The Ultimate Luxury Hoteliering 101! Part 1

I was recently invited by a leading Hospitality Industry Portal to offer my thoughts on how hotels can provide the best brand experience for their guests; what really goes into true customer satisfaction and what do the world’s best hotels really do, so discerningly, to be slotted as top luxury hotel companies?

It set me thinking about what hotels think is a luxury experience for their guests, vis-à-vis the guests’ actual expectation of luxury.

Is it the Carrara marble carted all the way from Italy, the bespoke scent developed in step with a celebrated Parfumer, glasses blown especially by a lineage rich craftsman in Murano, the exquisite crystal from Baccarat, the priceless lights from Lalique, the made-to-order toiletries from Bvlgari? 

But all this can be bought and brought in by any wealthy industrialist aspiring to be an hotelier or by a rich real estate magnate who has set his business goal towards constructing monstrous buildings that he hopes to open hotels in.  

We often mistake plattering out of opulence for luxury. Luxury is far bigger than the price; it is a principle that defines the gold standard of a brand.

In the last few days, my newsfeed on one of the social media platforms is being flooded with shares from friends about their recent luxury hotel stay at one of India’s most luxurious chains. 

What has taken their breath away is how hotel staff are leaving little notes behind along with an item that they felt the guest needed the most at that point in time but did not have it available. The items are commonplace – ranging from a tube of paste, shoe mitt, laptop cleaner, earphones – but the attention to detail and acute guest orientation is what is inspiring awe in the guests. Isn’t this the fine art of luxury hoteliering?

Luxury is not something that can be carried back as a memento in the LV Tote; it is a subliminal interface with the hotel’s Product-Service confluence that stokes the guest’s finer sensibilities and finds a permanent corner in the guest’s memories, bringing the guest back again and again.

The jury is in on what is truly a luxury experience for guests worldwide. Let us closely look at facets – agreed upon by experts and aficionados alike - that truly make a hotel a luxury brand –

1.     Guest Recognition

An ex-boss and a veteran hotelier, who has spent his life working for the finest hospitality brands worldwide, recounted a Four Seasons’ template of Recognition during one of the training sessions. 

It is said that both guest and employee recognition are really big ticket items at the premium hotel chain where all Excom members are supposed to know the names of not only all the hotel employees but also their spouses and the family dog. Just imagine, to what lengths they would be going to offer recognition to their guests!

Guest Recognition through guest mapping by different layers of the hotel staff – from concierge to the GM and in some cases even the Owner - is a wonderful strategy that creates a pronounced guest-oriented environment, makes sure that the Hotel staff is familiar with its guest list and keeps the guests happy.

2.     Employee Excellence

A hotel is so much more than the richly constructed shell, the branded hardware and the awe-evoking infrastructure. It is actually the people who work towards presenting the brand service standards in the best way possible. And this is truly the most important discerning factor when sifting the chaff from the real grain.

A hotel that aspires to be top-of-the-line luxury endeavours to train its staff to a level of benchmarked excellence on a pre-defined template of superior standards that embody its brand value.

More important than the owner or the General Manager, it is the direct interface employees such as the Airport representatives, chauffeurs, doorman, valet, bellhop, concierge, housekeeping, butlers and servers who are the real brand ambassadors of the hotel and who, at all times, must live and breathe the same code of work ethics and tenets as set in the brand operational philosophy.

In order to create a cohesive exercise towards guest orientation, it is imperative that the training is immaculate, briefings are vividly elaborate and there is an open system of sharing and reiterating information pertinent to the guests.

The Doormen at The Raffles, the Bell girls at The Peninsula, the valet at Island Shangri-La, the Les Clefs d’Or decorated concierge at some of the finest hotels around the world, the awarded chefs lording over their Michelin-starred restaurants, are all icons that have made an example out of providing legendary service to their hotel guests.

Luxury hotels are Special Places where ‘pinned up’ Concierge bends over backwards to bring true every wish or whim of their special guests – from Pink elephants for the little guest’s birthday; or an exclusive chat with a historian on the colonial background of the City where the hotel stands; to flying in that novel, hard-to-get ingredient for that special meal on the guest’s momentous occasion. 

Ritz Carlton Group’s motto “We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen,” underlines the focus on guest orientation and the intense employee training that goes into making a stay at one of their hotels ‘Ritz Remarkable.’

Not just the concierge, the entire hotel is geared towards turning the experience into a memorable one for the esteemed guests. “No” and “cannot” just do not exist in the hotel’s vocabulary. 

The doors of the celebrated ‘The Spice Route’ restaurant were opened two hours earlier by The Imperial management to entertain John Galliano and his entourage with a special meal that was personally cooked by the Restaurant’s celebrated chef. This way Galliano, who was touring India in his halcyon days, could enjoy the authentic meal in the actual ambience of the Restaurant while still being out of the public eye.

Luxury hoteliers and guests alike agree that it is often the stellar software of the workforce that makes these places more special. Great places have a great set of staff that happily goes beyond the brief whether it is the Concierge taking that extra pain to find a seamstress or suit maker or the General Manager repairing an ordinary piece of luggage with his own hands, the latter actually happened to me at the Marriott in Washington DC.

3.     Intimate and Exclusive Personalization

Stay at luxury hotels is all about getting as far away from the cookie-cutter culture as possible and treating every guest as a VIP.

There are hotels that take personalization to a different level – Hermitage Hotel offers personalized stationery to its important guests; at Montage Beverly Hills, guests get to lay their heads on customized pillows embroidered with their initials; just as they do at the ITC luxury hotels in India.

