Managing Guest Expectations is Biggest Challenge

RAMANDEEP MARWAH, took over as the General Manager at JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut Grove Resort & Spa just about a month ago. He moved to Mussoorie from the JW Marriott Pune. Marwah has previously worked at several hotels including the Shangri-La Mumbai, Taj Mahal New Delhi and The Oberoi New Delhi. He has also been part of the pre-opening teams of various hotels. Having worked in business hotels throughout his career, Marwah in a conversation with Smita Tripathi says a leisure hotel such as the JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut Grove Resort & Spa comes with its own set of challenges. Edited excerpts:

BW Hotelier: What is the biggest challenge of a market like Mussoorie?

Ramandeep Marwah: Managing the expectations of the guests is the biggest challenge in the leisure segment. The guest is paying from his own pocket unlike business hotels where the company pays and so the guest isn’t really bothered. But here when he is paying top dollar from his own pocket, he expects the best. We need to exceed expectation.

This hotel is the highest in terms of guest satisfaction not only among all the JW Marriott hotels in India but also in Asia Pacific. We are scoring at around 90 per cent on guest satisfaction.

The average daily rate for our hotel is the highest among all the JW Marriott hotels in the country. Our ADR is around Rs 18,000. So maintaining the balance between the highest room rate and guest satisfaction becomes the biggest challenge.

BWH: Besides the regular leisure market what other markets are you looking at?

RM: Weddings are a big market for us. We have become a destination wedding spot. Last year we did 25 weddings. This year we hope to cross 30. For a wedding the entire hotel is booked by the wedding party.

The weddings are sold through the Marriott initiative called Shaadi by Marriott. The Marriott corporate office is driving it across India. There are various initiatives such as having our (Marriott’s) own wedding shows, inviting the wedding partners over, discussing themes with the guest etc.

BWH: Can you provide a little information about the team?

RM: The leadership team at the hotel has been the same since day 1 of operations. This is our third year of operation and we are very fortunate to have the same team around. Generally, post opening most of the leadership team moves out. Close to about 75 per cent of the team is the same as the pre-opening team. With a stable team it is easier to create more experiences for the guests.

BWH: Sustainable tourism is a growing trend in the hospitality industry. What initiatives are you taking at the property to promote it?

RM: We are trying to engage as much as possible with the local villagers, while at the same time helping them maintain their culture and identity. We are promoting local Garhwali cuisine. We have introduced a Garhwali thali in our restaurant which is doing very well. We have hired a large number of locals, almost 70 per cent of our team is Garhwali. Nearly 90 per cent of the kitchen staff is local, including a few women who cook the traditional food. We are helping them become self sufficient. The world over the best Indian food is cooked by the Garhwali people. We are also curating itineraries where we take our guests to homes of villagers for a local authentic meal and experience. This helps promote local culture.

In the future we plan to adopt a village and look at various aspects such as education, especially of the girl child. There are various other things around that on the cards. Sustainable tourism is a way of life for us.

BWH: Since this is a leisure hotel, do you suffer from seasonal discrepancies in room occupancies? What are the challenges?

RM: Our peak season is May to July because of the summer holidays of the kids. During the off season our occupancy does drop to some extent but we still do pretty well. Our average occupancy throughout the year is about 66-66 per cent. Of course during the peak season we do about 92-95 per cent occupancy. We try and do various activities throughout the different seasons to keep the guests occupied.