The market buzz is that the hotel is up for sale by the owners? Is that true?

We haven’t been informed anything officially about it. Marriott is basically the operator and we manage hotels. So irrespective of who the owner is, we continue to do our job as per the focus and interest of the hotel. Having said that, I have not heard about this aspect. There have been people who have asked me for sure but, no, I haven’t heard about it from the owners themselves. I don’t think I am in a position to comment on this any further. I am not in the know.

There have been a couple of changes since we last spoke in May, when JW Marriott Kolkata completed six months. One of them is outsourcing the management of the nightclub Gold to M Bar and Kitchen...

As hoteliers we realised that we may not be excellent in just about everything including running nightclubs. And here we had the people from M Bar, whose forte is just that. Running a nightclub with the skills of quintessentially traditional hoteliering, so to speak, is very different. The people in M Bar have been in the city and have their relationships in place. We have a great nightclub in a great location. So we thought we could be winners by joining hands.

The hotel did run Gold for a while...

Yes, and in fact we did reasonably well but we just thought we could do better. You need a dedicated energy and resource for doing this kind of an outlet in a hotel… it’s not like running a restaurant, it’s a very different ball game. It’s all about relationships and all of us in the hotel are fairly new to Calcutta so I think we needed the bond with M Bar. 

Was getting the party crowd this side of town tough?

I don’t think location was such a problem. We just wanted to raise the bar for ourselves. While we know the business and corporate houses, there is a completely different clientele that knows the nightclub scene. And we needed that portfolio management, that database, those connections. We also need to understand what makes the nightclubs buzz.

Have you seen any improvements?

Our weekends are full now and we are also keeping Gold open on all seven days of the week. The strategy is to have a lot of events, guest DJs and to basically make the people feel at home for the first six months, and then hope that the energy continues post that. 

How did the FIFA U-17 team enjoy their stay in the hotel? 

We were specially honoured because we had the governing council stay with us... that was a cut above the rest. Their demands were very different from the players. They had taken around 90 rooms and had more official requirements like use of boardrooms etc. They were trying times but the lobby looked beautiful and everyone was talking about it. And we made money as well (laughs) so I guess everything worked in our favour. They had even taken the Executive Lounge. 

Is the Executive Lounge ready?

It’s ready but we use it only for special occasions right now. It’s a lounge (on the first floor) for use by our regular guests and elite members. As of now we have happy hours and we will start full-fledged dining once our complete room inventory is open.

When will the rest of the 90 rooms (total inventory is 281) and restaurants open? 

The work has started. There are six floors that are incomplete and I’m hoping that by February, around three floors (housing 45 rooms) will open, followed by the next three floors. 
The restaurants (concept restaurant + rooftop bar) should open by middle of next year, around mid-July. We are playing around with ideas on what the concept should be. 

Are these decisions about the concepts taken independently or in collaboration with the owners?

No, it is in collaboration with the owners. Marriott, being an international brand, knows what works and what doesn’t, while the owners being local, understand the sensitivities of the market and the local aspects. 

What are some of your biggest learnings from the last year?

I think the biggest learning was that we had seen pre-opening hotels in other cities and we thought it takes a long time for a hotel to become popular and full. Our biggest learning was that we were full from Day One. We did stumble at moments where we couldn’t handle that kind of business or pressure. Thankfully, the team here is very mature and has worked in other hotels so we would always huddle, solve an issue and then move on. For example, we did not know that the restaurants would go as chock-a-block as they did so we did not have a specialised person for table reservations. But when we saw people were complaining, we realised we needed a person only for table reservations. 

The hotel also saw a lot of famous faces this year… some you photographed with too!

(Laughs) My team insists I photograph with them for the Facebook page of JW Marriott. Shah Rukh Khan was one person I was most willingly going to photograph myself with! The best part is, I welcomed him with flowers, and when I showed the photograph to my mom, she said, “Oh wow, that’s a very nice gesture, for him to bring flowers for you!” She thought he was the one who gave me flowers! That’s what moms are for. 

We had Anushka Sharma, who stayed here for quite some time for the shoot of Pari, almost a month-and-a-half. She would work out in the gym very late at night and also go for a swim. We know that because they took permission for her to swim late at night. We celebrated her brother’s birthday here as well. 

Most of the celebs from Bollywood order either grilled chicken or boiled vegetables. I always wonder how they eat that day in and day out but that’s why they look what they look like and we don’t! 

We have had guests like Abhishek Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol, Abhinav Bindra, Sunny Leone, Govinda, Sunidhi Chauhan and Boman Irani. And Prosenjit’s shoot a couple of times.

The last time we spoke in May, the highest a room sold for was Rs 22,000. Has that figure gone up?

Yes, we raised the bar to Rs 25,000. These rates float in because of auspicious wedding dates or city sold-out dates. 

What’s the most popular theme and food for weddings?

People in Calcutta love getting different cuisines — right from molecular food to the second-most popular cuisine, which is Italian. The main course is always Indian, I don’t think anyone plays around with that! It’s the live counters that are experimental, from Thai to Lebanese to Mexican. A lot of people love our desserts because of the spread in JW Kitchen… they go to the dessert counter first, see what’s there and then eat accordingly! 

Is JW Kitchen still clocking as many numbers? 

Oh yes, and Vintage Asia too! We’ve raised our JW Kitchen prices and it’s still as popular. We took two-three stages to change the prices. When people first started coming to us, they said it’s value for money. Then people started coming because they appreciated the food and the service. Every time I increase the price, it’s by a minuscule amount just to test waters and see. There was no way I was willing to compromise on the popularity of the place. At the end of the day, food is a price-sensitive market. When we started, a weekday lunch was Rs 899 and now it’s Rs 1,250, so that’s an increase of Rs 300-Rs 350 since we opened. 

There are guests I meet in the lobby and they’ll say that this is their 16th visit to the hotel. It’s heart-warming to hear something like that. A price can get you to the hotel once or twice but if you’re not happy with the food and service, you will not go back. That’s been our USP. 

Now that winter is here, do you plan to enter the outdoor catering space?

We are entering into the outdoor catering market big time. We want to showcase our food to the city and we have a couple of events lined up in P.C. Chandra Garden. Because Vintage Asia has been so popular and I want to showcase that product more, so Western desserts and Asian food are something that I am taking out of the hotel into the outdoor catering market. 

We have also broken into the medical conferences market and corporates who are also calling us for outdoor catering. As a general manager earlier, my portfolio has been very strong on outdoor catering. But I wanted this hotel to stabilise first before we really went out. So now that we have taken baby steps, we will go aggressive this winter. 
It’s about the visual appeal and the style and flair with which you do it.  On a winter evening if you have someone taking steaming noodles out of a wok, it makes a lot of difference. 

Finally, your SWOT analysis...

Strength: The team, brand and the product.
Weakness: We still don’t have the entire inventory so it limits us in taking business.
Opportunity: Continue to keep the F&B alive. A year later we are still sold out, how long it will continue I don’t know so we’ll have to be on our toes.
Threat: I don’t see too much of a threat in terms of competition. Contrary to the belief of ITC Sonar being competition, I think we can really synergise our energies for a common cause.

Text: Karo Christine Kumar
I like to go to JW Marriott because.... Tell t2@abp.in