Peter Khong is general manager of the Four Points by Sheraton Shanghai, Daning. Originally from the United States, Khong is leading a new hotel in a new area of China's cosmopolitan center that is catering to business meetings and corporate exhibitions.

If meeting planners are looking at a venue for their next conference, why should they choose your city and why should they choose your hotel?
Shanghai, one of the largest cities in China, a spectacularly dynamic metropolis, is the showcase of China's fast growth and a bonanza of tourist attractions, business opportunities and cultural activities.

Four Points by Sheraton Shanghai, Daning forms part of the exciting new integrated complex which combines Life Hub @ Daning, the first of its kind in Shanghai, an open-air, innovative urban lifestyle concept, consisting of hotel, offices, retail, food and beverage, entertainment, culture, education and ancillary services. The hotel is strategically located in Zhabei, north of Shanghai central business district, within easy access to the inner ring road, minutes walk to Yanchang Road subway station, just 15 minutes drive to Nanjing Road, The Bund, and Huaihuai Road commercial area.

How do you feel your hotel will impact the hospitality sector in Shanghai?
We believe we are one of the few hotels in Shanghai that provide honest value and genuine service that is uncomplicated and reliable. Our hotel offers a new kind of style and comfort especially to travelers who seek to stay in upper-mid scale hotels with an international brand and standards. There are many of these untapped travelers who look for value, comfort and most of all honesty from a hotel. We believe our hotel can meet these guests' expectations. We aim at understanding our guests' needs and wants and do not provide over-service, respect the individuality and privacy of all our guests. We strive to anticipate all our guests' expectations with the endeavor of WOW them as much as we can.

What are some challenges to running a hotel in Shanghai?
We will be spending a great deal of time in marketing and promotions as expected from a new hotel. We have just opened and we are already heading towards the low summer months. Most hotels in Shanghai have already started the summer price war! We are very lucky that the Life Hub is right in front of our hotel's foot steps and we are working closely with our retail partners to come up with value added benefits and attractions for our leisure and business travelers.

As we also have an in-house Spa, we are also looking at promoting Spa and room packages as well as weekend packages to tie in with our food and beverage outlets. Another challenge is getting qualified employees and being able to retain them. We are working very hard focusing our efforts on caring for our associates by providing the proper skills and training, involving in more of their welfare and activities and giving opportunities for career advancement. Starwood has a very established and in-depth series of training, from brand understanding and service culture to job skill enhancement and leadership development.

How is your hotel implementing corporate social responsibility initiatives to avoid corruption, ensure healthy food, and promote a clean environment?
Our company has zero tolerance on corruption! We are so serious about this that we have an outside company that provides an Internet-based reporting system and a toll free hotline to assist management and associates to work together to address fraud, abuse, misconduct and other violations in the workplace. This tool was launched in September 2004 and it comes with a "Confidential Associate Hotline / Website". It encourages our associates to report concerns about, account or auditing practices, unethical behavior and violations of company policy. Concerns by associates are submitted anonymously if they do not wish to reveal their identity.

Our company recognizes the importance of providing a safe food to our guests and employees. It is for this reason that Safe Food and Hygiene audits are conducted annually. We have a Safe Food and Hygiene standards manual which provides guidance on food and safety procedures that should ensure a safe food and deliver the highest standards that are expected by our company.

We promote a green environment in our hotel. In order to alleviate the excessive use of water and chemicals in our laundry, we provide an option for guests to re-cycle their bed sheets or towels in the bathroom. So far, the program is going well and we have started to collect data to analyze the effectiveness and participation rate by our guests. We are also looking into other conservation programs with our associates and hope to be launched by the 3rd quarter of this year.

(average: 3.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Leave A Comment: