Booking a new experience
BENGALURU : Innovation is the key word at this point in time, especially in the hospitality industry, which has been significantly hit during the pandemic. The new normal calls for new ideas and strategies, and star hotels in the city are thinking out of the box by turning the crisis into an opportunity. Suites that were once booked with high net-worth individuals, expats and travellers, are being turned into private dining areas, and ‘hotel offices’.
Ninety-nine guest rooms out of the 273 rooms at The Ritz-Carlton are now luxury dining areas after the introduction of ‘99 Pop-Up Restaurants’. “It is important to keep the ball rolling even if the pace is slower,” says Amitabh Rai, general manager. “Here, we offer exclusivity and security as our guests dine in the comfort and privacy of a guest room.
This is a blend of experiencing luxury dining with contact- free service, as you are catered to by a single butler and all the facilities are exclusive to you in the private dining room,” he adds. The `3,000++ deal offers 13 menu options catering a range of cuisines, and receive an average of 11 reservations a day, which vary from a couple to requests for a table for four. “People come in to celebrate a special occasion or meet a buddy for a one-on-one catch up,” Rai says, adding that for those who prefer the outdoors, the Starlit by the Pool allows guests to dine in cabanas.
Blending the colonial ambience and the new-age requirements of social distancing, the Taj West End has also started ‘In- Suite Dining’, where guests choose a suite, alongside a tailor-made menu. “The pandemic demands that businesses such as ours rethink and reinvent themselves,” says Somnath Mukherjee, Area Director, Karnataka and General Manager, Taj West End, Bengaluru.
If co-working spaces was thought to be the next big thing, hotels offering ‘Work from Hotel’ concepts are likely be stiff competitors. To combat challenges of network, connectivity and privacy issues people face at home, some like The Leela Palace Bengaluru are offering a ‘millennial’ work from hotel package. “This will help travelling professionals, entrepreneurs and local young professionals in a way that caters to their need for efficiency,” says Kunal Chauhan, general manager.
With most offices closed at present and physical meetings with clients being a challenge, Amaan Kidwai, GM of ITC Gardenia, finds corporates looking to work from a place that gives them a sense of safety, along with good internet connectivity and privacy. “We have a custom-made package that has relevant inclusions-- Wi-Fi access and boardroom usage,” he says. The ‘Day Use Offer Package’, which begins at `4,499++ and is also offered at ITC Windsor and WelcomHotel, gives a 9am to 9pm stay and other deals.