‘In Hospitality Guests Are The Winners’: Ranjan Banerjee, GM, Crowne Plaza Today Okhla

HAVING SPENT 20 years in hospitality industry, Ranjan Banerjee, General Manager, Crowne Plaza Today Okhla, has seen the sector evolving over the time.  “The basics have always remained the same and that is hospitality,” he said in a conversation with BW Hotelier. He started his career way back in 1994 with the InterContinental Park Royal New Delhi (now Eros Hotel Nehru Place) as a Front Office Supervisor and since then there was no looking back. He has worked in different countries and regions including Oman, Nepal and India in both franchised and managed brands.

Recalling his initial days in hospitality, Banerjee said, “Unlike today, earlier we didn’t have many online operations. The best part of the earlier days was that there weren’t many hotels, only the big Indian players like Taj and Oberoi existed and the foreign players have just started to come in. It was a great learning experience for all of us since the rebranding was happening all around.”

Banerjee feels that with an increased flow of inventories, hotels now have started offering more of experiential stay. Speaking about Crowne Plaza Today Okhla, he informs, “While we have 13 brands under IHG, our brand, Crowne Plaza caters not only to the leisure and business guest, but we also offer meeting experiences. As we specialise in meeting and weddings, this is a big part of our business.”

The hotel recently hosted International fair trade and MSME (Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) event. For weddings, the hotel can host up to 400 to 450 people, believing in providing the whole experience rather than just a venue.

“From our employee perspective, we also have a separate section or the quiet zone, where they can stay get recharged for their work,” Banerjee adds.

Being very strong in meetings, technology plays a very vital role for a hotel. “When it comes to meeting, we are constantly upgrading our audiovisual offerings, in all our hotels. We have complimentary internet for all our guests and a very premium hi-speed internet to offer,” he told us. 

Within the vicinity of Okhla, Crowne Plaza Today currently have four other competitors. According to Banerjee, the hotel is enjoying the occupancy rate between 75 – 79 percent. “With the growing economy, there is a huge business. When business travel is growing, we witness leisure travel growing side by side. People now have expendable resources to go out, experience the city and seep into the local culture,” he said.

To provide such experiences to the guests, the hotel is extensively focusing on their f&b department. “We have Chef Swaminandan on board, who has a great experience from all over the globe. We are soon coming up with chef table which will occur on the regular basis. We not only have international offerings, but guests can also relish curated Indian cuisines which could be from any particular part of any state,” Banerjee said.  The hotel has four f&b offerings, i.e, Edesia, ChaoBella, French Heart and Copper Bar & Lounge.

Being an avid traveller from the heart, getting into the hospitality industry for Banerjee was by an accident. With the zeal to excel in his field, he is beautifully spearheading his team with a great vision forward.