Refreshing, Peaceful and Romantic
CONFESSIONS OF A GLOBAL GYPSY
Dr. Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena DPhil
President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada
Founder & Administrator – Global Hospitality Forum
chandij@sympatico.ca
The Lodge and the Village are two, iconic resorts in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. In the Village, Architect Somaratna Silva had cleverly created a rustic resort with an open concept with individual rooms appearing like small houses in a remote village. Located in the centre of the resort are the front office, bar, restaurant, kitchens, stores and swimming pool. Recreational facilities, including elephant rides, boating, tennis etc., are located close by, facing the Habarana Lake. Even on extremely warm days, the open concept design of the two resorts ensured free circulation of breeze in a refreshing manner.
The greatest compliment the Village Habarana received was when competitors copied the concept and operated similar resorts. However, none were able to match the charm of the Village Habarana, and the innovative management style of the hotelier who opened it in 1976, my friend, boss and bestman, the late Bobby Adams.
Two young architects, trained by the best-known architect of Sri Lanka, legendary Geoffrey Bawa, continued the open concept in Habarana, but with more sophistication, when they created the concept for the Lodge. Architects Pheroze Choksy and Ismeth Rahim extended the concept of ‘Tropical Modernism’ – an architectural style of wide-open spaces connected to the sprawling outdoors made popular by Geoffrey Bawa.
The end result was simply a masterpiece of architecture, blending beautifully with nature, and the seamless delivery of world class hospitality. These architects working with the visionary board of directors of John Keells/Walkers Tours, had created two resorts, which were simply a delight for any hotelier to operate. I considered it a great honour for me to get an opportunity to manage both resorts concurrently.
Judging from its simple brand, first-time guests arriving at the Lodge usually did not have high expectations of standards. From the time they arrived, I could not help watching tourists become amazed with what they saw, the welcome they received, the service they experienced and the quality of public areas, gardens, bedrooms, food, etc. which always exceeded their expectations. Under-selling and over-delivering standards is a good strategy.
I was often amused to meet newly arrived guests with orchid flower garlands around their necks, wandering in the beautifully landscaped gardens holding their welcome cocktails served in King Coconuts. They would be looking up at the majestic pillars and seven, decorative balconies above the reception area, while refreshing their faces with the ice-cold, white towels we served them. “Wow” expressions were written all over their happy faces.
A large section of our employees was from the farmer communities around the resort complex. They were gentle and eager to provide ‘authentic Sri Lankan hospitality’ showcasing their best practices at homes and paddy fields. With a little training, their service delivery blossomed to outstanding levels.
Unprompted by management, the room attendants wished their guests ‘good night’ using wild flowers during the bed turn-down service. This thoughtful service was done while the guests were having their dinner. My wife and I were always touched with this beautiful daily gesture. Soon I realised that they even did the flower greetings in German, French, Italian etc., after checking the nationality of each guest with the front desk.
The birds provided continuous welcoming sounds in the Habarana Resort Complex. I often woke up early in the morning, long before my alarm rang, to the gentle chirping of exotic birds near our apartment. During my time in Habarana I learnt that Sri Lanka is home to 34 endemic bird species, and total number of bird species recorded in the island is nearly 500. With over 120 bird species, Habarana is widely considered to be a favoured location for bird watching in Sri Lanka.
Although Habarana is in the dry zone of Sri Lanka, which is always much warmer than the wet zone, the Habarana Resort Complex was relatively cooler. When the occasional rain showers that graced us, we had some challenges. In the 260 rooms of the complex, we had placed 520 large umbrellas for guests to use to move from individual rooms to the main building for meals.
I loved the rain in Habarana. Rain was also welcomed by over 2,000 trees located on our 40-acre land. It was peaceful and romantic. One evening, while walking from our cottage to the restaurant at the Lodge to have dinner, in the middle of heavy rainfall, my wife and I finally decided that after five years of married life and hectic global travels, now the time was right to start a family.
After successfully introducing sports tournaments for the staff, social events and training programs for supervisors and managers within the Habarana Resort Complex, our team got some new ideas. In addition to the Lodge and the Village, there were 13 smaller hotels in the North Central Province. “Can we do something to help these small hotels by pooling our resources?” one of our departmental managers asked during a brainstorming session.