A dynamic, well-kept Guest history is the strongest tool in the Hotel’s armoury for keeping the high-profile guests (as a matter of fact any guest) happy and loyal to its brand. 

From your favourite Earl Grey tea, the movies that need to be stacked up in your suite before your arrival, the choice of fruits that must fill up the fruit basket or the kind of flowers that should deck your temporary abode, your food allergies, your favourite Valet who must be made available specially for you at your every visit to even ensuring that a Yoga teacher is brought in specially for you or a particular brand of sparkling water stocked in the pick-up limo or your mini bar……….the guest history records each and everything about you that will go a long way in making your stay all that special and privileged.

One of the best software strategies up a top notch hotel’s sleeve is a clean, livewire guest history that is shorn off all dead wood and to which all key operational staff pays keen attention. This not only ensures repeat guests but also that the guests do not walk over to competition.

Personalization stems from well-defined Best Practices in service standards such that the service is quick and one that meets the request pointedly, at all times.

4.     On top of Trends and Technology

There are hotels known and sought after for novel concepts that they have introduced to the world of refined hospitality. High Tea at the Ritz in London is an institution and a must try in every intrepid luxury traveller’s calendar. 

A personalized art tour of the in-house gallery showcasing an impressive collection of original lithographs by the designated art curator at The Imperial in Delhi is part of the itinerary of guests ranging from the US Business Council delegates to the visiting Thai Princess and her entourage. 

Sipping on a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel, the place where it was incidentally invented, and chucking peanut shells on the bar floor just as how Somerset Maugham and his other contemporaries may have done in the early 20th century is a matchless experience that perhaps is worth more than the bucks you may spend in the place.

In today’s ‘webbed’ world, a luxury hotel’s standard of excellence is gauged by the superior level of technology it offers its constantly-connected guests. That the internet connectivity is smooth, super fast, Wi-Fi, without any glitches and free is expected to be a given at the plushest of luxury-laden retreats.

The erstwhile Chief Executive of the UK’s Barratt Group, David Pretty says: "Tastes evolve and change. People's idea of luxury still includes elements of space, comfort and quality, but increasingly involves sharp design and cutting-edge technology."

5.     Unique Features

Some hotels stand out for the incomparable aspects beset in their building features and facilities. MGM Grands’ Skylofts offer breathtaking bathrooms that boast infinity tubs with light therapy and “champagne” bubbles. Some hotel pools such as the one at Four Seasons, HK, get the guests to enjoy their swim as lilting classical music plays underwater.

Louis XV furniture, Silver chairs and lounges, antique four-poster beds, Bvlgari / Hermes / Aveda toiletries, period art or Art Nouveau paintings, Swarovski threaded chandeliers, flowers done by florists specially flown in from France, Riedel crystal glassware, Wedgwood plates, Christofle serving trays, crisp Pratesi linen - the amenities and features reek of refined taste and fine art of luxurious living; and stand out with a lot of ease amongst the usual suspects of the heretofore overused luxury standards such as over 300 thread count crisp Egyptian cotton sheets, down-feather pillows, 14” rain shower heads, Jacuzzi tubs, butler & maid service, overnight shoe shine, high-speed WiFi, Cisa safes, individual temperature control to mood lighting control.

6.     The Wonder Wheels

Even the choice of wheels is as hot and happening as the personality of the luxe hotel - from Phantom Rolls Royce, Bentleys, Maserati, Maybach, reworked vintage Ambassadors, horse-drawn carriages that pull majestically into the porch of the old fort hotel, camels and elephants – the luxury hotels pull out all the stops.

The Beverly Hills Four Seasons Hotel does it in impeccable style with its Hot Wheels menu of Lamborghini Gallardos, Ferraris, Porsches, Maseratis, Bentleys and some more offered to the top-tier suites guests under the complimentary Suite Drive program. The guests can select the Wheels of their choice to cruise around Los Angeles and can also pick up the car at the airport to drive into the hotel. 

7.     Delighting the Guest with Distinct Dining Experience

Food is truly the winning factor for most hotels – smart, simple, sensible selections for certain meal times of a business traveller and elaborate, exquisite and enchanting ones for those on the languorously leisure downtime. 

The restaurants (including room service) offering their culinary artworks are certainly the places to showcase award-winning talents of the hotels’ food & beverage team. There are several luxury hotspots that are known exclusively for their food craft and kitchen talent.

Luxury hotels, by virtue of being iconic in image and astral in brand personality, just must offer dining options that delight their varied clientele – those awe-inspiring signature dishes, the mesmerizing wine lists, ingredients specially flown in, fantastic concepts painstakingly created, creative presentations that promise to stay on the guest’s mind and above all culinary talent that is simply the best in the world.

There is a cluster of hotels that are known for the Chef who presides over his Michelin star restaurant in the establishment and is happy to cook up a signature meal for you. Alain Ducasse, Paul Bocuse, Ferran Adria, Marco Pierre White, Heston Blumenthal, Jean-Georges

Vongerichten, Gordon Ramsay – all culinary greats with a star power normally reserved for film actors and with a waiting list of guests that runs sometimes into months and years – make hotels housing their restaurants a definite port of call on a luxury traveller’s route. 

These Rock stars promise to delight your taste buds and paint their culinary art on the canvas of your palate. Some hotels go a step further, like The Hotel Crillon le Brave in Provence which offers truffle hunting expeditions with an expert truffier followed by a cookery demonstration by the chef and a special truffle-rich dinner.

