As more leisure and business travel heads toward Wuxi, the InterContinental Wuxi will reap more than its fair share of the market. General Manager WILLIAM LAU speaks on how the hotel adds value, wins fans and influences guests.
Competition notwithstanding, the InterContinental Wuxi has on its side, besides location, amenities and services – a great service attitude.
That makes a difference because led by General Manager (Hong Kong’s very own) William Lau, the hotel is well and truly poised to serve the discerning luxury leisure and M.I.C.E market like few of its competitors can.
New Reality
The lobby sets the tone with its blend of spacious, ethnic chic and guest-friendly design – strong common threads throughout this exacting property that offers all you’d expect from a luxury hotel and more.
“We believed that a hotel should have that homely feeling and offer that welcome mat without the formality,” says Lau.
“Luxury hospitality is changing with the times and today, it isn’t enough to merely offer all the bells and whistles but we’ve got to innovate, adapt, amaze and proactively pursue new business if we are to remain market leaders.
Oversupply of hotel rooms and dwindling numbers in terms of fresh talent do not make our jobs easier but then again, challenge is not a bad thing.
“The Internet explosion continues to educate the market and travel watch– dogs keep guests well informed about the good, bad and ugly so I can safely say, we are witnessing a paradigm shift for certain,” explains Lau.
One-Stop-Shop
InterContinental Wuxi, in line with the brand’s philosophy ‘In the Know’, aims at providing travelers with the best stay experience with premium, personalized service to deliver a uniquely InterContinental guest experience to create ‘Great Hotels Guests Love’ in Wuxi.
The hotel’s well known InterContinental Hallmark Services continue to enjoy demand as discerning customers have grown to expect its signature Meeting, Concierge and Service Style that’s proven a hard act to follow.
The hotel offers 398 guestrooms including 87 well-appointed suites. Accommodation facilities present panoramic views of the Taihu Lake and Jinhang Grand Canal.
Its contemporary design is punctuated with traditional Chinese touches such as the embroidered silk headboard and an art piece depicting seasonal sceneries of the Jiangnan region.
The InterContinental Executive Floors on level 35 to 37 provide guests with foremost 24-hour personalized service and access to the exclusive Executive Floor facilities.
The Executive Lounge on level 35 also features exclusive privilege and upgraded service. The upmarket guest isn’t looking to have us compete on price as much as on service, Lau says.
“Frequent travelers want the value-added component. They also favour hotels with a distinct quality of service. They appreciate green hotels with a strong focus on sustainability and more importantly, they want hotels that offer the proverbial one-stop-shop.”
As Unique As You
“As a brand we’ve always focused on uniqueness,” says Lau. Be it weddings or product launches, or gala dinners or conferences, we have an experienced team that help put together all the bits and pieces at the right time, according to the client’s brief, on time and with the perfection that is expected of us.”
Apart from the hotel’s Juna Grand Ballroom, and banquet room, the InterContinental Wuxi has grandly-styled meeting and conferencing rooms with InterContinental brand standard insider breaks to suit a wide variety of tastes.
“We have lots of corporate business from Hong Kong and that’s only expected to rise given the increasing business opportunities we have to offer,” Lau says.
“Today, we are seeing a blurring of the line between M.I.C.E and leisure travel with many M.I.C.E travellers also keen to take in the local sights like the 88 metre tall Lingshan Buddha, or watch the music dynamic QunDiao or tour the FanGong – Jiangnan potala palace, Buddhist culture art expotemple.
We also have scenic spots like the Turtle Park, the cruise tour of Taihu Lakeor the only water Taoist temple on Taihu immortal island.
“Our team has that depth and range of experience to cater to what the customer wants and more. We pride ourselves as being able to provide each customer with a unique experience. We achieve this with a combination of our facilities, our top, quality food and beverage service, housekeeping, front office, and concierge service, all coming together to offer the guests that ‘wow’ factor.
The hotel has much to boast about where it comes to its restaurants. It’s signature Aoi Japanese restaurants and its Wu Yue No.1 Chinese restaurant are certainly two of the more sought after fine dining outlets in the area. Its i-Café All Day Dining restaurant seats nearly 400 diners, offering nearly 150 dishes to choose from the buffet. The, we have ‘Senses’ – our famous classy steak house with its Wine & Cigar Bar that’s a hit with nearly all our guest looking for that something special. We try to ensure that we have something for everyone and yet we know how to give our guest that much required private space for them to take it in all in at their own pace and enjoy.”
On the subject of private space, the hotel offers full spa services and a well- appointed pool for unwinding and enjoying those quiet moments.
Flexibility Matters
Hotels have no choice but to become more flexible and bend backward for the customer, says Lau.
“We’ve got a reputation for providing tailor-made packages to suit each customer’s specific business requirements. This is especially important in this day and age as the nature of events hotels traditionally hosts are changing. Gone are the days when you had political summits, seminars and conferences and state banquets only. Today, you have to rise to challenges like thematic weddings, car launches, food festivals etc where customers want packages including everything from quality rooms to fine dining to spa treatments all within a specified price. To deliver effectively you need a well trained, motivated, proactive team that is ready to be challenged and with teamwork, excel.”
“We have an excellent hotel, an enviable loyal customer base and the will to improve and build on our capabilities. Many Hong Kong corporate and leisure travellers will do well to visit us and let us unravel the possibilities. I look forward to welcoming your discerning business and lifestyle readers to our hotel to see just how much value we can add to their business-leisure dollar,” concludes Lau.
For additional information visit www.intercontinental.com
Hong Kong’s Business Leaders share market and interest intelligence in the pages of HKMVC 2015
