‘We Are Working Towards Creating A Clearly Defined Fortune Hotel Identity’

Mandeep Singh Lamba, president, Fortune Park Hotels, won the ‘Best First-Class Hotel Brand’. He shares his views with Neeti Chopra on what the award means to him

What does the award mean to you?

The award means the recognition of our efforts to establish ourselves as the market leaders in the mid-priced hotel category. This is the first award that Fortune Park Hotels has won, amongst a host of worthy peers. I would like to thank the Express Group for recognising our chain with this award. Hopefully there will be many more awards in the future for the Fortune chain.

What according to you was the secret of your success?

Fortune Park Hotels has adopted a single-minded determination to deliver superior quality experience to our internal and external customers and all who come in contact with the brand in any manner. Over the years we have worked hard to find the right mix for business travellers in the mid-price segment and this award is a confirmation that we are heading in the right direction. We, however, realise that we have a long way to go.

How do you plan to retain this success?

We will be retaining our success by evaluating and re-evaluating our performance, constantly raising the bar on quality and setting higher benchmarks. Mid-price hotels need to have strong

branding and we are working towards creating a clearly defined Fortune Hotel identity. Standardisation in facilities, food and beverage and business amenities are essentials that we are putting in place. Our new hotel, which will be shortly opening at Gurgaon, may be considered a template for the future properties of Fortune Hotels.

What are your future plans?

Fortune Park Hotels is committed to have 50 Hotels with a room inventory exceeding 4,000 rooms by the year 2010 and continue to be the undisputed leader in the mid-priced sector. We have 14 operating hotels at the moment. We are opening Fortune Global at Gurgaon in December and Fortune Hotel Vijaywada by end March. Hotels at Goa, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Kochi have been signed and will open during the coming year. Hotels at Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore are scheduled to open by end 2005.