INTERVIEW

The complex art of making guests feel simply special

Ruby Garcia, the elegant and animated GM of the COMO Metropolitan Singapore, on how lady managers bring more emotion, heart, and creativity to the job — a soothing change for harried hotel guests.

March 2025

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Ruby Garcia is alert and bright, always with a ready smile to ease guest nerves and smooth any ruffled feathers. She's climbed the ranks — in a man's world — and brings engaging perspective to her job/ photos: Vijay Verghese

Ruby Garcia glides into the cafe in a body-hugging black dress cut short and held at the waist by a large gold clasp. She beams as she makes her way across, large eyes shining, her face a medley of emotions. As General Manager of the COMO Metropolitan Singapore — a creamy feminine yet businesslike escape — she is at once fabulous and formidable. Lady GMs are less a rarity in Singapore than elsewhere across Asia but it is clear Ms Garcia has done her time, working her way up the ladder from front office and rooms to managing some top luxury properties around the world. She has found her way from Manila through Taj Exotica Maldives, COMO Parrot Cay, Phulay Bay a Ritz-Carlton Reserve (as GM with the first such Reserve for the brand), Four Seasons Resort Nevis, and on to GM of the COMO Metropolitan Singapore. With a barrage of anecdotes and amusing reminiscences she gets straight into the chat over a rainy-day breakfast at Cedric Grolet with Smart Travel Asia Editor Vijay Verghese. She is an easy person to like and it appears her charm and intellect make easy partners in a substantial management arsenal.

Smart Travel Asia: How did you get into hotels? Was that your first choice?

RUBY GARCIA: I was in college in the Philippines. I had actually just given birth to a son in my final year. After graduation as a single mum — and raised by a single mother as well [arches eyebrows and flashes a huge smile, not fazed in the least by this rather intimate disclosure] — I needed a job close to home, and not too demanding… though my course was in media. So I searched the neighbourhood randomly and Mandarin Oriental Manila called me. I thought, why not [laughs]?

STA: So you began at MO?

RG: Yes, I started at the front desk. It was a 450-room hotel so I was averaging almost 400 check-ins and check-outs daily. I LOVED it. A year later I was promoted to the Club Floor. Three years later I received an offer to help open the Anantara Maldives, the group’s very first property outside Thailand.

That must have been exciting.

RG: It was a culture shock and I cried constantly. I was the first lady on this island.

A man’s world?

RG: Yes. When I needed the ladies’ room they took me to a gents’ urinal [opens both palms and gestures in mock horror]. I was the solitary woman. [We both chuckle].

What came next?

RG: At the Bermuda MO later I was promoted to front desk manager and experienced my first hurricane. Things slowly became easier.

In what way?

RG: There were so many similarities between the Caribbean and the Philippines. We all loved to party [shimmies the shoulders]. They were friendly, very relaxed…[searches for the word]… sunny [smiles]! The MO at Elbow Beach was a wonderful experience. Then came Mandarin Oriental Boston.

You eventually moved up to General Manager at the Phulay Bay, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Krabi. Was there a very different perspective as a lady GM?

RG: Absolutely. It’s the mothering instinct. At the Taj Exotica as No.2, I was a mother to my staff. As a woman I feel am more approachable [than a male GM] and people are comfortable talking with me. The Maldives was very male dominated but people still chose to talk to me. People need to talk and share. In the Maldives we had a honeymooner couple who drank a great deal their first night and had a nasty fight. The man had pushed the lady overboard off a water villa. There was a lot of noise and commotion. Fortunately the water was shallow. We arrived to find a naked lady, crying. The woman — who insisted on a divorce and immediate separation — really needed a woman’s touch. I comforted her and smuggled her into a staff quarter that we quickly redid in 3-star fashion… you know [emphasis] staff accommodation [rolls her eyes, amused]? We hid here there for a couple of days till a flight could be arranged. Her drunk partner was immediately hitting on other ladies at the bar…

That must have been quite an experience. You were talking about male domination in the industry?

