Most of the hotels developed in the last decade or so that you would enter give you access to the main porch or reception area right upon the entry, barely a few metres from the entrance. In the latest trend of hotel development, the need to develop a pretty much packed proper
ty with little open space in the front has been the norm because of economy of space, need to create larger inventory and skyrocketing land cost, among others.
And in the wake they have robbed the modern day hotels of greenery, landscaping, lush green front lawns where guests can unwind in the open or their feeling of sheer pleasure of making a grand entry that is common with the vintage hotels with long circular and winding approach leading up to the porch from the hotel entrance.
Bhubaneshwar’s New Marrion falls in the vintage category here. Spread over four acres, a land parcel size that has 400-500 room inventory hotels but virtually no open space of its own at the newly developed Delhi’s ‘Aerocity Hospitality District’, and centrally located on the Janpath road in Bhubaneshwar, the New Marrion hotel boasts of a small but imposing façade with a beautifully landscaped garden and large lush green lawns on the front giving it one of the most exciting and classical hotel ambience amongst the city hotels of Bhubaneshwar. And it’s been so for the last about 40 years the hotel has been in operation for.
And now amidst the greater recognition of Odisha growing profile in the business and travel sphere, the New Marrion, one of Odish’s landmark hotel properties, is undertaking significant refurbishment across its manpower resource, technology utilisation, guests amenities and safety features, among others, that in tune with the requirements of the modern day discerning travellers.
In conversation with Whereabouts Sameer Ali, General Manager of The New Marrion, and himself a dab hand at both pre-opening and operating luxury hotel brands across United States, UAE and India, revealed about a host of initiatives that his hotel is undertaking that will position his sprawling beautiful property amongst the most sought-out hotel in the state capital in no time.
Hands on with hotel operation, branding, marketing, F&B and training, the suave young Ali points that a smart and dedicated staff is his biggest priority and something that he has taken upon himself. “Just because you work in a hotel does not mean you have the hospitality skills. It comes from within. It comes from your heart.
Some of them have that naturally and some don’t. I have started training them and now each and every employee of the hotel has been given the basic hospitality training. They now know what is expected out of them. They now know better how to treat a guest. They now have short term achievable goal,” says Ali.
Today ‘The New Marrion’ boasts of internet connectivity that is as good as it could be, employees with brand new uniform giving them a smarter and professional look, old air-conditioning being done away with across rooms, restaurants, meeting hall and public area, so is with the room TVs that is also being standardised and replaced.
Effective effluent and sewage treatment plants, security features like improved close-circuit monitoring systems, fire safety as well as hotel’s and guest’ services and complaint monitoring system have already been put in place and what remains are being upgraded.
The hotel also boasts of a renovated swimming pool. Most importantly rooms are also being upgraded aimed at providing guests a feeling of spaciousness with smarter and top-of-the-line in-room guest amenities.
Ali says that he has a list of 32 things that is being done and improved but in between these 32 things there are another one thousand things that have happened. “Right now we are definitely in the top tear, above the upper middle class. I am not looking at the premium segment. I am looking at the volume that will help me bring down my cost. I am looking at people who want to spend money, have a good time and have their value for money. And I see this whole thing happening from eight months to a year,” says a confident Ali while concluding.
