Christmas is the merriest festival of the winter season, With Christmas 2022 approaching our respective calendars, the hoteliers get ready to welcome their guests with festive hospitality. We at Hotelier India shed some light on the details of this joyous and spiritful Christmas from all the hotelier’s perspectives. Neelabh Chugh – General Manager, Renaissance Ahmedabad, opines, “We will be decking up all our F&B outlets with Christmas decorations that set the mood inside and out. There’s nothing quite as festive and cosy as a place decorated with ribbons, winter greenery and uplifting festive Live Music”
“Guests are also welcome to relish an array of delightful Christmas sweet and savoury goodies available at Mill and Co. artfully curated by our Pastry Chef. To add further to the ambience, our team members can be spotted adorning the Christmas Cap.”
Thus, After weeks of preparations for making delicious delicacies, savouries, and sweets, along with setting up the tree and ornamanting the whole hotel, This festival certainly brings in a welcoming aura for guests to attend to make the most out of this holiday season.
Warm Delicacies
Food plays a vital role during Christmas, hotels are decked up the showcase various delicacies for their guests. When asked about the F&B specialities that the hotel proposes, Rakesh Ramola, Food and Beverage Manager, ITC Grand Central Mumbai explains, “The Food and Beverage specialities for this Christmas season will be a grand Christmas eve dinner, Christmas Brunch and Boxing day feast at our all-day dining restaurant Hornby’s pavilion”.
He further adds “The festivities have begun well in advance in the hotel since the annual cake mixing ceremony in November and we have just winded up with the annual Tree lighting ceremony in our hotel ITC Grand Central. Apart from the above-mentioned offerings during this festive season, we have our premium delivery services Gourmet Couch and the exclusive Christmas festive curations which have an array of hampers and bakes, for one to choose from”.
Enhanced Experience
In 2022, guests travelling for either leisure or business at hotels are surely bounded to feel special during this season. From Christmas brunch to new-year’s eve, the hoteliers leave no stone unturned when it comes to their festive guest experiences, Neeraj Maharshi, General Manager, DoubleTree by Hilton Jaipur Amer elaborates, “This year, we have amped up our culinary festive offerings at the Christmas Eve Dinner, Christmas Brunch, and New Year party with a striking balance of traditional treats and modern delicacies. For gifting indulgences, guests can celebrate with their loved ones with in-room rose décor, champagne party, table décor, and Christmassy room upgrades”.
“Not limited to just in-hotel experiences, we have also incorporated packages to explore the cultural city experiences. Local market sight visits, food Trials, and cycling tours are some of the inclusions on offer.”
Utsa Majumder, General Manager, Hyatt Regency Dharamshala Resort further adds “All our events are based on the exciting theme of “Santa in the town”. We have planned exciting games for kids at Camp Hyatt followed by mascot acts. For adults, we have a live band at our restaurant THYM. To capture the magic of the holiday season we have curated nature walk trails, and some yoga and meditation sessions for guests staying with us for an enticing experience.”
Festivity with Sustainability
Hotels are dipped in warm scents, welcoming Christmas music and shedding a beautiful festive aura during this period. Hoteliers, on the other hand, are not only being environmentally cautious with their festive decor but are also throwing up various sustainability innovations to surprise their guests this Christmas, Zubin Songadwala, Area Manager, South ITC Hotels and General Manager at ITC Grand Chola elaborates “ Over the past 4 years we have tried to bring in novelty experiences and have successfully achieved its execution; be it the tasteful Kanchipuram Saree Christmas tree, or the tree made from engineering wastes, or the one with LED bulbs. Crowning its very own 10-year milestone in 2022 we have chosen majesty, magnificence and sustainability for our Christmas Tree.”
“Starring dried palm leaves, at a grand height of 21 feet, ITC Grand Chola’s Magnificent Christmas tree embodies ITC Hotels’ ethos of ‘Responsible Luxury’. Like the hotel, the tree is built around the theme of sustainability. Gift boxes called ‘Kottan’ and ‘Koodai’ which are baskets made of tender palmyra leaves and stems, tracing their ancestry from the Nagarathers, decorate the tree, seamlessly blending with the overarching theme.”
“The Palmyra is the State tree of Tamil Nadu, with the state being home to 50% of Palm trees in the country. This magnificent species is completely zero waste, with every part of the tree being used, whether as fruit, toddy, sweets, starch, and most popularly for handcrafted items from boxes, and bags to fans and everything in between. Completely rooted to the soil of the state, the elegance and majesty of this beautiful tree draw the attention of everyone. The palm tree plays a major role in the economic and cultural landscape of Tamil Nadu.”
He also concludes, “This tree also represents ITC Grand Chola’s LEED Zero Carbon status which is a game-changer in a world driven by climate change.”
Handling Workload
Keeping this peak holiday season in mind, the hotel also manages the workload and staff capacity in an efficient manner, when we asked the hotelier’s about the insights on the same, Neeraj Maharshi, General Manager, DoubleTree by Hilton Jaipur Amer explains “We have a harmonious culture amongst the staff on board at our hotel who are also trained to carry out multi-task operations during the peak holiday season. The department heads of each vertical have already set their festive roaster and coordinated the workload well in advance for a merry season for all.”
On a similar note, Zubin Songadwala, Area Manager, South ITC Hotels and General Manager at ITC Grand Chola further adds “Although the hotel is running high on occupancy during the festive season, we continue to increase our engagement levels providing a Holiday at Work atmosphere for our team members by not only do our corridors have a festive feel and décor but we also ensure we organize theme lunches at our Cafeteria every day with festive music, along with Fun Friday activities.”
“We have increased our appreciation rounds where goodies, hot chocolate, and ice creams are given to our associates at their workstations, thus increasing the happiness quotient at work. Flexible work schedules are currently being practised where our associates are being given the flexibility on reduced work hours to compensate for long working hours.”
He further elaborates “Since sports is the flavour of the season and several activities around this theme are planned during the festive season. Additional help is provided by increasing the number of on-the-job trainees and contractual manpower to ease operational exigencies.”
In other to enhance the customer experience, Hotel industries often collaborate with ancillaries from the similar hospitality industry, Neelabh Chugh – General Manager, Renaissance Ahmedabad concludes, “Renaissance Ahmedabad Hotel takes a lot of pride in preparing for the festive season and catering to guests’ experience who have chosen us for their special celebrations and holidays. Not only do we love to host guests, but we look forward to this time of the year so we can join them in making Christmas more joyous and gallant. Festivals being more of a personalized experience for everyone, we like to go easy on ancillary collaboration and give a personalized touch to each one of our guests by building the whole stay experience by ourselves.”
