Earning the confidence of guests by safely delivering luxury experiences
While staycation is an evolving trend in the COVID era, JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu, has come up with an innovative way of staycation by recreating the tropical experiences and signature iconic elements of Phuket and Thailand through the month of November. Rohit Tiwari, Director of Rooms, JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu, shares with TTJ, more on the immersive ‘staycay’, the challenges, present focus, their commitment to clients on safety and hygiene matters and much more.
The re-alignment of thoughts posed as a bit of a challenge initially, for the team at JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu considering it took everyone some time to adapt to the ways of the new normal. Even now they keep reminding themselves every day of a very famous quote by J. Willard Marriott, “View the problem as an opportunity to grow” and they did exactly that, introducing home delivery of their signature delicacies via their ‘Marriott on Wheels’ initiative. This is a time for them to work together, seek and create new opportunities, embrace technology and be prepared for change as they adapt to the new normal.
Presently, there is a great demand for domestic travel, remote work options, family staycations, intimate celebrations and the focus for them is to deliver and create personalised experiences for these segments, whilst following stringent safety and hygiene guidelines.
For those who have been dreaming of travelling all these months, The JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu has introduced the ‘Drive to Phuket’ campaign throughout the month of November. Guests can enjoy the cuisine and culture of Phuket through staycations and popup dinners in a month-long carnival including a one-day outdoor flea market at the hotel.
“With Indians comprising one of the top outbound travellers to Phuket, the JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu’s focus for the whole month of November will be recreating the tropical experiences and signature iconic elements of the JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa to encourage domestic travellers. From the moment a guest books a stay to their check-in and check-out experience, JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu will recreate signature experiences and moments reminiscent of Phuket. Also, this unique ‘staycation” will have all the elements of the original Thailand experience right from chef’s special Phuket-inspired menu or making your ‘Thai evening’ a bit more special by lighting the traditional floating lamps in the lotus pond,” shares Rohit.
At Marriott International, they have also been practicing the ‘People First’ approach since inception and have realised that they need to do a lot more than ever before.
They are focusing on the wellbeing of their associates via regular counselling sessions, job enhancement exercises and have partnered with New Life Solution, Inc. meQuilibrium for resilience training for employees, health plans, and help individuals in stress management, enhance productivity, health, and wellbeing.
Regarding communication with team and stakeholders in these difficult times, Rohit says, “Consistent and transparent communication is vital during such unprecedented times. Keeping all our stakeholders like co-workers, managers, teams, and owners informed about what’s happening throughout the duration of the pandemic will be the key to creating belongingness in the team. I am blessed to have a very talented team in the hotel who possess high resilience and tenacity. Our associates demonstrate tremendous commitment, flexibility, and courage while we continue to work in an unprecedented and challenging environment.”
Our team on site has also been trained throughout the past months to effectively implement the processes of ‘Commitment to Clean’ - Marriott International’s extensive program on safety and hygiene measures. Safety is our priority and our team members have been trained well to ensure all the norms are being followed.
Marriott has put together a Global Cleanliness Council that comprises in-house and external experts in the field of hospitality, epidemiology, sanitation and protective health and hygiene technology. And then of course their approach to this is their program “Commitment to Clean”. Their mission is to identify and deploy scientifically supported best practices and innovations for keeping hotel associates and guests safe. A key component of this program is the Cleanliness Champion with very clearly defined responsibilities.
“We also need to collectively earn the trust of our people in the entire travel experience. We need to work towards providing accommodation which is safe and thoroughly disinfected with the usage of hospital grade chemicals and embrace the use of technology across the hotel to ensure a contactless experience. Since the inception of Marriott International, health and safety have been at the heart of Marriott’s approach to hospitality. This commitment to our guests and associates continues to anchor us and shapes our decisions as we adapt to the new normal,” concludes Rohit.