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INTERVIEW<br />
“<br />
“<br />
Holiday Inn ® is the class leader in its sector so<br />
coupled with the <strong>IHG</strong> ® mechanisms, we decided<br />
it was the brand to go for.<br />
Meet…<br />
Rajesh Rana<br />
Rajesh Rana is Director at Andras House, leading hotel developer and operator in Northern Ireland. Founded by his<br />
father, Lord Diljit Rana, in 1981 the company specialised in office and restaurant development before opening their first<br />
hotel in 1987 with the Holiday Inn ® brand. Based in Belfast, they have a total of six hotels in their portfolio. Their latest<br />
project is a Days Hotel conversion to Holiday Inn ® Belfast City Centre. We caught up with him at the Owner’s Association<br />
forum at the <strong>IHG</strong> ® headquarters in Denham, UK.<br />
When did you first work with <strong>IHG</strong>?<br />
After our very first Holiday Inn, we did a Holiday Inn Express ® in<br />
1996, which I believe was one of the first franchise Holiday Inn<br />
Express hotels in the UK. We refurbished that in 2010 and it’s doing<br />
very well. At the moment we’re repurposing the Days Hotel to be a<br />
Holiday Inn, which we’re very excited about. We’re spending £2.5m<br />
really upgrading it. It’s like a new hotel.<br />
Why did you decide to go with Holiday Inn for that location?<br />
Holiday Inn is the class leader in its sector so coupled with the <strong>IHG</strong><br />
mechanisms, we decided it was the brand to go for. We are used to<br />
working with Holidex and the people are easy to work with. We’ve<br />
worked with <strong>IHG</strong> for years and contribution is a key thing. We’re<br />
already talking to the global sales team about key contracts that we<br />
could bring to Holiday Inn Belfast City Centre and they’re keen to get<br />
on top of it.<br />
What does <strong>IHG</strong> bring to the table?<br />
I think <strong>IHG</strong> probably has the balance right in terms of flexibility.<br />
Some hotel companies are too flexible and they have some poorly<br />
performing assets that they need to get rid of but don’t do anything<br />
about. Some are very prescriptive but I would probably say <strong>IHG</strong> gets<br />
the balance right. The Owners Association forum is a great platform<br />
that other brands don’t really have and now they’ve got the Key<br />
Performance Indicators, it’s easier to pinpoint elements that you<br />
need to focus on.<br />
What do you think are upcoming trends in the industry?<br />
Offering guests the best price through the Advantage Pricing model<br />
is such a no brainer. It seems obvious that this has to happen and<br />
technology is driving it in that direction, but nothing has been done<br />
about it until now. I think it is genuinely pioneering because it wasn’t<br />
something the owners were pushing for but when you realise that<br />
your own hotel is being undersold by someone else, it makes you<br />
sit up in shock. We’re very pleased about it.<br />
What is the market like in Belfast at the moment?<br />
The market in Belfast has grown quite a lot. Back office, IT and oil<br />
rigs are helping to build the economy, but there’s also tourism and<br />
business travel. Waterfront Hall is a great big concert hall which they’re<br />
now extending to what will be a world-leading conference centre.<br />
The Holiday Inn Belfast City Centre fits right into that market because<br />
delegates like to stay in branded hotels. And they don’t get much more<br />
recognisable than Holiday Inn.<br />
How did you get to where you are today?<br />
I have a degree in Physics, a degree in Architecture which takes about<br />
six years and now I make hotels! I suppose I’m quite a methodical<br />
person, so I like to know where I want to get to, what are the steps<br />
I have to do to get there. I wouldn’t claim to be an expert. I’m learning<br />
and that’s the key! If you’re not learning, you’re not doing it right.<br />
What is the Andras House development strategy?<br />
Because all of our hotels are in Belfast, our strategy is to capture all<br />
of the main brands in one area. Some company portfolios are made<br />
up entirely of Holiday Inn Express but they’re all across Europe.<br />
Because we’re not geographically dispersed we feel that we have to<br />
be brand dispersed instead. So we have <strong>IHG</strong>, Accor and Wyndham<br />
brands and that suits us very well. It’s a defensive strategy – if we<br />
didn’t do it, someone else would.<br />
And where do you see Andras House going in the future?<br />
I think as a company we have really invested in a lot of the<br />
products. The Holiday Inn Belfast City Centre is fully refurbished,<br />
the Holiday Inn Express ® Belfast City – Queen’s Quarter is fully<br />
refurbished, our other assets are either new or fully refurbished.<br />
I see us starting to focus more on the operational side of things.<br />
Obviously we are an operating company, but now that we have got<br />
the assets where we want them, we need to work on the human<br />
assets and the skillset. That’s probably the next challenge.<br />
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