RG: Oh yes, things are still very much male dominated. Westerners are quite direct while Asians are more diplomatic in their approach. But there are cultural differences too. Singapore can be confrontational at times. More direct. The Philippines is the opposite.

Did this affect your thinking and career?

RG: Oh yes [nods vigorously]! So in Singapore while at another hotel I was a new kid in town and had accepted a small step-down in my role. Then Covid happened [frowns at the recollection]. Things slowed down. There was a long queue for promotions and when things improved, the men were picked to move up. So I moved on. I wouldn’t say it was chauvinist. I’ve never felt threatened by males [shrugs and smiles].

So at Phulay Bay you came into your own as a lady GM?

RG: I was the fourth lady general manager there.

Was it quite a different working culture?

RG: Yes, it was a very different culture at The Phulay Bay, a Ritz-Calrton Reserve. Phulay Bay in Krabi had a lot more heart… more emotion… and more creativity. I recall a German guest who arrived for New year’s Eve and had booked a beach villa [laughs embarrassedly]. You know we didn’t really have a beach though there was some artificial sanding [gestures with her hands]. He wanted to leave. A male GM may have handled things by the book with this couple. I think this is where a female GM has an advantage. I focused on the woman and consoled here. ‘Yes we don’t have a sand beach but you have a beautiful view and we’ll send you to a nearby island to enjoy the best beach,’ I informed them. I was able to make them feel better. Our industry often forgets human beings have emotions. I realised, if the wife was happy, the husband would be happy too.

Do ladies bring a different managing style as hotel GMs?

RG: We bring sophistication… and elegance. Women can dress up for an occasion. Every day. We have an emphasis on people and help empower those people to develop their working identity. After all, I’m not working in insurance [grins and throw up her hands]. I will match the brands I am associated with but not with any pretensions.

What does luxury mean to you?

RG: It’s how you make a guest feel special, in the simplest way. Not everyone has the luxury of time for a holiday so how do I make that one night really special? Guests need to walk out with a smile. Understanding the guest is important. Some are talkers. Some are private. So if I sense that reluctance, I won’t engage, and leave them alone.

What do hotel guests want today?

RG: They want wellness, sleep, and the luxury of time. Eight hours’ sleep is what everyone wants [smiles brightly]! We have a ‘sleep dreams’ programme at COMO partnering with a company that offers ‘sleep doctors’. In-room tech includes a ‘SleepHub’ from Cambridge Sleep Sciences with two speakers, a touchpad, and sound therapy using brown noise, white noise and so on. It can actually guarantee a full eight hours’ sleep by the third night.

Was there a big change in guests post-Covid?

RG: At first people were super fussy. Now things are going back to normal. Travellers are more aware and focus on cleanliness, masks, tissues… Some Westerners may ask about sustainable food but not the Asians. The West is more conscious about these issues. Most of our working processes here are sustainable. In fact we just got our EarthCheck bronze certification.

We are all constantly entertained by online videos of guests stealing stuff from hotels. What have you encountered?

RG: It’s always the bath amenities. In fact richer people clean out everything. They take towels, coffee table books and more. But in the luxury market you let it go. You can’t nickel and dime.

So this does not all appear on the guests’ hotel bill later as was once the practice?

RG: No, no… [Shakes her head smiling]

Have you ever been blackmailed by an Internet ‘influencer’?

RG: Fortunately not. Of course if there is glitch in anyone’s stay we will fix it.

Do you see more women in the business these days?

RG: We definitely advocate for this. In fact at COMO House, our headquarter here in Singapore, maybe 90 percent of the workforce is female.

How do you manage a work-life balance? Hotels seem a suicide mission.

RG: Well, I chose work over myself earlier. But after Covid I realised life is short and we have to prioritise ourselves. I make sure on public holidays that our back-of-office are all off work and with their families. In Asia this is not a thing. If someone is ill I ask them to rest. There’s no need to rush to work or work from home. That’s why we have No.2s and No.3s. Health is wealth [flashes a big smile].

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