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Do you also have a signature restaurant like
Bukhara
 Kebabs
and Kurries is our Indian cuisine specialty
restaurant of which we are very proud of. It offers
a choice of many of our signature dishes from Bukhara,
Dum Pukht and even Dakshin. Dum Pukht in Delhi has excellent
mughlai cuisine but basically from Lucknow. For Instance,
we have biryani from Lucknow, which is different than
in hyderabad.
You know our Mr. Habib Rahman is the biggest foodie
(gourmet) of India. He wanted us to offer the
best Indian food in this restaurant. So the menu has
been prepared with dishes selected not only by different
chefs but also many food consultants to give representations
to all parts..
We have added a bahkumaach naan made from
wheat flour and Indian spices like jeera. It is delicious,
healthy and extremely popular. The Menu has been divided
in various sections, divided by the type of food, like
seafood, lamb, chicken and fish. There is a separate
Menu in green for the vegetarians who are treated specially
by us. Even the glasses for vegetarians are pale green
in colour so the waiter can find it easy to serve them
and there is no scope for a mistake in service.
There is yet a separate section in the Menu, called
muqawwiyat-energetic food where we offer energy foods.
It appears to be quite an elaborate menu with
detailed explanations!
Mr. Rahman and his team did extensive research on the
history of each dish. We are very proud of the menu.
In fact, the company has decided to repeat the same
menu wherever we open a new second restaurant in any
city.
And how are the restaurant prices
Our prices are comparable to any other hotel of our
genre. But I must say that at each restaurant we have
made provision for the single resident guests to order
one dish which will be a complete meal in itself. The
same provision is made for out guests so that they can
order only one dish from the room service and not bother
about the selection complexities. We offer buffets on
the week-ends with unlimited drinks, practically at
half the costs in Delhi. These are very popular meals
with our regular clients from Mumbai.
What is your average room occupancy
We enjoy occupancy of an average 80% with a peak of
90% on Wednesdays. During the week-end it goes down
to 50% which is a cause of some concern.
What are the biggest challenges you face
With the galloping salaries, it is becoming increasingly
difficult to hold onto our work-force. Hence our biggest
challenge is not only to have satisfied work force but
to have 'engaged personnel'. My constant focus is to
make my people extend that 'typical Indian hospitality'
so we might become the best hoteliers of the world.
What are your personal views on the expanding
hotel industry in India
Average room rates in a premium hotel in India today
are between $250-350. One should view these rates in
context with today's costs of putting up a premium hotel
in an up-market business district at the right location.
Cost of land alone is prohibitively expensive, at
around Rs.2 to 3 crores per room. Last year, Kohinoor
Mills area in Dadar, Mumbai was bid at over Rs. 100
crores per acre. Apparently the developers shelved their
plans to make a hotel as they did not find it economically
viable and have gone in for a commercial and Mall usage.
 Leela
has only recently bought land near Delhi's Hyatt Regency
at over Rs.200 crores an acre. When on an average one
builds about 100 rooms per acre, land cost for each
room works out to Rs. 2 crores ! To this when one adds
another 1 crore for the construction cost per room;
overall cost of per room comes to close to 3 crores!
The 300- room new hotel will cost around 900 crores.
Any return on investment calculations will go haywire
with such heavy start up costs!
Land is the key today to starting a new hotel. Landowners
are the kings and calls the shots. People who bought
land 4-5 years ago are in an enviable position. Due
to the exorbitant land prices, the break-even today
has become 4-5 years; it used to be one year earlier.
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