‘ARRs Guide The Leading Strategy For Grand Central’

The newly opened ITC Grand Central Sheraton and Towers is ITC’s second Mumbai property, situated in Parel. General manager Anil Malik informs Bhisham Mansukhani that the positioning is the product. Excerpts...

When do you plan to open the hotel in its entirety?

I hope to do so by the end of February 2005. Most of the services and facilities at the hotel are already operational, however some of those pertaining to the upper category of rooms are still to be regularised. Though 152 rooms are ready for occupancy, so far we have only opened 120 rooms.

Was there any particular reason why Parel was chosen as the location for this second property?

ITC owns the plot on which the hotel is built. Parel is situated in the midst of a demographic, industrial and social metamorphosis. In a way, the hotel is a symbol of that change. ITC has owned this land for over 100 years and the challenge was simply to time the project right.

Is accessibility from the Central Business District (CBD) and airport a concern?

Fortunately, the concerned authorities plan to streamline Dr Ambedkar Road and also on the anvil are more flyovers apart from the existing ones. South Mumbai is only seven kilometres away while North Mumbai, save the bottleneck of Dharavi through to Sion, is easily accessible. I do not think connectivity will in any way be a deterrent to the visibility of this hotel.

Since corporates represent your core clientele, is there a danger of the hotel's ARRs being compromised by volume leverage?

The hotel management has made a conscientious decision not to compromise on ARRs. ARRs guide the leading strategy for Grand Central. The positioning of this hotel will determine the profile of guests we will receive, that is the high-end discerning business traveller.

Could you elaborate on why there are different zones in the hotel?

The ITC Grand Central Sheraton and Towers is a business hotel. There are two separate entrances to the hotel for guests and walk-ins patronising the food and beverage outlets as well as banquet guests respectively. The hotel primarily has two zones - the Sky Zone and the Celebration Zone. The latter is self-explanatory and houses the restaurants and bar and banqueting space of 4,900 square feet and a terrace garden. The Sky Zone - a sanctuary of peace is accessible essentially to hotel guests and is their private space. The Sky Zone has three food and beverage outlets - The Hornby's Pavilion and Frederick's Lounge, while the Celebration zone houses WG Kebabs and Kurries, Shanghai Club and Dublin, all of which share a common entrance.

What would you cite is the USP of this hotel?

The USP could easily be the focus on the core product - the room. We are trying to perfect the concept of selling sleep at the hotel. When a guest draws the curtain, the room is pitch dark. The extent of the detailing is evident in many areas, not least, the roof of the pelmet, double glazed windows and the fabric of the curtains that prevents any foreseeable penetration of light. Eye masks of the standards found in first class segments onboard airlines are also provided to the guests. We have also tried to perfect the hotel bed where we have used two mattresses instead of one for the double bed so that a couple is not disturbed by each other's movement.

Could you comment on the distinct absence of serviced apartments?

Residential apartments were ruled out due to space constraints. ITC has three plots in this area. Apart from the plot on which the hotel stands, the other two house a residential apartment complex for ITC employees and a BMC maintained park. Unfortunately, the three plots are spaced out and that led to the space crunch. The company did communicate with neighbouring developers but nothing could be worked out.