The fascinating concept of luxury hotel living is perhaps best described by Susan Kurosawa, one of the finest Travel Writers we know today. She says, “Instead of gold taps and silly trimmings, we want privacy and sanctuary. The biggest accommodation trend is towards walled private villas with petite gardens, plunge pools and ultra-discreet service. We long for the same level of stylish sequestration as celebrities escaping the scrutiny of fans and press. 

Luxury is also about a rediscovery of comfort. We have survived the edgy all-white minimalism of the 90s and now we want cosy comforts such as pillow menus and sink-into sofas and all the expected accoutrements of our homes but with the bonus of in-room dining, butler-drawn baths and views of an exotic elsewhere.”  

Note 1 – To be continued in Part Two.

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Picture Courtesy - Google Images

Professional Traits that define a Leader!

Leaders in a group, community, company or country have a huge responsibility to carry on their professional shoulders. Always in the public and camera eye, they seem to be working in a glass cubicle and hence must remain answerable, accountable, effective and exemplary.

Leadership is not usually a legacy that we are bestowed upon with. It is a role we aspire to, work towards and attain through experience, intelligence, astuteness and by proving our usefulness for the bigger responsibilities such a stature brings.

In the world of hospitality, there are several opportunities for us to exhibit leadership at both micro and magnum levels – as department heads, Team leaders, General Managers, Regional Heads, Brand Chiefs, COOs and CEOs.

Here are ten professional traits that define a true-blue leader –

1.      Leaders are knowledgeable

Leaders aim to be virtuosos. They train themselves to be an expert in their field; be it keeping a guest room spotlessly spic and span or managing a large hotel chain, ensuring that it stays highest ranked in any rating or recognition.

The bank of knowledge keeps them ahead of the game. In their constant striving for excellence, they endeavour to break the glass ceiling. A leader sets commendable standards with his working style, his know-how and eagerness to present his best, always.

Leaders are clued on to the smallest to the biggest things that happen in their business world. PRS Oberoi, the formidable owner of India’s much-acclaimed and awarded hotel chain named after his family, is known to let his keen eye miss absolutely nothing when on a hotel visit – from a crookedly placed rose bud in a vase to the temperature at which the finest bottle of champagne is served; from the misplaced crease on the Doorman’s epaulette to the worry line on the forehead of another team member.

2.      Leaders are perpetual learners

Leaders know that the place they have reached has not come easy. They are also aware that the road ahead is going to be tough, arduous and competitive. Leaders refuse to rest on past laurels. 

They are mindful of the fact that their skills and the business must evolve in step with the dynamics of the world and the changing times.

Besides; their drive and zeal nudge them to push the envelope of learning, mental growth and physical limits of performance.

One of the finest examples of this is the life lesson left behind by Conrad Hilton. He began his hotel business with Mobley Hotel in Texas – a 40-room property that he bought in 1919. His first high-rise hotel was the Dallas Hilton that he opened in 1925 before expanding into New Mexico. 

However, as luck would have it, Hilton was gravely hit by the Great Depression and was forced to sell off some of his hotels so as to keep away from bankruptcy. But his exceptional hoteliering skills came in handy and he was retained as the Manager of the hotels; which he promptly bought back once the national economic state bettered and he began fairing well.

Hilton went on to build hotels, grow his business admirably; such that Hilton Hotels became the first international hotel chain; no mean feat even today.

3.      Leaders are competitive

Not only with others but with themselves too; in fact, it is more with themselves. They must meet their own high expectation and come up to the level they visualise themselves at. Leaders blossom in good, honest competition. There lies an inherent eagerness to outclass and the passion for charting new courses. The excitement of better, brighter goals keeps them motivated and stimulated.

Leaders admire other skilled workers & specialists and must compete with them to get to greater heights of brilliance. This sense of competitiveness gets going the ball of learning, improving, growing into the state of work awesomeness; to the satisfaction of both the doer and the recipients.

Steve Wynn, despite the hardships he steered his family out of, had the steely will and foresight to create a hotel empire that has brought him worldwide recognition and commercial success. 

Wynn is credited with resurrecting the internationally famous Las Vegas Strip by injecting renewed interest in the area and by creating such iconic properties as The Mirage and The Bellagio, truly among the biggest and the brightest hotels globally.

    

4.      Leaders are bottom-line friendly

Leaders endeavour to perform such that the outcome of their actions is always profitable. They despise anything that brings loss; in terms of bad service, inability to close the service delivery loop, losing a client, profit deficit, business failure. They are conscious of the fact that for them and others to grow and flourish, the business must remain successful.

What's more, they acknowledge the fact that it is often bad actions, bad planning and bad decisions that lead to bad business. And they wish to be associated with none of these.

Barry Sternlicht, often called the ‘King of hotels,’ put his fervent business acumen, background in real estate, fine judgement for prized properties and deep understanding for creating brands to found and grow Starwood Hotels and Resorts into one of the widest, biggest and financially successful hotel groups.

5.      Leaders respond and resolve

This is one of the most common grounds on which somebody is called a leader. Leaders bring together their learning, experience and attitude to give sensible, effective and optimum resolution to your issues. Because they have the expertise, they need not skirt the issue and hide behind files and faux reasons to escape the matter.

More importantly, they hold in high esteem the tag they have earned on merit and they are not willing to lose that by being seen as laid back, inefficient, careless and non-committed. Hence, leaders always respond – to situations at hand, to people matters and to larger business issues.

One of the nicer aspects of dealing with such people is that even if it is to decline or regret; leaders leave such a great after taste that you wish to do business with them again.

Kemmons Wilson’s personal disappointment with the kind of roadside accommodation that was available for his holiday led him to envision and create the Holiday Inn model of hotels.

