LIAM LAMBERT: President of Oberoi Hotels ... - Famous Hotels

BREAKFAST WITH LIAM LAMBERT, PRESIDENT OBEROI HOTELS & RESORTS
famoushotels editor Andreas Augustin inspires
leading personalities of hospitality
to lean back and reflect about their career,
about their work and all the other questions
of life. editor@famoushotels.org
LIAM LAMBERT: President of Oberoi Hotels & Resorts
Liam Lambert: “We prepare
to astonish you.”
What is your preferred breakfast,
with whom do you love to
share it and how often can you
have it
Liam Lambert (L.L.): Mary,
my wife loves Eggs Benedict
and my preference is Irish pork
sausages, black pudding, two
eggs over easy rashers washed
down with great mugs of Irish
Breakfast Tea. We enjoy this
only once a week. Can’t handle
the cholesterol so for the rest of
the week it is muesli and fruit.
One year ago you were appointed
President of the Oberoi
Group, a hotel chain with a
very, very good name in Asia.
I have met you as the General
Manager of the Mandarin Oriental
in Hong Kong, later we
met again in London, where
you managed the Hyde Park
for Mandarin. Now you are
running a group – The Oberoi
Group, founded in 1934, with
28 hotels and three cruisers in
five countries. Do you consider
this a logical step in your career
L.L.: Absolutely, as I felt I had
hit a ceiling with my previous
company combined with the
fact that I wanted at least one
last great career adventure.
Working with Mr. Oberoi is
truly inspirational and even
at this time in my career he is
teaching me many things.
Do you miss the opportunity to
leave the office, take the lift to
the lobby and chat with your
guests
L.L.: Yes indeed, even now at
about 12.00 noon every day
I snap to attention to do my
rounds of the restaurants ... but
sadly instead of taking one or
two hours it only takes 5 minutes
as there are no restaurants
in head office. Meeting guests
is the single thing I miss most
at this point in my career.
Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh
Oberoi, the father of Indian
hotel business and the founder
of the group you manage, was
born on 15th August, 1898.
He is the Mahatma Gandhi of
hospitality. Do you feel like the
curator of a museum
L.L.: Curator not, museum
not ... but guardian, champion,
cheerleader, standard bearer
yes ... as we build properties
and populate them with the
finest of hoteliers. Rai Bahadur
lived in three centuries,
the 19th, 20th and 21st and his
spirit lives on within the culture
of our company.
What was your first step in
your hospitality career
L.L.: Dublin, 1968, cold,
damp, dirty, depressed city,
unemployment 19% and no
hope for the future in my eyes.
I needed to get out and feel the
sun, investigate new cultures,
taste new food and experience
the colourful world of the 60s.
The only way out I could see
was the hospitality industry
as there are hotels and restaurants
in every city in the world,
therefore jobs and food.
Went to Jury’s Hotel School
for Hotel management in Dublin,
Graduated in 1970 and first
job was at L’hotel Claridge in
Paris, on the Front Desk and
working part time in Food and
Beverage.
I recall interesting conversations
with you - in Hong Kong,
in Berlin, London ... you were
- in my eyes - always a philosopher.
I expect something special
from you when I ask you:
what is a hotelier
L.L.: We do not make beds ...
we weave dreams for you.
We do not cook food ... we inspire
experiences for you.
© www.famoushotels.org
1 2010 08

