Managing Grand Millennium Beijing's Hotel Success In Difficult Times

Leon J. Lee, the general manager of Grand Millennium Beijing, has worked in hotels in China since 1985 when he was the resident manager of the Hua Ting Sheraton Hotel in Shanghai.

Since then his roles have included general manager of New World's China Hotel in Guangzhou, posts at Intercontinental Hotels Corporate Office in Singapore, and leading the human resources team at Venetian Sands Casino in Macau.

How did you enter the hospitality industry?
I was working in hotels and restaurants, whilst attending university to pay for tuition and living expenses. After I graduated, I decided I liked hotels so I kept on working in the industry.

As a senior international hotel manager, and with your working experience in China, what do you think of the development of the Chinese hospitality industry?
With China playing an ever more central role in the world economy and with the continued projection of strong growth in both tourist and business arrivals, it is expected that market will provide adequate opportunities for the hotel industry in China for the coming years. Additional support for this view is evidenced by the airline industries willingness to expand their services into Beijing.

Grand Millennium Beijing is located in CBD, what is the market position of your hotel? What new initiatives do you plan to extend your customer base?
Our competitive set is China World, Kerry Centre, JW Marriot Beijing, Ritz Carlton Beijing, Sofitel Wanda Beijing, and Westin Chaoyang. It is our goal to be seen as the ‘stand out' leader in this segment. And not by just doing what others have been doing for some time, but rather we must become one of the benchmark operations of this group. Our focus in all categories is at the upper end of the market.

The hotel's unique selling points include:
a) A strategic location in the newer part of CBD with various new commercial centers opening e.g. World Financial Centre, CCTV, Phase 3 Fortune Plaza Office Towers.
b) Immediately adjacent to a Line 10 subway station which provides quick and easy access to other business and leisure locations and to the Airport.
c) Interconnecting fully enclosed pedestrian bridges from the office and apartment buildings with direct access to the hotel and service apartments.
d) One of the largest room sizes of Beijing's five-star hotels, 45 square meters and this is the only hotel in Beijing with the unique and modern spacious ‘extended bathrooms' featuring floor to ceiling glass panels
e) Provision of a serious workspace area with an ‘oversize' work desk and fast broadband access in all room types and suites.
f) Luxurious spa and personal wellness centre, health club and gymnasium facilities with a 25 meter indoor lap pool, plus a plunge pool and oversized whirlpool.
g) Havana, offering a Latin American experience with authentic tapas, the finest cigars, a cigar room and a fabulous live band with the city's largest choice of fine rums and a variety of exotic cocktails.
h) The aesthetics of the hotel created by the design and quality of the public areas and guest rooms as well as the choice of elegant furnishings and creative art collection leads to an ambience for image conscious leaders of industry and business as well as International and local travelers to conduct their business in comfort and style right in the heart of Beijing's CBD.

We have a lot of other advantages to attract more guests that include:
a) A strong local sales team that understands both domestic and overseas feeder markets supported by our Millennium & Copthorne Global Sales Offices and global customer programs.
b) Marketing programs with major local and international brand partners such as credit card companies and mileage programs with airlines in frequent flyer rewards.
c) Participation in M & C enrolment of Frequent Guest Reward Program, offering unique value-add, recognition and incentives to our guests.
d) Efficient use of E-Commerce to promote the hotel.
e) Editorials and advertising in major publications in key markets to create brand awareness.
f) Bookers Reward program for local booking offices and influencers for choosing our hotel.

What are the key activities in managing and running a hotel?
Caring for the staff as well as attending to guests are definitely the most important activity in managing a hotel. Happy staff will bring happiness to guests and make guests feel satisfied.

What are your thoughts on the MICE industry in Beijing?
With China playing an ever more central role in the world economy and with the continued projection of strong growth in both domestic and International business, it is expected that the Beijing MICE market will grow in the coming years.

MICE is well accepted as a new profit generator in hospitality industry. What do you think MICE can contribute to increasing profits? How significant is MICE income as a percentage of your total revenue?
40%

What are your plans for expanding the MICE market in 2010?
In 2010, we will create more attractive banquet theme and meeting packages. Presently, a majority of meeting guests are quite interested in our newly created exquisite banquet theme — IndoChine and three unique themed coffee breaks including Simply Red, Exotic South East Asian, and Sinful Chocolate. These brilliant meeting concepts provide more selections for clients to make their events successful. In addition we have our Grand Millennium meeting packages that include everything from a neck massage during meeting breaks to a range of business centre services, creative food and beverage packages and special spa treatment inclusions.

Grand Millennium Beijing is positioned as a high-end luxury hotel. What are your thoughts on how to reflect this character so as to make a deep impression on customers and attract repeat customers?
First there is the hotel design and the hardware itself; we have, without a doubt, the most well appointed rooms of any hotel in Beijing and we're getting great reviews by our customers, particularly our extended bathrooms with full sized windows and remote controlled blinds. Our Oxygen health club and MTM spa have received numerous awards in just the first 16 months of our operation as have our restaurants. In particular, our Yao Chi Cantonese restaurant is fortunate to have one of Beijing's top chefs, Master Chef Chang, and has fast become the dining venue of choice in CBD.

Our excellent location, ease of access and close proximity to bus and subway stations are yet other advantages for us, particularly with the increase in traffic during rush hours.

I'd also like to mention our associates in the hotel, it is these hard working people that are truly the heart behind this great hotel and it is their expertise, dedication and service excellence to the well being of our guests that truly makes the difference of the Grand Millennium and makes my job so much easier as well.

What are the distinguishing features of the hotel's MICE facilities?
Grand Millennium Beijing has designed its meeting facilities and rooms in accordance with its target clientele's needs. For the MICE market we have extensive meeting and conference facilities. For example, our hotel offers a 1,000 square meter pillar-less grand ballroom plus another 11 function rooms fully equipped with the latest technologies, including our adjacent business center that is geared for MICE and other related events. Combined with Grand Millennium Beijing's variety of food and beverage outlets and recreational facilities, we can ensure the absolute comfort and convenience of our MICE clientele. To relax after a hard day's work we have our award winning gym, oversized pool and famed MTM spa where delegates can rejuvenate body and mind.