Caravelle Hotel: The Most Prestigious Five-star Hotel

Caravelle Hotel: The Most Prestigious Five-star Hotel

VIB Forum held an interview with Stephen O'Grady, the General Manager of The Caravelle Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, on the hotel's activities and development strategy in Vietnam.

Could you please inform us of the activities of The Caravelle Hotel and Furama Resort? 

The Caravelle is widely renowned as Ho Chi Minh City's most prestigious five-star hotel, just as our sister Furama Resort in Danang is famous as Vietnam's most prestigious resort. It is no coincidence that they both received top honours this year from readers of the The Guide, Vietnam's leading lifestyle & leisure magazine published by the Vietnam Economic Times. The Caravelle was voted Ho Chi Minh's Best Luxury Hotel and Furama Resort named the Best Resort in Vietnam - for the fifth year in a row! Incidentally, our legendary Saigon-Saigon Bar was also voted Best Bar in the annual awards. Furthermore, The Caravelle was voted Best Business Hotel by the leading international publication, Business Traveller Asia-Pacific.
But the commitment of our two complimentary properties doesn't end with winning awards. We are firmly committed to the overall development of hospitality and tourism in Vietnam, which is perfectly understandable given the obvious fact that if Vietnam does well, so do we.

As you know, both myself, and especially the Furama Resort's general manager, Paul Stoll, are intimately involved in several nationwide initiatives to boost Vietnam's prestige and reputation. Mr. Stoll is, in fact, a founder of both the Vietnam-based Best Hotels Alliance (BHA), which is now a strategic marketing alliance of 36 member hotels in Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore and China. He also founded the World Heritage Road (WHR) in 2002, and has probably been the leading light in placing Danang and Central Vietnam on the tourism map.

I have a much shorter and less celebrated record in Vietnam, having only arrived as general manager in 2000, but I'm determined to follow this fine example. I think our pursuit of excellence at The Caravelle is probably best underlined by the recent completion of our eight-month and US$2 million refurbishment.
You were awarded the 'Ho Chi Minh City Medal' for your exceptional contribution to the hospitality industry of Vietnam through innovative management and quality service provision. Would you share your knowledge and experience in hospitality management with our readers?

My career in hotel management spans two decades, having previously been Deputy General Manager of a sister property, Grand Pacific Hotel in Bangkok, with earlier positions in Switzerland, Germany, Egypt, Israel, South Africa, the Philippines and United Kingdom.

I must say how proud I was to be awarded the 'Ho Chi Minh City Medal' by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, for bench marking industry standards for quality service and upholding market value. You will have to ask the judges why I was singled-out for this honour, but it is true to say that since arriving at The Caravelle, my management team and I have effectively cultivated our own service culture, during which time both average room rates and occupancy levels have increased exponentially 
I also believe in sustaining high staff morale among our 400 staff, which I think is probably my most important contribution. In hotels, especially, well-trained and motivated staff are the key and I consider it my duty to nurture the growth and foster the potential of my fellow employees well-being through ongoing training.

The award also distinguished my accomplishment of making The Caravelle the premier luxury hotel for two years running. The recent renovations are my most significant contribution to the future of this grand, historic hotel. We've upgraded 118 of the hotel's Signature Rooms, complete with broadband Internet, and renovated the executive floor 'Signature Lounge' and new club-style 'Executive Meeting Rooms and Business Centre.' We've also relaunched a new upmarket shopping mall featuring prestigious designer outlets such as Cartier and Bvlgari as well as a new entertainment centre with state-of-the-art electronic gaming.

I have an open door policy and all are welcome regardless of their position to meet with me. Thirty of our team recently achieved top scores in their English language course at the RMIT University. We simply believe in giving people an opportunity to learn and succeed, like others gave us. Customer service is what this business is all about and it starts with great relationships between employees.    

What is your strategy to promote tourism in Vietnam and to the Caravelle Hotel in particular?

At The Caravelle, we believe it's important to have a public "face" that guests can ultimately identify with. That is what my team & I focus on. The personal approach is so important, so it's necessary for all employees to be around all the time, greeting regular customers as old friends, and getting involved in the local community.

It's also important for The Caravelle to be involved in promoting Vietnam's tourism in general. After all, we're one of the top hotels in the country! This is why we are always present at the major international trade shows such as ITB Berlin and World Travel Market in London. We also have overseas public relations consultants constantly keeping the latest developments at the hotel in the limelight of the media.
Plus, we have an ongoing initiative to develop our meetings and incentives, by working closely with key travel partners in Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America, as well as in neighbouring Asian countries.

Do you have any comments on environmental and foreign investment policies in Vietnam?

In English, we have a phrase for this: 'Don't kill the goose that lays the golden egg.' But we're on the right track in Vietnam and The Furama Resort's green initiatives in Danang are setting the benchmark for the rest of us to follow, which is why they received a Special Environmental Protection award in The Guide awards.

We have implemented several systems not only focused on saving energy but preserving the environment. For example, our laundry services use harmless chemicals and waste is disposed of in the correct manner via a separation system.

We assist several charities, raising tens of thousand dollars to help those in need to improve their environment. The Caravelle cares about the local community in need of assistance and we often collect donations from employees and guests to assist the Operation Smile charity organisation. We care about helping others and hopefully they will be able to help others in turn.

As for foreign investment, I firmly believe any country or government is always seeking to advance its economy and improve prosperity - this is what life is all about - Getting better and better. The last thing anyone needs is stagnation. More specifically, HCMC most definitely needs foreign investment, especially in tourism.Vietnam is a very exciting place to be, with many changes happening. With its large, educated, hard working work force who seek knowledge and the governments continual help to build tourism, Vietnam, given time, will become a leading destination.

• Reported by M.N