>\n

\"AA big Bali welcome \u2013 television screens in each room of the new Ashva Swiss-Belresort Ubud welcomed the boss, Gavin Faull. Photo \/ Anne Gibson<\/p>\n

As a welcome gesture, the staff had projected profiles featuring their suited president on each room\u2019s TV screen.<\/p>\n

To Faull, that was a surprising yet delightful example of the dedication of staff who show deference but also warmth towards the Kiwi family and its global reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey get it,\u201d he concluded of their approach to hospitality.<\/p>\n

Anne Gibson visited Bali as a guest of Swiss-Belhotel International.<\/p>\n

Anne Gibson<\/a> has been the Herald\u2019s property editor for 26 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.<\/p>\n

Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On July 16, the business opened a second hotel, the four-star Ashva Swiss-Belresort 5km away, priced at US$63…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[56020,31272,4282,138,12252,95863,44661,189,20588,6735,78,194,45499,685,3234,117,111,139,69,1864,119467,10041,272219,1237,102,80],"class_list":["post-554313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-asias","tag-bali","tag-boss","tag-business","tag-expands","tag-faull","tag-gavin","tag-holiday","tag-hong","tag-hotel","tag-in","tag-kiwi","tag-kong","tag-last","tag-months","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-opened","tag-resorts","tag-spots","tag-swissbelhotel","tag-two","tag-with","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}