Kenneth, as general manager of the hotel, tell us about the city’s response to Holiday Inn after two months of opening.
It’s been very positive in terms of both rooms and F&B. If you look at TripAdvisor, we have just 10 reviews but they are all positive reviews. Guests have talked about the service, vibe, infrastructure and the elaborate buffet. 

What has been the biggest challenge?
I would say the pricing. The pricing has to be such that our positioning is not affected and at the same time, we sell. This is better than positioning ourselves up there without any actual business. 

What is the average room rate at the moment? 
Our inaugural room price is Rs 6,000 for double occupancy and Rs 5,500 for single. The IHG (Intercontinental Hotels Group) Rewards Club has a vast membership and people have been coming here because of the brand. 

What are you doing to draw guests? 
Our biggest selling point is the distance from the airport. So we have got the airline crews of Air Asia and Spice Jet to stay with us. The other catchment area is Sector V’s IT companies. Being MNCs, they are typically present all over and so we can offer them a contract of ‘x’ number of rooms in our properties in the Asia-Pacific. They use the strength of numbers and we use the strength of our presence. Weddings are also a big lift in terms of occupancy. We have had four so far. 

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KNOW YOUR CHEF: SUMAN CHAKRABORTY
1999: Trained with The Park. 
2002: Graduated from IHM Taratala and got selected in campus interviews for Hyatt Regency, Calcutta, where he worked for seven years.
2007: Joined Delhi’s Hotel Nikko, Japan Airline’s first hotel in India. Also worked with Sakura, the first Japanese restaurant in India by chef Nariyoshi Nakamura. Suman then moved to Italian restaurant Tonino in Delhi. 
2010: Joined La Piazza, Hyatt Regency. 
2011: Came to Calcutta as part of the opening team of Cafe Swiss in Swissotel Kolkata Neotia Vista. Then moved to Park Plaza where he was in charge of Smoke Shack, K19 and the other F&B outlets. 
2014: Started working as consultant for 1658 Bar + Kitchen, The Rajbari Bawali, Loft and Raize The Bar. 
2016: Joined as executive chef of Holiday Inn. 

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For Poila Baisakh, Social Kitchen is putting together Flavours of Bengal from April 14-16, for lunch and dinner. “It will be an amalgamation of the hidden jewels of the 21 districts of West Bengal. I have covered the major districts of 24-Parganas North and South, Nadia, Hooghly and Murshidabad and I will be covering six more districts in the coming days. The festival will be inspired by what I learn on this food trail. Like Gobindobhog Arancini, inspired by a meal of round balls of rice in Mayapur. Desserts and sweets like sarbhaja and sarpuria, Rabindranath Tagore’s favourite motichoor sandesh, and jol bhora will also feature,” said chef Suman. 

Suman, what is the guest profile on a regular weekday at Social Kitchen, the restaurant at Holiday Inn?
On weekdays, we have 40 per cent friends and family, 30 per cent corporate clients and 30 per cent hotel residents. On the first day that the buffet was thrown open, we got a large group consisting of South City International School faculty members. They came all the way from South City to dine at Holiday Inn and that was quite motivating for us, to experience the power of the brand! Through IHG’s leadership we have been able to achieve that. People visit Spencer’s next door [there is one right next to the hotel] and say, ‘Oh! Holiday Inn has opened here!’ so that is the level of excitement. 

What has been the response to the buffet priced Rs 899?
On Sunday we did 88 covers for dinner in our 78-cover Social Kitchen. The graph is slowly increasing. With the buffet priced at Rs 899 offering non-vegetarian items like prawn, chicken, mutton, fish and a variety of salads, local chaats and dessert, it has resulted in people coming here just to try the buffet. 

How can hotels compete with standalone restaurants that have upped the game in the city?
The current trend is dominated by casual dining, with emphasis on drinks and music and then the food. The buying power at these places lies with the age group of 24-40. So hotels have to move beyond the Murg Malai Tikka and bring in innovation. That’s where Urban Kitchen + Bar, our speciality restaurant, will play a big role. It will have modern plating, molecular gastronomy and sous-vide. It will open once the bar licence arrives. Even at Social Kitchen, we want things to be ‘Social’. We don’t want guests to have what we call ‘threshold fear’ because we are a star hotel... the fear of ‘Should I cross the door and go in?’ 

What else is in the offing?
Royal Bengal Sweet Shop will open in the hotel lobby, so that resident guests can take a slice of Bengal with them. We are planning Art and Dine Parties, IPL promotions and Sparkling Sunday Brunches.

Text: Karo Christine Kumar
Pictures: Pabitra Das