Stemming from his own experience, Wilson’s clear cut brief for his Chain was that the properties should be standardised, clean, predictable, family-friendly and readily accessible to road travellers. From 50 hotels in 1958, 100 in 1959, 500 by 1964 and 100th Holiday Inn in 1968; today the Company has grown to be one of the world’s largest hotel chains with 435,299 bedrooms in 3,463 hotels globally hosting over 100 million guest nights each year. 

6.      Leaders are SMART

Leaders espouse the principles of S.M.A.R.T working, both in their approach and the results they show. Their performance is, indeed, specific (leaders are focused), measurable (result-orientation is a key factor for them), attainable (leaders are practical and seldom have their heads in the clouds), relevant (their efforts must bear fruits of business, satisfaction, customer retention, problem-solving for themselves, the Company they represent and the guests) and time-bound (leaders apprehend the importance of time and are aware of the ills of non-deliverability or deliverability in an untimely fashion, which may be as good as task not done).

One of the best-known hotel trivia revolves around the genesis of the word “ritzy.” It is an established fact that the usage of the term stemmed from the name of Cesar Ritz and his namesake legendary hotels he founded in Paris and London.

The celebrated hotelier’s life is noteworthy on so many levels. It is said that he started small and then scaled up to skyscraping heights of success with grit, determination and ingenuity that made him stand apart. Cesar Ritz began his career as a Maître d'hôtel in a restaurant before stepping up the ladder to manage hotels in Lucerne and Monaco. 

He built a reputation for his impeccable taste and instant rapport with wealthy guests thereby developing a profound understanding of the guests’ needs and desires and pioneering the foundation of luxury as we know today – two tenets that he lent to his hotel brand.

7.      Leaders take charge

Have you noticed how there is that one Server who will outperform and over-deliver should things go wrong with your order at a restaurant? He will assume command over the situation, apologise sincerely, rectify the order, make certain that you are not made to wait any longer and cap it off with a comp side or dessert. He is a professional who knows his work, is in control, values you, is adept at saving the reputation of his Company and ensuring that the business stays with them and does not walk over to the Competition.

In a crisis condition, have you taken note of the Security guy or Guest Relations Executive who will go beyond expectation to take stock of the situation, swiftly, and then strategize to provide safety while soothing your frayed nerves with a personal touch. He or she need not be a certified Fire Fighter; it is enough that they are the best in their role, are quick to assume the responsibility of their actions and do not ever mind pulling the weight of others when they fail to match up.

Such professionals have a strong leadership quality even in their everyday work situations. And in times of crises, they are stars that shine out with their rock-solid resolve and stellar skills.

Given this attribute, leaders impart lessons by setting an example, by being there and being available. The irresistible celebrity CEO and Visionary and now the Founder-Owner of Virgin Hotels – Sir Richard Branson has committed to be present at the opening of every Virgin hotel; much like the other great hotelier – Ritz Carlton’s Herve Humler who, allegedly, never misses a hotel opening anywhere in the world, and Ritz-Carlton has so far opened about 90 hotels in 29 countries.   

8.      Leaders are experienced

Several years of hard work – first study, then practice - have gone into shaping the leader into what he is today. The professionals who lead, dip into their rich pool of experience to outshine and often go beyond the brief.

J. Willard Marriott, as the founder of the eponymous chain, has always been considered a doyen of the international hospitality industry. But it is his son, Bill Marriott Jr., who has grown the brand into what it has become today with his insight, inclination towards a franchise model business, innovative spirit, his attention to detail and ideal work ethics.  

Having led the Chain for more than 50 years, from a family restaurant business to a Monolith with 3100 + properties spread across 67 countries, Bill’s imprint on the Chain and the industry is so indelible that Marriott gets ranked as the “best place to work in” year after year.

9.      Leaders are visionaries

Leaders are on a journey – their destination is ‘being the best in their field and roles;’ higher after higher scales of excellence are the milestones. To be such work wizards they strategize to develop new tactics, perfect their old good practices and draw a road map that is onward bound, both in terms of productivity and passion.

Conrad Hilton, one of the finest hoteliers the world has ever seen, was far-sighted and inclusive in his business approach even when his Company had not grown to the mammoth size it is now. 

In 1944, he established The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation with a mission to alleviate human suffering worldwide. Hilton Hotels International Company, followed in his footsteps and furthered his goals by instituting the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize in 1996 and The Conrad N. Hilton Chair in Business Ethics and The Hilton Distinguished Entrepreneur Award in subsequent years.

Leaders are far-sighted and that is why they always manage to rise above the small issues and petty people with their sights aimed at bigger, more far-reaching goals.

10.  Leaders always see the Big Picture

Leaders usually do not sweat the small stuff.

Their sights are set high; hence little everyday battles are simply stepping stones in their way; as it is the war of wisdom, wonderment and world-class achievement that they must win.

Born into the extremely wealthy and influential Astor family, John Jacob Astor IV used his rich background and enviable educational and life experience to establish new standards of luxury in the world of hoteliering. Even today, when an analogy has to be drawn for the finest standards in luxury, it is John Jacob Astor IV’s two best-known creations - Waldorf-Astoria and St. Regis - that are cited as benchmarks. 

It is also known that the legendary hotelier, who the world lost in the tragic sinking of the Titanic, was multifaceted. Astor is the author of a science fiction novel ‘A Journey in Other Worlds’ (1894) about life in the year 2000 on the planets Saturn and Jupiter. With a penchant for scientific innovation, Astor is known to have patented several inventions, including a bicycle brake in 1898, a "vibratory disintegrator" and a pneumatic road-improver. He also helped in the development of turbine engine.

