Christopher Stafford
Chris Stafford is Partner and Senior Hospitality Advisor to VHG Hospitality Asia. Chris’ decorated hospitality career spans four decades, fueled by a genuine, lifelong passion for the industry.
His journey began during a summer job at the luxury Park Avenue Hotel in Goteborg, Sweden, and led him to Switzerland and then Hawaii to learn his trade in university.
Christopher’s career took him to nine countries, from managing the Bali Hai Moorea in Tahiti to the Maldives, Norway, and the USA.
Together with legendary entrepreneur William ‘Bill’ Heinecke, Chris and a small team created the Anantara brand in 2000, and remained with the project for seven years to open the first handful of Anantara properties.
Chris also created the King’s Cup Elephant Polo in Hua Hin, which over time gave the Anantara brand global recognition for conservation efforts for elephants in Thailand and the world and helped fuel Anantara expansion.
Chris later joined The Beaumont Partnership architectural practice as Lead Hospitality Consultant in 2008. This involved him in the development planning of hotels in Morocco, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Cambodia.
In 2010, Chris linked up with famous hotelier William ‘Bill’ Black and Mark Remijan of Ativa Hotels &Resorts (subsequently renamed SilverNeedle Hospitality and Next Story).
Most recently Chris launched The Orient & Occident company, synthesizing Chris’ decades of hospitality management experience in a luxury, boutique operator of iconic city and resorts properties in the region.