BREAKFAST WITH LIAM LAMBERT, PRESIDENT OBEROI HOTELS & RESORTS
We do not wash plates ... we
prepare to astonish you.
We do not polish shoes ... we
accessorize you.
How would you describe your
management style
L.L.: Benign, consultative dictator
How would you like a perfect
guest to behave
L.L.: To laugh aloud, to interact
with happiness, to enthuse
about our offering, to notice
the little touches.
Recognising the importance
of quality training in hospitality
management, The Oberoi
Group established The Oberoi
Centre of Learning and Development
in New Delhi in 1966.
If you would restart the individual
Liam Lambert, which
direction would you give him
L.L.: I would certainly have
benefited from attending the
OCLD where we have teach
three disciplines: Housekeeping,
Kitchen and General Management.
OCLD has such a
wonderful reputation that when
I worked at Mandarin Oriental
there was a policy that if
anybody applied for a job who
had graduated from OCLD we
hired them immediately.
The Mena House in Egypt is A
Select member of The Most Famous
Hotels in the World. One
of my greatest adventures was
to research the history of the
Mena House - an Oberoi hotel
and to (after weeks in dusty
Egyptian archives) confirm its
opening date with 1886. We
have given this hotel a great
historical identity, if you allow
me this little commercial about
my job.
Here is my question: How important
is history for a hotel
L.L.: I think the history of an
hotel is all important, a hotelier
should also be an archivist obtaining
famous signatures and
photos as this reflects the very
life of the establishment.
I have a selection of quick
questions:
Q. What‘s your motto in life
L.L.: Do unto others as you
would have them do unto you.
Q. What do you want to have
accomplished in the next ten
years
L.L.: Be the head of a Global
Luxury Hotel brand.
Q. To whom did you listen in
the past week
L.L.: My wife, Mary. My wife,
Mary and my wife Mary.
Q. Is it too much or too little
courage that sometimes makes
you fail
L.L.: Often too little, sadly.
Q. How often do you reflect
about your own life
L.L.: About 5 times a day.
Q. What books do you read at
the moment
L.L.: Richard Dawkins, Kurt
Vonnegut Jnr. and Simon Shama.
Q. How do you balance business
life and private life
L.L.: When I get home I have
a gin and tonic and a swim in
the heat of the Indian evening,
I paint in oils and acrylic and I
scuba dive. My three daughters
ensure that I balance my life.
Q. Which hobbies are absolutely
essential for you
L.L.: Reading, Painting, water
sports.
Q. Which languages do you
speak
L.L.: Gaelic, French, English
(good and bad) with a smattering
of Italian and Spanish.
Q. What was the most important
advice you ever received
L.L.: My Dad said “ Son, if
you aim for the stars you will
probably hit the sun, if you aim
at the sun you will probably
land on the moon, if you aim at
the moon you will land on the
mountain and if you aim at the
mountain you will end up in
the valley” … so I always aim
for the stars.
Q. For the same budget, would
you rather afford the smallest
room in the best and most famous
hotel of a destination or
the best room in a lower-class
hotel
L.L.: I would rather take the
best room in the best hotel!
Q. When you visit other hotels
what do you observe/judge in
the first place
L.L.: Smiles on hearts, eyes
making contact and the gentle
use on my name.
Q. Were you named after anyone
L.L.: Liam is an ancient Irish
name derived from William.
Q. Do you polish your shoes
yourself
L.L.: Not any more, but when I
was in London I did.
Q. When did you last refill a
fountain pen
L.L.: Surprise ... TODAY, as
I just ran out of ink after 2
weeks.
© www.famoushotels.org
2 2010 08

BREAKFAST WITH LIAM LAMBERT, PRESIDENT OBEROI HOTELS & RESORTS
Do you like being asked questions
like in here
L.L.: ----
Just one word as an answer:
Black&white or colours:
colours
Furs or synthetics furs
Electric or wet shaving wet
City or countryside depends
on which city but country is
always wonderful
Reading or watching reading
Tea or coffee tea
Open air or inside the music
hall music hall
Introverted or extroverted ex
What’s on your mouse-pad
my hand
Where were you born at the
Rotunda hospital, built in the
1700s
and when 1951
Liam Lambert presides over
Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, with
a total number of 4,000 rooms.
The Oberoi Group, founded in
1934, operates 28 hotels and
three cruisers in five countries
under the luxury ‘Oberoi’ and
five-star ‘Trident’ brands. The
Group is also engaged in flight
catering, airport restaurants,
travel and tour services, car
rentals, project management
and corporate air charters.
Oberoi hotels among The Most
Famous Hotels in the World:
The Cecil, Shimla, India
http://www.famoushotels.org/hotels/1090
The Grand, Kolkata, India
http://www.famoushotels.org/hotels/166
Mena House, Cairo, Egypt
http://www.famoushotels.org/hotels/106
The Mena House Treasury is one
of the best-selling entertaining
and informative Treasury books.
Below: images from the book, a
preview is available at
http://issuu.com/famoushotels/docs/caimentreasury
The challenge was to research the hotel’s true opening
date and to find material from its past.
© www.famoushotels.org
3 2010 08