Saied Heidari, GM, Renaissance Mumbai convention centre and hotel, speaks to Hotelier India about his 22-year career with the Marriott group and why he’s happy to be in Mumbai.
Tell us a little about your career so far
I’ve been with the Marriott brand for 22 years; I have worked with the group since I was a student. I’m from Iran but I grew up in Germany.
I first studied chemical engineering after which I pursued law and then I started working in loss prevention and guest relations, did management training at the Marriott, and have travelled a lot before finally coming to India in my new role as general manager of Renaissance Mumbai.
What makes you right for this role?
Iranian and Indian culture has very many things in common; hospitality is an integral part of our cultures. We have it in our blood. I’m also very lucky in that every country I’ve been to, its economy was booming and right now that I’m in India, it’s booming too.
With this role, I started working on it the very next day after I arrived in India. The systems are the same, knowing the people for the past nine years, working with people from the sub-continent, Dubai, Doha, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, I have been ingrained with the culture.
So it was a smooth transition from my previous job to this one. I’ve worked for the Renaissance brand twice before, once in Dubai and again in Germany, and both hotels won the Hotel of the Year from the company, I have extensive experience with this brand but even with the new position of the brand and how the lifestyle brand is distinguished from our 21 other brands.
I like the stylish design of the brand, I like the approach when it comes to dealing with customers, and it’s a brand where as a person, I have great room for creativity.
The brand gives you a good playground and a lot of opportunities to experiment and explore new things. The type of customer this brand attracts is open to new things and he likes to mix business with leisure, he wants to discover the city, etc and there’s no better place he can do this than here.
What are the challenges of your job?
The customers are very educated due to having travelled a lot and they have a lot of products to choose from. So you need to have high standards of service and you need to be on top of your game because the world is growing at a fast rate and with so much social media, everything has a very short life. So whatever you do, you need to be faster and better than everyone else.
What is the USP of your hotel?
Mumbai is a very noisy city, but when you come here all you can hear are the birds. It’s very quiet and you can’t hear anything, not even airplanes.
We’re selling that as a hotel, and with the convention centre – we have facilities such as the restaurants, spa, tennis courts – we position it as a resort as well.
Something which is very unique, which is that the weather is the same temperature as Goa, with what I call a ten thousand dollar lake view. It is just incredible, there’s nothing to compare with.
Having travelled extensively in your career, what have you picked up along the way?
If you’re genuine and honest with people, it works everywhere, especially in this line. People have a good sense for what they want. They see through lip service. It works all around the world. In today’s world travellers come to us with the knowledge that exposes us to different cultures.
What has been the most unusual experience of your career so far?
Just when you think nothing can surprise you, something comes along and does just that. I have a friend from 20 years ago when I was in school, and recently we met by chance in London and discovered that we both are working in the same field! He was working in Hyatt while I was working with Marriott. It struck me as unusual since I don’t think anyone has had such an experience.
Having travelled extensively in your career, what have you picked up along the way?
If you’re genuine and honest with people, it works everywhere, especially in this line. People have a good sense for what they want. They see through lip service. It works all around the world. In today’s world travellers come to us with the knowledge that exposes us to different cultures.
Where in the world would you like to work the most? What are your future plans?
Mumbai, India is the place to be, of course! When people in my business want to have a certain goal, they have to go to a happening place. With the dynamic that we have in the Indian hospitality industry, it’s a very happening place.
It’s a growing market and if somebody wants to succeed, they should be here. We’ve seen this trend especially since India is the largest source market for Marriott associates. Now the country is growing to an extent where it is difficult for us to get people.
Now the salaries that people are getting in their own country are increasing to the extent that we can’t attract them outside. This is always a good sign because it shows that this is a place that is going to boom.
This is why I decided to come here. I also love Bollywood and grew up watching Hindi movies. India has a very rich culture, a lot of heritage and history, and no other land can compete with India. Another thing is that the Iranian and Indian languages both have the same root, and this adds to the reason why I’m here.
I’m an explorer, and want to experience something new and this presents a great opportunity for me since this is such a dynamic country. This is also great opportunity for my career, especially since we recently announced that we are coming up with over 100 hotels in India.
