Taj Bangalore added another feather to its cap when it won seventh position among the top 10 best city hotels in Asia for Travel+Leisure’s annual ‘World’s Best hotel Awards’ for 2018. It was also ranked at 57th among the top 100 hotels in the world by the international magazine. Taj Bangalore is the only hotel in Bengaluru to be listed this year.
Ian Dubier, General Manager, Taj Bangalore, spoke to Rajitha Menon about the award and their future plans.
How is the award decided?
The readers of the magazine and patrons of hotels around the world vote for hotels in different categories. This is an annual award and one where you don’t vie or compete for it.
What worked in your favour?
Complete focus on the guest. We have a strong customer information system and that helps us deliver customer experiences in a manner that delights them. Aaprt from satisfied customers and awards, it also leads to repeat clientele and referrals.
Where can you improve?
I guess our hotel inventory is a little limited at the moment; we only have 154 rooms. So we have had to refuse bookings many times and that is something we want to change quickly. There is a proposal to build 220 rooms adjacent to the hotel; this will help us host large conferences.
How are you different from other Taj Hotels?
Our hotel is in the vicinity of the airport so we get a lot more bookings as people look to cut down travelling time. Also, we have a perfect amalgamation of work and pleasure with our spacious rooms, expansive events space and North Indian, Chinese and Japanese and all-day restaurants. Half of the second floor of our hotel is taken up for a spa, open-air pool, relaxing spaces, salon and more. There are a lot more takers for these facilities now.
When are your occupancy rates higher?
Just like other hotels in the city, April-September occupancy is on the lower side for us while October-March is a busy period. Though we have been seeing strong occupancy even during off seasons lately, especially on weekends.
Since our hotel is only 45 minutes from Yeshwanthpur and around one hour from MG Road, there is a trend among people nowadays to drive down from the city on weekends for a quick break.
Tariff for day use package (for people who don’t stay at the hotel. Especially helps people who have time to kill before taking a flight)
Rate: Rs 5,000 + 18% GST per person.
Timings: From 9 am - 6 pm.
Inclusions: Rate includes usage of fitness centre, poolside, a one hour massage at The Jiva Spa and a buffet breakfast/lunch/dinner at Café 77 East (set-menu on days when there is no buffet).
Tariff for staycation (applicable on Friday, Saturday or Sunday):
Deluxe Room - Rs 8,499/9,999 (single/double) + 28% GST per night.
Inclusions: Buffet breakfast at Café 77 East, one major meal/buffet at Café 77 East, standard Wi-Fi, 20% discount at Jiva Spa.
