Profiles of 2004 Graduating Students

Hotelie Adrien Desbaillets seeks a spicy, internationally flavored career

Senior Adrien Desbaillets is the winner of the School of Hotel Administration's Drown Prize. Frank DiMeo/University Photography

By Linda Myers

Imagine you and your date are dining at a restaurant on a beach in Bali. As a sea breeze blows, your waiter appears with a coconut shell containing a bottle with a flower and message. You read it to your date and find it's a romantic poem.

Sound perfect? It did to Adrien Desbaillets, graduating senior at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, when he introduced the concept at one of Asia's top resorts in summer 2001. "I enjoy being creative," said Desbaillets, who grew up in the hotel business but didn't make it his "passion" until he interned at the Grand Hyatt in Singapore between high school and college.

Although he was born in Switzerland, his time in Singapore was a mere blip on the map that shows where Desbaillets and his parents have lived (his father held executive positions with Intercontinental). They include Zambia, Sri Lanka, Bangkok, Montreal, Jakarta, Singapore and Korea. "I lived in the hotels and operated like a local," he said. "At age 3 I would sit next to the snake charmers in the market. I had my own plastic cobra and flute."

Among the four languages he is fluent or proficient in is Mandarin Chinese. That skill, and his understanding of Asian culture and education, earned him a spot on the Hotel School's negotiation team for setting up a joint program with Nanyang University in China. "It was amazing to be entrusted with so much responsibility," said Desbaillets.

He chose Cornell because he wanted to go to a university "where I could take any kind of class," he said. Once he got here, he "took advantage of every opportunity presented to me."

He was part of Hotel Ezra Cornell during each of his four years at Cornell. This year he was food and beverage director. Last year he was controller, responsible for an almost $100,000 budget. He credits talented classmates with pulling off the unique student-managed hotel-for-a-weekend event and said it taught him "volumes, which could not have been learned in the classroom."

He was a teaching assistant in five courses. A Hotelies Volunteering Today officer, he helped found the new organization, which encourages and rewards outstanding volunteer service among Hotel School students. He co-founded the student group Hospitality Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow. As president of Ye Hosts honorary society, he promoted undergraduate research and recognition awards. His passion for hockey led to his being made student manager of the Cornell men's hockey team.

In his application to Cornell, he chose "chili" as an apt metaphor for the international spice he hoped he would bring to the Hotel School. This year his many achievements and "spice of life" enthusiasm earned him the Drown Prize, the school's highest student honor.

Constantly challenging himself, Desbaillets will develop a spa on Australia's Gold Coast after graduation and head up Dare to Dream, a management company started by his father. Long term, he wants to run a chain of boutique spas across Asia. It sounds like a dream spiced with life's flavors.