Parmeet Singh Nayar, General Manager – Shangri-La’s – Eros Hotel, New Delhi bets on authentic and distinctive style of Asian hospitality, coupled with world-class banqueting and convention facility, for making the hotel a one-stop hub for guests coming in the city. A detailed interview on hotel’s new- look offerings, latest trends and more:
How would you describe the new product of the hotel? What are its unique elements?
Shangri-La’s – Eros Hotel, New Delhi is located at the heart of the city making it a very central and convenient for our guests. Through the years, our philosophy has been “Shangri-La hospitality from the heart.” Shangri-La has always believed in the unique characteristics encapsulated by Asian hospitality.
The hotel had embarked on the journey to refresh its offers incorporating the contemporary palate and tastes. This was done in phases and subtly tucked into surprise our discerning guests. In February 2015, we saw the first new look with the launch of new multi-cuisine restaurant, Tamra. It brings a high level of creativity to casual dining with an array of inspired offerings from across the globe. Guests can relish Thai delicacies meticulously crafted by Chef Nisa Yimthong at Tamra.
We have also revamped and launched the existing tea lounge and launched Mister Chai, offering regional Indian street food in a modern luxurious setting, guests will come to Mister Chai for the best cup of Indian tea available in the city.
Our food and beverage hub on the ground floor features Shangri-La’s very own signature restaurant, the 39th Shang Palace in the world bringing the best of Cantonese, Sichuan and the mystical cuisine of Yunnan by three Chinese specialty chefs to the food connoisseurs of New Delhi.
The award winning Italian restaurant, Sorrento, certified with the Golden Q from Ospitalita’ Italiana 2016 is known for its fresh and authentic produce, artisanal pasta, Neapolitan delicacies, pizzas and offers a lavish indoor seating and an alfresco area that overlooks the lush green gardens. The menu features Chef Luigi Ferraro’s greatest hits – reinventing classic dishes by infusing his eclecticism.
Subtly tucked in between these two great restaurants lies our Italian inspired bar, Grappa which offers a unique selection of wines and spirits and barrel aged cocktails handcrafted by our award winning mixologists.
In our constant endeavour towards making the hotel even more inviting, a part of our accommodation facilities are also undergoing a facelift.
What position do you wish the hotel to acquire in the tourism landscape of the city? As in, a hotel known for its F&B, or as a centre for social events and MICE proceedings?
We believe in offering customized and personalized services to our guests. In constant pursuit of Shangri-La’s essence of business to be the first choice of our guests, colleagues, shareholders and business partners, and to delight our guests every time by creating engaging experiences. The team at the hotel aims at making the hotel the one stop hub for our guests. Our commitment to providing guests with distinctive Asian standards of hospitality and service enables us to stand out amongst our peers with our new food and beverage offerings and latest state-of-the-art convention and conferencing facilities at the Shangri-La ballroom.
How about Spa and Wellness? Could you take us through hotel’s offerings?
The hotel offers great urban escape with some of the city’s best facilities in our fitness centre and spa. The Spa embraces a holistic approach to physical and spiritual well-being. Inspired by traditional Asian healing philosophies, our treatments are based upon the principles of restoring balance and harmony to the mind and body.
We offer a variety of massages, herbal baths and body wraps. The Spa covers approximately 20,000 square feet of space. It gives you the luxury of personal space and timelessness to indulge your senses, soothe your body and revitalize your spirit. Soothing music flowing from the state of the art sound system greets the guests when they step into the spa reception and transports them into a tranquil haven. The Salon has a range of hair treatments amongst other facilities.
It also has a fully equipped state of the art gym, an open air pool and five treatment rooms which offer a full wellness program, a wide variety of massage therapies, facials and body treatments.
How is the MICE market coming up? What are some key trends therein?
MICE business is very crucial for the hotel’s revenue segment. MICE exhibitions give good brand visibility and provide networking opportunities to interact with the potential customers. Having said that, Indian MICE industry requires more specialization to penetrate more conferences and events business to India. With more specialization in facilities and on the job training programs, Indian MICE industry will be a core hub for quality programmes in the near future.
We have outlined few strategies to strengthen the MICE business at the hotel:
- Ballroom offers contemporary and luxurious interiors with the latest state-of-the-art convention and conferencing facilities and adorned with natural daylight.
- The hotel offers 320 modern guestrooms and suites for travellers
- Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts launched the Shangri-La Events Collection and Golden Circle Event Planner Rewards, an industry-leading meeting and events loyalty programme for meeting and travel professionals. This programme will offer meeting and travel professionals and any Golden Circle member the ability to earn and redeem points for groups, meetings, conferences and events across the globe.
- Tailor made packages encompassing convention facilities
- The three private meeting rooms can be utilized as breakaway rooms for power sessions.
- Signature events has been created to provide streamlined processing and specialized service delivery, with a wide selection of facilities
- In 2009, Shangri-La was the first international luxury hotel group to provide complimentary Internet access at all its properties
- The IT solutions meet the evolving technological and aesthetic needs of the perceptive travellers
- Exclusive Summer packages for the discerning travellers customized as per their requirements
- Promoting the MICE facilities through print and online advertising campaigns
- Social media plays a pivotal role in promoting MICE business as it increases awareness with the masses and amongst our target audience.
