- What core learnings do you bring to ITC Kohenur, as General Manager?
Well, many, but I will spell out my top three-
- Building a strong network. The centre of it all are our guests, being a relatively younger hotel, it is important for us to keep strengthening our bond with the city and local community through our work.
- Building a winning team and keeping it close knit. There is a lot of satisfaction in achieving results together as a team and be on the journey as one solid work group.
- Work on long term culture setting.
- Since ITC Kohenur brings in a young team, does the work ethics differ from the rest of the hotels?
The work ethic at all of our hotels is the best of the best, so the work ethic, per se, doesn’t depend on the age of the work group. As I always say, experience is a factor of age but attitude and willingness to make a difference is not. Being a younger workforce, we most certainly bring in an infectious energy on shopfloor, some trendy ideas in the guest experiences and Food & Beverage. I must also add that we have a very good mix of experienced leaders in our hotel executive committee that add great value to the learnings of the younger team members.
Being with a young dynamic team, there is a culture of innovation, collaboration and this gives impetus to spirited ideas. We believe in creating an environment of diversity and inclusion.
Recently, in what was one of the first, structured programmes to make the workplace more diverse and inclusive, the team at ITC Kohenur conceptualized and launched, “Project Nur”, a mission to provide enhanced employment and growth opportunities for women, people with disabilities and the LGBTQIA+ community.
ITC Kohenur now has a workforce of about 400 associates: over 100 women, 6 differently abled and 4 from the LGBTQIA + community. We truly feel that this would add a lot of strength and experience to our growing work force.
- ITC Kohenur is located in the trending business district of Hyderabad, what hospitality trends do you bring to your customers?
ITC Kohenur is a complete hospitality destination with something for everyone. Apart from the most luxurious rooms, we have a canvas of restaurants that are really popular and offer great variety to our guests. From our popular multi-cuisine restaurant, the Golconda Pavilion, to our signature speciality restaurants like Yi Jing, Dum Pukht Begum’s and Ottimo, we have the Globe’s finest Indian Cuisine and India’s finest Global Cuisine under one roof. Our bars, the Peacock Bar and Sky Point offer unique experiences centred around music and beverages and are really popular especially over the weekends. Fabelle our chocolate boutique, offers a one of its kind luxury experience of handcrafted chocolate creations. We also have ITC Hotels’ Sleeep Boutique which offers an exquisite range of pillows, beddings and bed linen curated for your well-being. the award-winning Kaya Kalp – The Royal Spa at ITC Kohenur is a fragrant, calm sanctuary where trained therapists use the safest and most reputed products to envelop each guest in relaxation and tranquillity. ITC Kohenur also offers a variety of exquisite festive gifting options curated for special moments. So all in all, while we are located amongst the biggest corporates and businesses in the country, we cater to all guests with a plethora of experiences.
- Since you started your journey with F&B operations, what special touches have you given to the F&B sector of the hotel?
Well, we are blessed with a very strong Food and Beverage team at the hotel. Together, we have come up with “The Good Times Guide” a monthly newsletter that has details on offerings and experiences for the entire month. This changes every month and keeps the brands current and allows the team to keep experimenting with creativity. Some of the really popular campaigns we have are – 52 Sundays, 52 Theme Brunches, Mix Tape Weekends at Sky Point and of course our festive gifting offers. We also keep planning, limited edition restaurant pop ups, the most recent chapter of which was the Avartana on Tour- Modern Culinary Mosaics, which was a sold-out success.
- ITC Kohenur is all about a ‘Luxurious modern take on traditional Hyderabad’, How does the hotel bring in the culture of Hyderabad with a modern reflection? (through its F&B, Amenities, interiors, services etc)
The ITC Kohenur is a metaphor; and ode to the many rare and priceless gems of India and the region. It particularly highlights aspects of culture, food and finer nuances of the history of this region while remaining modern in its presentation. It’s a celebration of tradition and a triumph of culture. I will highlight a few of these for you-
The hotel’s unique and angular architecture and interior design is inspired by reflecting the destination’s legacy, origin of the world’s most famed jewel; the Kohinoor diamond. The first luxury business hotel in the heart of the Hi-tech city, embodying ITC Hotels’ ethos of Responsible Luxury. The property overlooks the picturesque Durgam Cheruvu lake, which now links the traditional parts of Hyderabad with the new business hub.
The radiance is also captured in the lobby through the use of magnificent white marble, brilliant chandeliers and local art features (Bidri-14th century metal handicraft, Zardozi-Persian form of embroidery and Pearls). The geometric interpretation of the diamond pattern is carried through the hotel’s public areas, guest rooms and corridors. You would also notice the beautiful bangle chandelier in the lobby, which is a tribute to the famous choodi bazaars of the region.
Our award-winning food and beverage venues also offer a dining experience that is second to none with distinctive culinary experiences capturing the local flavours as well as culinary offerings to suit global palates. The beautiful, Dum Pukht Begum’s restaurant has an entire section on Hyderabadi specials and is the go-to restaurant for guests who want to entertain their guests in the city.
- Tell us a bit more about your Virtual Reality experience on wines at the Peacock Bar.
We have recently collaborated with Fratelli Vineyards to recreate a Virtual Reality experience. This way the guests get to explore 3D Virtual Reality and become a part of this immersive evening involving wine tasting, a virtual vineyard tour and of course live Indie music over the weekends. We call this “The Grape Shop Pop Up”, as it is a limited duration experience. Wines are available by the glass and by the bottle. So far, the feedback has been encouraging and we would like to work on more VR projects in our Food and Beverage as time goes along.
- Where do you see yourself taking ITC Kohenur in the next 3-5 years?
We will strive to maintain our market leadership on all fronts – rooms, F&B and spa and most importantly our sustainability efforts. ITC Hotels have been the pioneers in the segment of Responsible Luxury and we will continue to do our bit for the betterment of society and the environment. The next few years are critical on that front. We are thankful to our guests and patrons for the past four years who have given our hotel, such wonderful encouragement.
