The right mix

Building a hotel property is all about matching the demand with the supply — the owner, brand and design have to play second fiddle, feel those who matter the most at the planning stage. BY BABITA KRISHNAN

With the industry looking up and market reports suggesting the fast areducing gap between demand and supply, one finds the industry and brands gearing up for new projects and tie-ups. As India opens its doors to fresh supply, we get the five important role players to talk about the nuances of building a dream property that is fired for success. Homi Aibara, partner, Mahajan & Aibara, Rajeev Chopra, MD, The Residency Hotels Pvt Ltd, Shekhar Patki, principal architect, PG Patki Architecs, Ritu Bhatia Kler, MD, Total Integrated Design India and Amitabh Tyagi, VP and head, technical services, The Indian Hotels Company Ltd come together and give the right mix of ingredients and methodology to create that perfect dish — a hotel property in this case.

As a consultant, how do you identify the need of the market and profile of hotel required, and communicate it to the owner/developer?
Homi Aibara: It is so important to understand the market before plunging into anything. Though there are people like Rajeev Chopra who know this, there are so many people outside who spend lot of money and then realise that they are on the wrong track, which is sad. The most important thing is the costing which is the early stage of planning. We do an area statement and based on the level and brand that the property would be, the area statement is shared with the architect for him to give his estimate. Architects and interior designers should not be held responsible for the cost.

So how do the owners/developers take these suggestions?
Rajeev Chopra: There are four aspects of developing hotels. One is the very simple, logical and balanced evaluation of the market profile. This evaluationwill give you the type of product required there. The third thing is the pure case of trying to establish a business profile, which is the clubbing together of the product and the market profile — the question is will they be at a variance with each other? This is where my business plan comes in — I know how much money I have and how much I need to spend. Unfortunately, in this straightforward logical planning of a hotel development, comes in the fourth aspect which sometimes attains the maximum importance — the personal profile, where the owner wants a ‘return on ego’.
These four profiles ultimately guide how you develop a hotel. In most cases, however, there is no balance between these four and India is full of examples where these are not being done on a singular basis over the years, starting with all the big guns in this country.

At what stage do the architect and the brand step in?
Chopra: I think it is essential to first establish the business ethics of that product. If I am trying to build the product at 40 or 50 lakh a room because that’s my business profile then the architect and the interior designer knows exactly what I am looking for. Now it is up to them to give me what I’m looking for using their ingenuity, knowledge and ability. The problem is the cost overruns which are 100% in our country. A classic example is the Westin Hyderabad which I built with Amitabh Tyagi and Shekhar Patki. We were very clear about what we wanted delivered with no compromises. Today it is rated the number one property in Hyderabad for five years on Trip Advisor. The problem with hotels in India is that we often create the body and no soul. that is the role of these creative people.
Amitabh Tyagi: And to add here, the owners tend to forget that they are not making this hotel as a home for themselves. It is for the guest, so they need to think from the guest perspective. About when should the brand come in, a lot of people have this mind block that if you get a brand earlier they will make you spend a lot of money. If the brand is on board right from the day excavation starts, everything will be shared and there will be 100% transparency and that is what makes a project successful. In most cases, cost overruns occur when the owners have very unrealistic budgets. The problem is that everyone wants to say what owner wants to listen, right from quantity surveyor to the project managers.
Aibara: But unlike the rest of the world, we have a dearth of good quantity surveyors in the country. There are no courses or any training, hence a lack
of quality. Also, it doesn’t pay much so no one wants to do it.

