In this time of tightened purse strings, the biggest bang for your buck matters. This is an idea well understood by the hospitality industry, which is trying every strategy in the book to lure guests. So apart from the usual luxurious rooms, wide F&B choices and recreation facilities, several hotels have also thrown in hobby classes for good measure this summer.
As Sanjoy Pasricha, VP (sales & marketing), The Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts, puts it: ?In today?s scenario it?s not enough to say come to The Leela. Come to Hotel Leela to do what? Such activities and packages describe that what.?
For the home-bred luxury chain, the focus this season is on wellness. Leela Kovalam has designed a six day-seven night package, Re:tune, which besides offering accommodation, spa massage and gourmet healthy meals, has daily medically supervised yoga and meditation sessions. The package is priced at R1.1 lakh?a healthy price tag one might say! Leela?s picturesque property in Udaipur also has a wellness programme, which has a training session with a gym instructor. ?It?s all about packaging experiences. Our wellness programmes that help diabetics, heart patients and those with high-cholesterol levels are in a way lifestyle changing programmes,? adds Pasricha.
The Leela Gurgaon also offers complimentary services for its regular guests, which include henna classes, Hindi language sessions and saree draping classes.
The celebrated Vilas properties from the stable of the Oberoi Group?Rajvilas, Udaivilas and Vanyavilas?are offering cookery classes, or a ?cooking experience?, for interested guests. Oberoi Udaivilas?s general manager Vincent Guironnet, who was earlier at the Rajvilas property, says there are a lot of takers for these classes, especially foreign guests, who often come down not just for the stay at the plush properties, but to learn Indian cooking as well. ?Some are serious about learning the authentic Indian dishes, others do it for fun,? he adds. Oberoi?s Vilas properties also have a ?junior chef? programme for children, where they can learn how to bake different varieties of cookies.
Packing in some more ?Indianness? is Delhi?s Taj Palace Hotel, which organises a ?spice tour? where guests get down to buying spices from the wholesale spice market of old Delhi Khari Bouli, learning about them and later using them to cook with the chef in the kitchen of the hotel?s restaurant, Masala Art.
Resort property Alila Diwa in Goa also organises a spice tour followed by a cookery session. For R2,500, a couple can also go fishing with the chef and then rustle up a local delicacy at the Alila cooking school. But it?s not just local flavours that are on the platter of luxury hotels. You can learn the art of rolling sushis from the man himself?chef Masaharu Morimoto of ?Wasabi by Morimoto? at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Delhi. The sushi tutorial is available for R3,500 plus taxes for hotel guests.
Anything to stand apart in a cluttered market is the obvious mantra!
For hotels it?s a marketing strategy to offer experiences that attract customers and also retain them. Pointing to the fact that hotels need to differentiate and offer much more to travellers today, Protiviti Consulting?s managing director Pankaj Arora says, ?If you are in Goa where there are already ten properties and you open a 11th one, as a hotelier one thinks what is the differentiating factor.? Agrees Sumant Batra, who runs a luxury boutique property in the hills of Dhanuchuli. Batra organises events on a regular basis to keep his guests involved. ?I don?t want my property to be thought of as a seasonal destination. Instead, I want to position it as a cultural hub.? There was a wine appreciation and wine tasting event that his property organised and more recently a tea-tasting event, giving guests a chance to learn about the history and experience the flavours of Manjhee Valley. The expert also dwelled on various aspects like how to store tea, for how long it should be brewed and how to mix it. On its glossy calendar, the upcoming events include Himalayan poetry retreat?a musical retreat and also a writers? meet. ?These are not for professionals but people who are into poetry or writing as a hobby,? clarifies Batra.
Besides yoga classes, which many hotels are offering this summer, there is some serious sports activities on offer at the Jaypee Greens Golf and Spa Resort, which has a 18-hole golf round included in its golfing getaway package. Clearly, a busy summer ahead.