It follows from the lives of these hotel legends that leadership stems from innate passion. It is shaped by the goals one sets for oneself. And it is polished through consistent, diligent and honest practice. There resides the potential to be a leader in all of us. The honed-over-time zeal, determination, conscientiousness and foresightedness arm us well in our aspiration to become an outstanding leader in our chosen field.

  

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 Picture Courtesy - Google Images

Core Values of a Professional Hotelier!

A Professional has the power to add a spark to or ruin your day. He/she can set the tone for a great day ahead. On the flip side, a non-professional can spoil it so badly for you that the bitterness or exasperation of the exchange carries on into your other interactions and spheres of work.

The following set of core values are the defining factors separating the common folk from extraordinary leaders who have the propensity to lead successful ships and a star team of zealous performers.

So, what are you and who do you wish to be? The choice is in your hands.

Be kind and compassionate

Perhaps because Professionals are self-made and have tilled to get there, they are thoughtful of efforts put in by others. Because they have figured that every day is not the same and every person even more different, they are considerate of others’ eclecticism and cherish the worth they bring to the table.

Professionals are generally more understanding. They value others and their efforts; and are inclined to bring out the best in them.

On the other hand, the ‘nons’ may give two hoots to all other beings but for the three most important in their scheme of things – I, Me, Myself.  

Be hardworking and self-disciplined

That is how ordinary workers become professionals in the first place. They have a strong willpower, are persistent and persevere to attain the seemingly unachievable. Professionals believe in turning the boulders into building blocks and enjoy the thrill and the challenge of the process.

Always deliver

Be it the General Manager pledging a healthy bottom line to the CEO, the CEO always being answerable to the owners, the talented Chef presenting just what the guest wished, the Concierge managing to get the right and full information sought, the Chauffeur offering a smooth, suitably informative, relaxed and enjoyable ride to the hotel, the Sales Manager connecting all the dots from opening a dialogue to successfully closing the deal to everybody’s satisfaction; professionals deliver. Without fail, each time, every time!

Professional people are duty-bound and committed. And that is why they deliver.

Go ahead and make mistakes. But make no compromises

Professional people understand that making mistakes is an integral part of learning and growing. So they make mistakes unabashedly but not carelessly. And they detest making the same mistake over and over again.

‘Compromise’ does not exist in a Professional hotelier’s lexicon. They do not cut corners. Professionals know that the path to excellence is not easy and that there is no shortcut to success.

Instill trust

On the basis of their prowess over their function, the proficient hold on their area of work and the enviable experience under their belts, Professionals instill a strong sense of trust in us that they will carry out the required action to the best of their knowledge and ability.

The truly Professional have no excuses up their sleeve to shirk work or responsibility entrusted to them and they can be implicitly relied upon.

Professionals also earn our trust because they are honest and ethical. Because they are above board, there are not many motives for them to resort to lies.

Also, Professionals believe in fair play; they play by the principles.

Do not step on others to climb up

Professional workers respect hard work. They recognize the blood and sweat that goes into putting sincere efforts. They are aware of the rough patches one has to overcome before the ride gets smooth.

Because they treasure what they have achieved on merit and not by easy means, Professionals do not believe in stepping on others, undermining their efforts and putting others down to put themselves up. In their rule book there is no place for such shameful, worthless shenanigans.

Be a team player

Professional folk fully comprehend that no man is an island. From the teacher who imparted lessons beautifully, the class which egged them on with a sense of healthy competition and cheered them every time they stood ahead to get that medal, the University Guide who refused to accept shoddy work on their dissertation, the new work mates who accepted them and made them feel comfortable in their first jobs – Professionals know that work life is all about team playing.

For you to strike a goal or hit a sixer, there must be others on your team who rally around you to help you in giving your best shot. The mental, intellectual, skillful games we play at work are no different.

If it were not for the team mates, Professionals realize that they would remain lone rangers in a lonely, uncharged, unexciting world of low or no productivity. In the extremely dynamic and complex world of hoteliering, this bears a greater significance.

Be secure, confident and humble

Professional people are self aware of their strengths and weaknesses – the first they build upon continuously and the second they overcome by practice and persistence.

Professionals are self-sure and confident of the distance they can travel and the summits they can successfully climb. This sense of confidence stems from the learnings that they have built upon as their bank of knowledge; which practised with finesse and commitment over time gets translated into experience par excellence.

Professional workers are never proud but they have a pleasing sense of pride in their mettle, merit, acumen and accomplishments. Professionals maintain humility because they know that they have to grow up and on to perpetuity and that the room for improvement is, indeed, the biggest; always – no matter what they have achieved and where they have come to, this far.

Be a mentor

Professional people thrive in active cultures of growth, learning and development. They need to be challenged and love to add the extra to the ordinary. Therefore, to create such an environment, they must nurture others around.

Professionals get immense satisfaction from dispensing their endowment and sharing their skill-set with others. For them to bite the bigger part of the pie, they must ensure that the ball is left in other able hands.

Moreover, Professionals see mentoring as an extended exercise in personal growth and self-advancement.

        Be happy, enthusiastic, positive and optimistic

There is no other way. Happiness flows out of the fact that it has been a well-spent day with a task done well. Enthusiasm is integral to carrying out the job in the finest way known.

Professionals breathe in and out positive energy; because negativity can sap the sense out of professionalism.

And professionals are optimistic – hope springs eternal, for even if things didn’t turn out as planned today, tomorrow will always be a better day. Professionals will strive such that is does! 

Practice these core values, internalize them and see yourselves hailed as quintessentially professional hoteliers who can make any brand or team flourish.

