It’s been three years as general manager of The Gateway Hotel and from here, Manu Sharma moves to Vivanta by Taj in Gurgaon. t2 is sad to see him go (not the least for being a rare handsome man in town) but also happy that he is moving on to bigger things. We caught up with him at his first workplace, Taj Bengal. 

Vivanta by Taj, Gurgaon, is a 208-room hotel and The Gateway Hotel, Calcutta, has only 80 operational rooms...
Yes that’s more than twice the inventory and I am looking forward to the new challenge. At the same time, I’m going to, you know, miss the city, having been born and brought up here.

What are the three things you’re going to miss the most — whether it’s running to work or the food!
(Laughs) Running on the roads has become more risky now so I’m going to miss running around the Lakes. I’m going to miss the people and the food. My family will join me in March-April as my son has his boards. And I’m going to miss t2 also, ya! 

We will miss you too! Tell us a little more about how this happened. Of course we know it’s a promotion! 
(Laughs) No, well, sort of! But I spent almost three years at The Gateway Hotel and I think after a certain point of time, you also need a fresh perspective to come in which will help the hotel. So that’s why it happened. I’m looking forward to the new assignment and I’m sure my successor who’s already here, Debraj Singh, is going to pick up the ropes and run! The hotel is now poised for growth and better things.

In these three years, what big changes did you bring about in the hotel?
When I took over, there were a lot of teething issues. From simple things like setting up a supply chain etc… we managed to do that, iron out all the teething issues and make it financially stable. Like I said, it’s only poised for growth from now on. I’ve hopefully managed to lay a platform from where it can only go up. Also, I think I have managed to get a certain amount of credibility and trust built in the market and among our guests, which I think will stand it in good stead in the long run. 

How, according to you, have you managed to win that trust?
It’s the people. The service and the delivery of the service. I’m lucky to have a good team. People on ground are great and today if you actually go to any social platform, say for example, TripAdvisor, the hotel ranks around 4 out of 209 hotels in the city, which I think is a great achievement. Consistent quality service with pride, day in and day out. I guess that’s what helped us establish the bond of trust with our guests.

What specific things really clicked? 
I think the Opaar Bangla cuisine has really established itself. That is one thing we’re really happy about. Even today we’re doing a Rajbari festival. So even if it’s not Opaar Bangla, it’s West Bengal. There’s a common thread. That’s clicked. People found a lot of value for the price points we offered. 

As a brand, SIN [Swirl Indie Nights, a platform for city bands and musicians to perform original music every Saturday] was another thing that gained acceptance. I have spoken to Debraj about it and I hope he revives it. We had put it on hold because we wanted to redo it in a better way. I’ve had people asking me, ‘What happened to SIN?’ That gives me a great feeling of pride because it was a concept we put together as a weekly calendar event. So people would say, ‘I’m going here, here, here and on Saturdays, to SIN’. I hope that comes back in a bigger, better avatar. 

Banqueting also does well. In fact, it’s one of the mainstays of the hotel, one of the strongest pillars. Right now, the rooms and F&B are almost 50:50 and within F&B, banqueting is around 25-30 per cent.

So will the hotel look at opening more banqueting space?
I hope so. Given the opportunity, we should explore that possibility. 

What was the biggest challenge?
We had a lot of challenges. Starting from recruitment, retention, brand association… I think we put all that behind us and we’ve managed to kind of establish ourselves in the market. 

Has your favourite corner in the hotel changed?
Still the same!  [A window table in Buzz, the 24-hour coffee shop, where Manu has a view of the buffet, the lobby and the people entering the hotel.]

Sitting in your previous workplace, Taj Bengal, what memories come rushing back?
This hotel will always have a special place in my heart [Manu started his career with Taj Bengal in 1999 and rose to become resident manager before he joined The Gateway Hotel as general manager]. I started right at the bottom... I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

Finally, what’s the one thing you take from Calcutta to Delhi that will help you in your new role?
The market in Calcutta has always been about personal relationships. Everywhere you go it’s about the finer things and how you react and manage situations. At the core of everything ultimately is the relationship that you have with your guest, your vendor, partner, any stakeholder. That’s something that’s very critical as far as my learning here is concerned. Delhi is a different market and competition is cut-throat. The way things are done could be different but at the core of everything is relationships.