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The lobby and lounge of the Conrad Hong Kong


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Dennis A. Clarke

Positioned
for Growth

Editors’ Note

A veteran hotelier with 41 years’ experience, Dennis Clarke assumed his present post in 1999. During his tenure with Hilton Hotels Corporation, Clarke spent two decades serving as General Manager of properties in the greater Los Angeles area, including The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills.

Property BRIEF

The Conrad Hong Kong, occupying the top 22 floors of a 61-story skyscraper in the heart of the city’s business district, features superb views of Victoria Harbour or Victoria Peak from each of its 513 rooms and suites. In addition, the hotel is renowned for its excellent restaurants, opulent executive lounge, and state-of-the-art in-room technology. The Conrad Hong Kong is part of Hilton Hotels Corporation, the leading global hospitality company, with over 2,900 hotels and 490,000 rooms in 76 countries and territories. The company owns, manages, or franchises a hotel portfolio of some of the best known and most highly regarded brands.

The travel industry has achieved growth over the past year. Has the market been strong in Hong Kong and what is your outlook for the property in 2008?

Rapid economic development on the mainland and throughout the rest of Asia will continue to bring plenty of opportunities for Hong Kong, and the role of Hong Kong will not be marginalized by the mainland cities. Hong Kong’s positioning is that of a financial and service industry center and this does not overlap with other cities in Asia. Having said that, Hong Kong’s economy will continue to improve, which will makes our business better in 2008 than it was in 2007.

There seems to constantly be changes and new additions being made at the property. Would you highlight some of the projects taking place at Conrad Hong Kong that guests can expect in the coming years?

It is necessary to always keep your hotel nice and fresh. A comfortable room with appealing decor and user-friendly facilities is a key requirement for our guests, and recently completed refurbishment of our guest rooms and suites enables our guests to enjoy an enhanced level of comfort. The contemporary classic theme accentuated with Chinese traditional elegance is carried through from guest rooms to public areas to provide a warm residential ambience. This is complemented by our new hotel lobby, an arrival point for our incoming guests as well as our refurbished Grand Ballroom, a venue that attracts social limelight with a host of local prestigious social functions and gala events. In early October 2007, our Italian restaurant, Nicholini’s, reopened after a month-long renovation and is already proving again to be a favorite dining spot for gourmet connoisseurs and local restaurant critics. In the year ahead, currently under planning development are our health club, our ever-popular all-day dining outlet, Garden Café, and our much-acclaimed Chinese restaurant, Golden Leaf, to be given a new aura of dining ambience next summer. The ultimate completion of our renovation program ensures that Conrad can compete effectively among the new generation of luxury hotels in the city.

Hong Kong has a number of high-end luxury properties focused on a similar market. How challenging is it to differentiate from your competitors and how do you define what makes Conrad Hong Kong unique?

Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city, which has become accustomed to providing a high level of luxury service and facilities. Presently, there are over 90 hotels of various categories offering a total of some 38,000 hotel rooms across the city, and approximately one-fifth of these 90 hotels is within the bracket of “High Tariff A” hotels. I feel it is of paramount importance to differentiate ourselves from our competitor set. The physical product is important, but the physical product alone will not do it. What makes Conrad Hong Kong unique is the services that are well remembered by our guests, which differentiate us from other hotels in this city – an important factor for the success of any operation is the hospitality factor, apart from our brand name which, in itself, is a good assurance of quality standard.

Would you highlight your restaurant offerings and provide an overview of the food and beverage business at Conrad Hong Kong?

People in Asia and Hong Kong enjoy dining in hotel restaurants, as opposed to in the United States, where people usually prefer to go to freestanding restaurants. Our Italian restaurant, Nicholini’s, has been around for 15 years. It has a fantastic reputation, and our regular customers remained keen supporters of our restaurant when it reopened in October after a month-long closure for renovation. Similarly, our Chinese restaurant, Golden Leaf, is doing exceptionally well and it has earned an enviable reputation for fine, exquisite Chinese cuisine. The signature dishes and seasonal specialties, skillfully created by the culinary experts in our restaurants Nicholini’s, Brasserie on the Eighth, and Golden Leaf, entice our patrons to return time and time again. In 2007, our food and beverage revenue showed a positive variance of some 17 percent as compared to what we achieved in 2006.

Many leading properties today have placed a major emphasis on offering high-end spa and fitness facilities. How much of a focus has this been for you, and would you provide an overview of these facilities at the property?

Many leading properties today place great emphasis on offering high-end spa and fitness facilities. Wellness is very important, as we all know. In 2008, our health club will receive a new designer’s touch, which I am sure will be hailed as a great success when finished.

Your time is pulled in many different directions. How do you define the role of General Manager today and how do you focus your time and efforts?

A good leader trusts more and abandons bureaucratic mechanism existing in flat hierarchies. This allows direct communications up and down the hotel, and quick turnarounds. Effective leaders master their time by relentlessly clearing items off the “to do” list at lightning speed, keeping things simple, and not making a federal case out of anything. This allows us more time and attention to service our internal and external customers with no politics, to achieve higher morale and increased productivity, and to create greater value for the shareholders through higher profitability.