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Picture Courtesy - Google Images

What Do the World’s best Hotels and Hoteliers have in Common? Part 2 – The Brand ‘Big Picture’!

Hoteliering is indeed an exciting line of business, far detached from the ho-hum and banality of a lot of other businesses. There is never a dull moment, with each department running itself into a frenzy of heightened activity. There is always that mad dash to deliver the service to the most discerning of guests and to present the brand values in the best way possible. 

There is a perpetual sense of fire in the business of hotels – for one, the quintessential hotelier has the fire in his belly to endeavour for excellence in the simplest of tasks, to smooth out the rough edges and to envision creative strategies for the future path; then there is, obviously, fire in the kitchen and finally the fire stemming from work exigencies and a myriad crises that wrought a normal hotel work day.

With no two work days being alike and no two guests with the same set of traits and demands, hotels are always evolving and differentiating; attempting to develop the most suitable template for their target audience.

Amidst all this are hotels that reach the pinnacle in their game plan – that of putting out excellent infrastructure beset within an exquisite piece of architecture, boasting a team of zealous superstars, aligning themselves with the changing guest demands at all times, ensuring safety and privacy and offering the hospitality of the finest order. 

The world’s finest, having taken care of the ‘basics’, always have a ‘Big Picture’ to address on the strategic blueprint – 

1. Your flag on the map

It has been seen that location is many a time the key deciding factor in brand selection, a little more than the other facets. On a business visit, a city centre hotel is of main consideration. When transiting frequently, the airport hotel regardless of its standards is what we tend to pick out. On a holiday, the location with the best views or close to main attractions or with special features of its own is what we are keen to choose.

As a hotel owner, do a lot of due diligence on the location. I recall the location issues the top sub-brand of a leading international hotel chain had to battle as the Chain opened their Five- star deluxe hotel in the Commercial Capital of India with much fanfare but with a view of a large cluster of slums. 

No amount of fine dining, finer aspects of luxury, a pulsating events calendar and the charms of a great Spa and Wine Cellar could help the hotel downplay the negatives of its disastrously unenviable location. 

“The location has to be right and the size has to be right. You can’t build the hotel and then build the market,” asserts Biki Oberoi, the father of modern hoteliering in India in his interview with a leading Financial Daily. 

As a proprietor, choose wisely before allowing the plan to take birth. And as an on-the-line hotelier make the most of your location. It is a strong force of attraction for your clientele and a strong selling point.

2. Keeping the guests ensnared

While working with one of India’s oldest hotels, I along with the Art & Antiquity Manager delighted in giving an art tour of the in-house galleries to the discerning guests. That the hotel houses a large collection of lithographs and period artefacts made for such an inspired walk-through and a splendid activity.

Jules Undersea Lodge in Florida, world’s only underwater hotel that guests have to ‘dive’ 21FT. to enter offers an experience which breaks away from every other tried and tested mould. Yes, there is the mandatory scuba diving, but living amidst sea life, dining with the sharks and reading your favourite piece of literature while being watched by a floating whale here or a sea horse there is a matchless experience that will stay with you forever. By delivering a fresh pizza to you through a diving delivery man, the Lodge turns something banal into bombastic.

At the other end of the continuum, Ananda in the Himalayas – arguably the best Destination Spa Resort in the world – urges you to rediscover yourself in its tranquil surroundings. At the mountain resort, just meditating, watching the skyline, strolling around the hill scape make for such alleviated levels of pleasure and contentment.

Therefore, whatever kind of place that you may run and wherever it may be located, ensure that there are things to ensnare your guests and entrap them in the homegrown or locational string of activities or non-activities. 

3. Nurturing a Corporate Conscientiousness

At one of the international chains I worked with, we committed ‘X’ number of volunteering hours to be spent with inhabitants of a Blind Relief Society. At another place, we kicked off a cleanliness drive on World Environment Day and carried the ardour through the year not only to clean up the neighbourhood but also prominent riversides and beaches in designated cities.

In a 2009 Study on ‘Corporate Social Responsibility in the Hospitality Industry,’ Professor Christine Lynn, PhD states that “Disaster management, such as needed after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, found several takers from prominent global chains. Best Western, Hilton group, Accor, Intercontinental, and Six Senses committed over $2.5 million, and other chains also provided aid.”

Brands that do good also do well – a Study in 2003 HSMAI Marketing Review gives an example of social inclusiveness. “Marriott’s “Pathways to Independence” program puts welfare recipients through rigorous training to enable them to move into employment positions with Marriott,” the Study cites. “Charity is good, but integrated pro-poor activities such as these enable people to help themselves out of poverty while at the same time benefitting the benefactor,” reasserts Lynn.

In a Paper titled ‘Corporate social responsibility: What are top hotel companies reporting?’ that appeared in the 2007 edition of the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, J. L. Holcomb, R.S. Upchurch and F. Okumus write that “Eight out of the ten top hotel companies (80%), as designated by Hotels magazine (official publication of the International Hotel and Restaurant Association), reported giving charitable donations, 60% reported having diversity policies, and 40% mentioned social responsibility as part of their company mission statements. 

The top ten hotel companies’ websites and annual reports were analysed and the information found was categorised into community, environment, marketplace, vision and values, and workforce. Hilton Corporation was found to have the most comprehensive CSR reporting. Marriot came in as second most comprehensive and the Accor hotel group was third.”

There are several benefits at so many different levels to being socially responsible. If you are a conscientious, socially responsible corporate then you are viewed as a wholesome leader of the pack, are respected by customers on both ends of the fence – the employees look up to you and the guests hold you in high esteem, your brand recall value is far greater than when you put in large percentage of your earnings into hugely expensive media plans. What’s more, being socially responsible not only makes you look good, it makes you feel better.

