Enhancing the Guest Experience

IT WAS sometime in early January 1995 that I saw an opening for an assistant director of F&B at Hyatt Regency Delhi, which was then the only Hyatt™ hotel in India. Aside from the fact that Hyatt™ was an international chain, I did not have much knowledge about the property at the time, but I was keen to take up the assignment, as I had heard of some new F&B concepts coming up during that period and I felt that there was some great learning potential involved. Lucky to get the role, I began my journey with Hyatt™ a month later.

Almost 22 years on, the learning continues. I have had the opportunity to work in different cities, which has exposed me to an immense amount of learning. Coming back to Hyatt Regency Delhi in June 2013 brought me full circle. After starting here and moving through various assignments, I was honoured to return and head the hotel where my journey began.

In the last three and a half years as general manager of Hyatt Regency Delhi, I have tried to keep the entire team’s focus aligned with our company’s purpose of caring for people so that they can be their best. I have also tended key areas such as looking after guests and colleagues alike, improving revenue and ensuring a gross operating profit.

From the very beginning, the hotel’s team and I focused on what we could do to enhance the guest experience in all areas. We felt that this would be the most important differentiator in a city full of wonderful hotels. I also believed that this could be done only if associates had the right tools and the environment to operate openly, which would allow them to express themselves and let their inherent personalities shine through when interacting with guests. This would also help colleagues become more confident and encourage them to have meaningful conversations with guests, which would allow for the discovery of guest preferences and help us adjust our offerings to suit these preferences. This approach has helped us immensely in fostering loyalty among our guests.

Over the last few years, the team has worked very hard to stay away from what is trendy (as trends usually come and go fairly quickly) and has instead used Hyatt design thinking to come up with innovative solutions and ideas to increase revenue in key areas such as F&B and Events. These methods have involved meeting with guests, ideating and coming up with prototypes, leading to outcomes that have been phenomenal in terms of bringing new and fresh ideas to the table, all of which have been quickly embraced by guests and have helped us grow even further. From outstanding new offerings at our restaurants to giving the city a truly unique event space at The Mansion, this process has helped us reinforce our image of being a leading F&B destination.

2017 will be very important for us, as we are about to launch two great concepts: a members-only entertainment club and a members-only business club. In addition to being unique and innovative, both of these concepts will make the hotel a true multi-faceted property, offering resident and non-resident guests of all ages all the benefits and luxury they expect under one roof.