HYDERABAD : “It’s been a stressful journey, but we survived. They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The hospitality industry is the worst hit during Covid-19 and we have emerged stronger,” say the brothers of Dhanturi Hospitality. The four cousins, Vikas, Akash, Rahul and Sumanth who are hands-on in supervising the properties of Dhanturi Hospitality with brands such as Swagath, Sitara and Shubham Palace.
“We opened to the public on August 15, only after the market opened up. From going great guns last year to hitting zero to further sliding down to deficit, running the operations have put us under severe pressure, but we believe the show must go on,” says Vikas Reddy, the eldest of the four. “We did not open even for takeaways even though the government did give the go-ahead as even if one staffer is affected, it could affect our carefully built brand,” he says while adding that cost of keeping the rooms and the public areas spotlessly clean of the virus costs them a bomb.
“We use Silver Hydrogen Peroxide spray in our rooms and that works out to `2 per square feet. It was turning out so expensive, we actually purchased the equipment to make some business sense,” adds Akash, the youngest sibling of the Hyderabad headquartered Dhanturi Hospitality. They give a demo around their biggest property Shubham Palace, KarmanghatThe staff are seen wrapping crockery with paper envelopes and even moving regular things like mouth freshners into paper sachets instead of loose in a tray.
“The wedding season has picked up in October and we are witnessing public footfalls. However, we now let them invite only a limited number of guests per sq feet as mandated by the government. Even in restaurants, previously we could save power by clustering the guests in one area where the air conditioner is on. Now, no such luck. We have to maintain social distance between dining guests. However, it is risky to compromise on anything as we believe we would rather go slow and steady,” adds Rahul Reddy.
The hospitality group says they have invested in a mist machine – not just a fog machine – as the former is more effective than the rest in the industry. “It takes double the time and staff to make sure we jot down contact numbers of all guests. Although it is tedious, it is crucial if we have to track back the contacts in case of any relapse of the virus,” adds Akash Reddy.
Meanwhile, Naveen Nagaraj, Executive Chef of Tatva Fine Dine at Jubilee Hills and Begumpet, says, “Before entering into work area, all the staff sanitise their hands, wear the mask, head gears and gloves. The temperature of the staff is checked and documented every two hours. The hot and cold temperatures of the food is followed as per the norms. The guest before entering the restaurant is checked for the temperature and requested to sanitise their hands. They are then guided to the pre-sanitised table with “your table is sanitised tag”.
The sanitised cutlery for the entire meal for a person is placed individually for each cover in an envelop that mentions “your cutlery is sanitised”. In fact, they are even discouraging guests from bringing even birthday cakes into the premises to ensure nothing can go wrong. “The fogging of the entire place including the floor and upholstery is done twice a day, before lunch and dinner operations.
The menu is contactless, and the guest can place the order to the assigned captains/servers. once the food comes on the table, the captains would ask the guest if they want the food to be served or they will serve themselves. There are waiters assigned for the clearance and sanitising of the table after the meal,” Naveen adds.
Naineni Hanumanth from Italian restaurant Ci Gusta says, “We use only disposable cutlery. All the tables are sprayed and wiped with disinfectant sanitiser each time guest leaves.”The hospitality and hotel industry is waiting for the vaccine with bated breath. “That is the only way we can pick up momentum in the business. We are praying for that to happen soon,” adds Vikas Reddy.
Hotels and restaurants in Hyderabad are rejoicing that business is limping back to normalcy, but it is also a tough job to strike a balance between keeping costs low and assuring guests of health and hygiene while fulfilling their hunger cravings
—Manju Latha Kalanidhi kalanidhi@newindianexpress.com @mkalanidhi