There is no better approach to imprint your positive image on the collective mindscape of your target audience and to leave, inarguably, an indelible footprint on the global hospitality stratosphere.

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What Do the World’s best Hotels and Hoteliers have in Common? Part 1 – The Brand Basics!

The business of hoteliering dates back to the time when the first explorer trudged into a strange, undiscovered land and, wishing to put up his tired, over-wrought feet on a comfortable bed, sauntered into a kind man’s front yard seeking a bed for his body and bread for his hungry stomach.

Or perhaps, it all began with the wandering cowboy in the Wild West, who wishing to escape the law, sought refuge on the top floor of a drinking salon, paying for the shave, rounds of drink and a meal before he rode off. Whatever may have been the first reason for its genesis, man soon realized that this was a lucrative business that he could get into.

With need-based evolution, desire-led ideation and reacting to the diversity in the market mix, hotels have developed into several brand types and niche categories.

Regardless of the type and slotting into stars, the best hotels in their own coves have a common thread running through them. The world’s best brand leaders seem to share some common aspects that set them apart from the hoi polloi that dot the global hoteliering landscape.

Here are some of the ‘basics’ that make the best establishments stand above others –

1.     Business Acumen

It is only comme il faut that one must build upon one’s knowledge and experience to such levels that egg you on to do inspiring work. So, if you wish to create brands and run them as successful and profitable places then you must know your business like the back of your hand. 

There is need to know your market, understand your customers, run parallels with competition, comb the globe for inspiration, not be scared of treading on new pastures, stoke your drive for innovation and entrepreneurship and evolve your uniquely, outstanding product.

Knowing your business also extends to knowing your guests extremely well. When you consciously rely on word of mouth recognition as against paid publicity, it becomes extremely essential to be clued on to your guest profile, their characteristic and differentiating facets, likes and dislikes. 

So, whether it is serving whole fruits instead of sliced because guests like it so, putting a hot plate under that personal pot of coffee, increasing healthy choices across all meal options, adhering to a no-alcohol policy even at the expense of foregoing profits because guests wish to ‘live’ in a quiet, serene and peaceful ambience; World’s best hotels employ a pronounced ‘outside-in thinking.’

In the course of my working with hotels, I have seen legendary owners get down to the Housekeeping basics as and when the need arose. I have noted entrepreneurial General Managers know as much about ducting and laundry machines as about the food and wine. 

And the guest has definitely been God whether it is the individualistically iconic Aman Group or the template-benchmarked Four Seasons or the service-trendsetting Ritz Carlton. From Cesar Ritz, Conrad Hilton, Bill Marriott to Jay Pritzker, Biki Oberoi and Adrian Zecha – these legends have known their business so well that they have envisioned way forwards and outcomes, set trends and spelt out how hoteliering should be conducted. 

Therefore, in order to be a consummate hotelier you must endeavour to know all. No piece of information is too small and no responsibility big enough for you to learn and handle.

2.     The A Team

Could you win any combat just on the basis of a great war strategy (think Brand positioning here) and a very able General (think top leadership) if your henchmen and foot soldiers failed to toe the line with their loyalty, commitment, passion, hard work and astuteness? 

Ask any well-bred hotelier and they will tell you about the million battles they must meet head-on, all in a day’s work. A hotel job is inundated with gazillion crises that must be fought and smoothened in little time. This would not be possible without enlisting the moral, physical and cerebral support of a committed and qualified workforce.

Your dedicated team comprised of happy, satisfied and trained staff are the biggest reason that will make your hotel stand out and above the competition when most other parameters are more or less the same – you know the set of services, the offerings, the linen, crockery, bathrobe, technology, even the plush airport pick-ups. 

As an Owner / Manager, always endeavour to keep your team happy, satisfied, motivated, committed, enthusiastic, conscientious and yes, crisis-ready.

Ensure this and you have a dreamboat to navigate.

3.     Great F&B

Food at the place must be such that people travel from far and wide just to experience the culinary marvel that the Hotel can proudly boast of. And the world’s best hotels have that.

Is the food at your place so great that it becomes a sight that guests must visit to see and an experience that they wish to make that special trip for? Think Tea at the Ritz, Brunch at the floating Jumbo Restaurant in Hong Kong, a once in a lifetime meal at the now closed elBulli by Ferran Adrià!

Food is, indeed, the other pivot on which your success story can rest. If you do great food then there is a lot you can get by. Guests will happily dine at your restaurants, will entertain proudly at one of your crown jewels, chat with your chefs, get enamoured by the little stories you weave around your ingredients, how they are sourced, how they blend into your majestic presentations, the appeal of your culinary craftsmen and the superlative taste most of the items on your menu promise to leave on the discerning palate.

Great set of restaurants, strong focus on food quality, plating par excellence and taste including an above-par Room Service will help in entrapping even the toughest of guests and bind them into your fold.

The good food crafted by trained hands and delivered by guest-oriented staff is a great strategy for winning and keeping guests. Rustle up food-lores from the historical annals of the culinary fare you serve, create your irrepressible food scents around your specialities popping out of your specialized boulangerie, patisserie, delicatessen, let the guests eat out of the hands of your rocking F&B star team members, proudly present a wine list that is the talk of the town, get a mixologist to train your barmen to become blending masters. The opportunities are endless and serve to work as a sensory binding of the guest loyalty for your brand.

These three then – the core of business and its overall nous, the dedicated team and outstanding Food & Beverage – have been refined and polished by the World’s best hotels to build up their own benchmarks and best practices. They have developed such exacting standards that easily put them in the league of extraordinary gems in the hotel business worldwide.

