t2: Congratulations on 15 years of ITC Sonar. Let’s rewind to 2002…

Atul Bhalla (area manager east, ITC Hotels and GM, ITC Sonar): This part of town used to be the outskirts… there was nothing but pukurs and a dumpyard. Imagine the vision of ITC to develop a hotel here despite people saying, ‘What are you guys doing?! It’s not a good idea coming up here with the smells etc.’. Look at the skyline 15 years later — skyscrapers coming up, plush residences, a number of hotels and I hear that Trump Tower is coming up behind Atmosphere. I also hear that Milan Mela is going to undergo renovation and an expo kind of a venue will come up. What more? An expo that has got 1,000 rooms (ITC Sonar + the massive new building ITC Royal Bengal + JW Marriott), and a large auditorium like Science City, if it’s redone. Imagine when all this comes up and the Metro is running. You could be anywhere in the world!

Tell us, how is today’s traveller different from yesterday?

The millennial is very conscious about the environment, country and resources. If you have money it doesn’t mean you can waste resources. And because we are a Leed Platinum Certified hotel, people expect us not to waste resources. So, for example, we have single-diner menus that give you a complete experience of the restaurant and at the same time, help you not to waste. We inculcate these habits into our staff as well. In the cafeteria we have a ‘No Dustbin Day’.
Today’s traveller also wants to know why we are doing certain things, where the ingredients come from, the technique the chef is using…. so creativity becomes important. Every trend is becoming passe so quickly; we used to talk about molecular gastronomy, now no one’s talking about it anymore.

What are some more changes in culinary trends... are guests willing to spend more? 

Culinary is like a moving picture. We have to constantly ask the question, ‘What’s better than this?’ We have to keep creating and reinventing and our chefs have a challenging task ahead. Let me share an incident. I once got a call from a gentleman who wanted to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary in a big way. When we met him, he was literally dreaming… ‘this can happen, that can happen’…. Anyway we went through the entire thing and then he asked for a proposal. I told him it would take two-three weeks. He said, ‘Why do you need two-three weeks, it’s a simple thing’. I said, ‘No, trust me, give me three weeks’ time’. He agreed.

I called him after three weeks and he had forgotten all about it. When we reached his office, I asked if there was a boardroom and a projector. He was taken aback but said yes. What happened in the following 45 minutes… well, all he said was, ‘You showed me the dream that I saw’. When we did the actual event, we changed the cuisine every 45 minutes and ended up doing 32 cuisines. We got chefs from all over thanks to the ITC chain strength. It was an achievement, business-wise too, because people don’t normally pay this kind of a price. And this gentleman became our client for life.

What are some of the Responsible Luxury initiatives of the hotel?

The Baluchari sari worn by our lady executives. We worked closely with Crafts Council of West Bengal and picked this 100-year-old design. This was a design that was not there in the market so even getting the weavers to create that pattern was challenging. The sari was gorgeous and got much attention. It is one of our contributions to the region and what we call Responsible Luxury. 

Other initiatives include Sattva Cuisine, SunyaAqua — water bottled in a plant inside the ITC Sonar kitchen, tying up with WWF for the Choose Wisely Programme and our Sleep Initiatives. Today sleep is so important, if you have a good night’s sleep, you have a great day ahead and productivity goes up. So we invest a lot in sleep. In fact, there is a sleep boutique coming up at ITC Maurya, Delhi.

Personally, how have you enjoyed your four years in Calcutta?

This city has given me so much. People are nice, make you feel at home and accept you the way you are. They genuinely give you time, talk to you, help you settle and it’s not true for just me, many others feel so. There is culture, zest and love for life… I think Calcutta is such a liveable city.

I love to play my round of golf in the mornings at Tolly (Tollygunge Club) and then have breakfast in the Shamiana. I can tell you exactly how many rounds (takes out his mobile phone and opens the Golfshot Plus app), all my golf rounds are recorded into this! So I played 421 rounds in a little over three years — that’s an average of thrice a week.
Although in the last six-eight months we haven’t been going out because of my daughter’s board exams but the three of us (wife Kangan and daughter Simar) love going to Chili’s at Quest. It’s a very easy atmosphere and well-done restaurant. It reminds you of Hard Rock Cafe, another of our favourites.

And then you have the Calcutta culture of chilling at friends’ places or your own place — small get-togethers so that you get to speak to everybody. There are times when you have three invitations for the evening and you don’t have the heart to say no to anyone. So you have to really manage yourself. The good part is that things start early so if you plan well, you can actually do it all.

What kind of a difference can we expect ITC Royal Bengal to make?

ITC Royal Bengal is a tribute to Bengal. Calcutta — and the east — is definitely going to gain from this. I believe that things that never happened before will start happening. For example, large events. Can you imagine a scenario where ITC Royal Bengal gets completed and Milan Mela gets renovated… world-class shows, the kind that happen in Hanover (Germany), can take place. Can you imagine the kind of influx into the city? Every hotel will thrive and so will the job economy. The most important part is that Calcutta covers seven states and three countries — it is the true gateway to the east. Plus, China is two hours from here and Singapore is two-three hours.  

How big will the hotel be and what will it house? 

It will have 454 rooms (the existing ITC Sonar has 237). A lot of new brands will be coming in. Some of the new brands in ITC are the Royal Vega in Grand Chola. And Italian brand Ottimo Cucina Italiana in ITC Gardenia, ITC Maurya and Grand Chola. There is space for around seven-eight outlets. The destination we are creating is magnificent. If you take ITC Sonar, ITC Royal Bengal, and JW Marriott together, there will be 17-18 restaurants, 1.5-2 lakh sq ft of banqueting space, 1,000 rooms… do you need to go anywhere else? 

The usable space of all the banquet halls at Royal Bengal will be around 38,000sq ft and the single largest pillarless hall is 17,000sq ft., the largest in this part of the world. It can be divided into five sections and then there are pre-function areas around it too. 

The beauty of our hotel is a separate entrance, so there is no interference with the rest of the hotel. The top canopy that you see is the lobby and under that the banquets. And then on the side, there is another porch. So at any given point of time, two large events can happen simultaneously, independent of each other. 

Then there are the smaller halls, high-tech boardrooms, plus a lot of open spaces that we are carving out, waterbodies, open garden in front, a walking track, and there will be a rooftop restaurant later, plus a lot of spaces. It will be spectacular! 

If ITC Sonar is built around the concept of a bagan bari, what is the concept of ITC Royal Bengal?

The architecture of ITC Royal Bengal is a tribute to the Victorian era. It will be a cream-coloured building standing tall.
What’s the one thing you’re hearing the most about ITC Royal Bengal? And how often are you asked the question — when is it opening! 

The one thing I’m hearing is... very imposing structure… it is looking so beautiful. As for the question, anywhere I go out, I am asked this question so I’m very comfortable with it now!

So, when are you opening?

(Laughs) We will announce the opening date in the next financial year.  

AT A GLANCE

Cream-coloured building with architecture a tribute to the Victorian era
454 rooms
Total banquet space of 38,000sq ft including a 17,000sq ft. pillarless hall which can be divided into five (Sangam in JW Marriott is the largest at present at 13, 450sq ft)
Around seven-eight “new F&B brands” from ITC. Some of these newer brands include Royal Vega (fine-dine vegetarian food from royal kitchens of the past) and Italian brand Ottimo Cucina Italiana. A rooftop restaurant could open too
Expected to open: 2018-end or early-2019

Text: Karo Christine Kumar
Pictures: Rashbehari Das