How do you marry the brand standards, owner’s aspirations and the market demands when designing a property?
Shekhar Patki: When you have been doing it for some time, it is not a challenge, because it is really a spreadsheet which is telling you the area of distribution. So, if you understand the nuances of the hotel design and the sequence of how areas need to be, the adjacencies of areas in a property, then it is a matter of putting that pen to paper and trying to create some forms. It might be a cookie-cutter design or something different. The problem comes in when there is a clash of interests, for example, the budget or area is inadequate for what the owner might aspire for. And in most cases, the owners don’t want to compromise.
Chopra: The problem is that owners, especially in the tier-II and -III cities who want to build hotels are not hoteliers. They are very good at their own businesses and have made tonnes of money, but just go wrong in planning a hotel.
Patki: This is true. For them, a hotel is more like a
trophy.
Ritu Bhatia Kler: I think they don’t realise is that you don’t just put in money to build it, you need to sustain it and the returns are much later compared to their other businesses. And especially if they are in development of real estate or commercial, the return are much faster. So I think that is also where the gap is. They don’t have that understanding.
Tyagi: Understanding the business is very important. There was a time when Taj was building hotels anywhere and everywhere. But now with the new leadership in place, it will be definitely guaranteed that each and every square inch that Taj invests in will make proper sense. So it is even for hoteliers to be keenly aware of these things.

Interior designers come in with various consultants. When does that become a part of the development plan and what are the challenges that you face?
Kler: Ideally you should come in once the architect has worked out the first cut and the brand is okay with the overall direction of space planning. So that if anything needs to be tweaked with the architect in terms of columns, windows or spaces, etc. it can be done. But mostly we are brought in much later and so we inherit what is done and work on interiors according to the brand standards, the client’s brief. We are sort of last in, last out, I would say.
Tyagi: We always suggest that the designers and consultants should be on board right from the start as it is not an extra cost or overhead.
Kler: We actually don’t earn more and spend more time on the project. But it is better for the project and for all of us I think if the designer and the consultants are on board at the early stages.
Chopra: I believe that everyone connected with creating a hotel should be on board from day 1. The feel of the property comes from the interior designer, an architect’s approach is largely elevational, they look at space largely in a mathematical sense. I think you have a far more efficient and better product if all are working on it from day one. Unfortunately, we don’t do it much in India.

But what is the reality?
Tyagi: When the structure is about to get over, the owners then look for somebody like Homi to find a brand. When the brand is found, in 90% of the cases there is hardly any back of the house, the workflow doesn’t work, there are no sunk portion for the kitchen because there was no kitchen consultant, etc. Then we discover that things are not according to the brand standards and this is how costs become unreasonable. No brand actually makes you spend money unnecessarily. Ultimately, if the hotel makes the money then only the brand makes money. Although their objectives are the same in terms of profitability and success of the product, the brand is also looking at brand growth and hence standards are important.
Kler: In India, there are both situations. I think there is some maturity and of course where the owners are guided well and tend to listen to the consultant and to the brand, it works well for the project and also give us more time on creativity. But for us the real challenge depends on where we come in.

What about the brand Bible?
Chopra: Bible is something which the brand is bothered about not the developer. He just wants the brand and is not concerned what the brand standards ultimately. It is the Bible versus the architect and interior designer.
Patki: If you are an experienced architect having worked with various brands, you know what this bible is about and you know what to take from there. So, you know the areas which you can adjust.
Tyagi: In Taj we have architectural design standards and coming from an international chain where every brand has a definitive interior design directive, I was trying to create interior design standards. My boss, Rakesh Sarna, actually restricted me from doing so. He feels that by creating interior design directives you restrict an interior designer’s creativity. Architectural standards are fine as they define the room size, bathroom size, fixtures, etc. We want a property to look different in Tirupati and in Mussouri.
Kler: As a designer you need to grow and understand what a hotel is. So, what we have done in our office is that we do a lot of in-house training. We have actually taken from all brand manuals and have created our own manual and standards. his is our own bible, which we tweak to the brand.
Patki: These standards are important from the safety and security point of view. These things ensure quality and lift the standards of construction as well.
Chopra: The most important role is of the owner as everything is a business decision. A well informed owner will take the right steps at the right time to ensure that the final product is not just beautiful but also efficient and successful. This is the right time to take a breather before the fresh inventory enters the market, to relook at the planned development and ensure that it is a sound business decision.
There is a lot to learn from brands and their standards but it should not be taken as the last word in hospitality design. An intelligent match of the market requirements, owner aspirations and brand standards will ensure that the architects create a body which the interior designer can infuse with a soul. This would result in all stakeholders benefiting by give the guests an experience they will cherish.