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What Does an Iconic Hotel look like? Part 2 – The ‘soul’ of a Brand!

Moving up their own Maslow’s Pyramid of “existential” Hierarchy, hotels have been differentiating themselves from each other, some famously growing to rise to the top of the competitive heap to become the finest, the best, and the iconic.

The Raffles in Singapore, The Peninsula in Hong Kong, the Oriental in Bangkok, The Ritz in Paris, the Beverly Hills Hotel in California, Copacabana Palace in Brazil, Hotel Cipriani in Venice – are all icons and legends. So what makes them so?

In Part 2 of this feature, we look at elements that form the soul of a brand –

1.     Iconic hotels are in Step with the Universe

In today’s maniacal times of rampant growth, global warming is unleashing havoc on our lives. Every individual and organization is carrying a cross stemming from all the bad things we have done collectively to our environment. We have begun to regret the good things we did not have the good sense or better planning to bring into effect so as to undo the bad.

As people or companies, we can be easily put in the dock for incessantly leaving warning levels of huge carbon footprints on the Universe whose sole purpose is to nourish and nurture us. And for that, we just have to pay the price, as we already are beginning to.

Each step we take towards reducing our carbon emissions counts. When I was working with the local Hyatt in India’s Capital City back in the mid-90s, we formed an ‘Environment Brigade’ and as cause espousing Crusaders went about strategizing to save different forms of energy and resources wherever we could, without short-changing guest comfort. We also looked outside and started participating in larger societal issues.

There have been other chains who take on matters that deal with tree plantation, management of green islands around, water effluent systems, harvesting of solar energy or the rainwater. The possibilities are countless.

As companies that deal essentially with people – both on the inside and outside, hotels have a huge role to play in striving to curb the menace and wind the clock back on the damages done.

 No wonder, prominent hotel chains are attempting to be in unison with the Universe by going green and trying to increasingly be more environment-friendly.

2.     Iconic hotels have a sense of humour

Having a sense of humour helps in several ways! It saves your skin on a bad hair day, gives your brand personality an edge, becomes a conversation starter with the guests and leaves a nice after-feeling with them.

Rob Palleschi, global head, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, not only oversees Hilton Worldwide's flagship brand and leads a portfolio of more than 550 hotels and resorts across six continents, he is also a master strategist. In a case study done by Bulldog Reporter, Palleschi shared how his Group employed humour to change the mindset and grow the client base from business travellers to include leisure. The idea was also to grow sales as a leisure travel destination. “We used humour to create a campaign around ‘vacationitis.’ We worked with our internal and external partners to create a funny campaign that featured the tongue-in-cheek interactive microsite, ‘Hilton Urgent Vacation Care Center.’ The site featured a vacation diagnostic test that determined how "sick" visitors were and gave them custom prescriptions that involved stays at Hilton Hotels & Resorts properties around the globe,” reveals Rob Palleschi.

When you do things with a zing, you manage to suffix extra to the otherwise ordinary and carve a little niche for your brand. The humour helps alleviate many a hairy-hoary situation, leaving guests feeling more forgiving should you have erred or relaxed should the heat – circumstantial or climatic – be on a high. And like in the Hilton example it helps in creating more business too!   

3.     Iconic hotels challenge themselves

In the continuously evolving world of hospitality, change is the only constant. The guest profile is changing, they are becoming more discerning. Our co-players are devising new methods to play the business game. The infrastructure and technology are always in the shake, rattle, refresh and renew mode. With so much going on, the solution lies in challenging yourself and upping your antenna for upward growth.

When I moved on from an established brand to an old hotel that had been languishing in a decrepit condition for long, we had a huge mandate on hand. As part of the Change Agent Team, the big challenge staring back at us was to turn around the Brand completely. We had to restructure, reposition, redevelop and thereby rebrand the hotel company. 

The task was monumental for each of us. As integral cogs in the wheel, we all had to be well-oiled to deliver beyond briefs and expectations. From redoing the look with new construction, new upholstery, uniforms, linen, flatware we took a comb through the way things were done and brought in up-to-date policies and procedures, wrote new manuals and put in place benchmarked new best practices.

Having done all that, a bigger challenge lay ahead of us. We had to reshape mindsets and change our guest profile. In its earlier avatar, the hotel used to host a mix of old, retired Government officials who dropped in for tea or dining and East European backpackers who kept the tariff down. 

The need-of-the-hour was to tell the world that we were now there to be spoken of in the same breath as the world’s finest. That, we were ready to host the luxury business and leisure traveller from any corner of the globe!

The end result – each of us who worked on this majorly challenging assignment has shaped into a consummate hotelier. We have been privileged to handle such a wonderful, path-breaking professional assignment and are proud to have left a rich legacy that is talked about with respect in the hoteliering circles.

Whether it is launching a new hotel or relaunching an old one (the latter being a more difficult task), exploring new markets, reinforcing presence in the markets we have existed in, the world of hotels is always poised to present unlimited challenges to us.

Then there are the additional demands on us – that of retraining team on new practices and insights, looking at new ways to conduct business, increasing the bandwidth of our guest profile, introducing new concepts and newer technology and wishing to establish our toehold in heretofore untouched segments. It is in our interest to bite the bullet. 

We must not only be prepared to turn all the professional handicaps into aces that underline the success but to upset our apple cart, step away from our comfort zone and go out looking for challenging frontiers to put our personal flags on. All the star icons on the hospitality landscape have challenged the basics and evolved into models with exemplary practices.

The iconic hotels, with their distinctive growth passage, show us that this is the only way forward!

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