Within a month, we formed a trade association which we termed ‘Rajarata Hoteliers Association.’ Based on the votes from the 15 member hotels, I was elected as the Founding President. We organized a monthly, best practice-sharing meeting and a get together of the managers of all 15 hotel. We also organized a monthly training session for the supervisors. Annually, we organized a large-scale sports festival for all of the staff.
One day I received a call from Mr. Jayantha Panabokka, the Managing Director of the Mahaweli Reach Hotel in Kandy. “Kandy hoteliers are hearing excellent reports about your association, Chandana. Can you please help us to form a similar trade association in Kandy?” So, I made a special trip to Kandy to share our best practices and the constitution. Later they formed the Kandy Hoteliers Association.
The largest professional association for hospitality managers in Sri Lanka was the Ceylon Hotel School Graduates Association (CHSGA). Having served CHSGA for four years from the late 1970s as the Treasurer and then as the General Secretary, I was very familiar with this body. Gradually a large number of senior members of CHSGA spoke with me, prompting me to become the President of CHSGA. With all this support, I was elected to this position uncontested in late 1985. My boss, Bobby Adams and the Chairman of John Keells Group, Mark Bostock fully supported me in these honorary contributions for the well-being of the industry.
As there were a few members of the CHSGA working at a nearby competitor hotel, Sigiriya Village, the Habarana Resort Complex had a special relationship with this resort. We shared best practices, coordinated room rate structure and regularly met their management team for recreational activities.
One of their managers, who was also a former student of mine at Ceylon Hotel School (CHS), Nimal Sangakkara, was a bodybuilder. We always targeted Nimal underwater because he was so strong. One day after a violent game of water polo, Nimal told me, “Sir, every time I come to Habarana to play water polo, I end up making an appointment for a post-game visit with the famous ayurvedic physician from Horuvilla who specializes on fractures and broken ribs!”
Unorthodox Management Development
A month before Christmas of 1985, Dave Kellaart, the manager in charge of food and beverage operations of the Village approached me with a personal request. He had worked as a waiter on my team at Havelock Tour Inn where I was the Assistant Manager in 1974. Dave was also one of my students at CHS in 1982, so I knew him well. I admired his ambition to succeed in the industry but when he asked me if I could let him leave the Village with just one week notice, I refused. It was very difficult to find managers at short notice to work in North Central Province or as some hoteliers called it, ‘in the jungle’.
“I have been offered the post of a Restaurant Manager at a five-star hotel in Dubai, with a salary six times higher than my current salary. They are demanding that I sign the contract now and join them next week. My family will benefit greatly from this offer. Can you please help me Sir?” Dave pleaded with me. After further thought I agreed, issued a good reference letter, released Dave on the same day and wished him every success.
I was happy to help my former student but now I had to find a replacement immediately, as we were in the middle of the high season for tourism. I brainstormed with the Executive Assistant Manager of the Village but we could not identify anyone suitable for the new vacancy among our 320 employees. While walking towards the front office of the Village, I was greeted by a young CHS trainee. “What is your name?” I asked him. “Anura Basnayake, I am doing my six-month industrial training in the front office,” he replied nervously.
I had not spoken with Anura before but had regularly noticed him. He was always well-dressed, well-groomed, well-spoken, very polite and professional in dealing with guests. He created a good first impression. I asked the Front Office Manager, Krishna, to release Anura for thirty minutes for me to have a chat with him. I sat with Anura at the pool deck and asked him, “Have you done the CHS four-month basic program in Restaurant and Bar Service?” Anura said, “No Sir, I have only done two basic programs in Front Office Operations and Housekeeping.”
Within a few minutes, I determined that Anura had the potential of becoming a good hotelier. I told Anura that we needed a manager or supervisor for the restaurant for the very next day. Anura stopped talking and looked very scared. “I have never done any meal or beverage service in my life,” he said.
“No problem, I will train you personally with the ‘must know’ basic technical stuff. You have the right attitude and will be doing us a big favour by taking on this responsibility,” I said. As Anura looked very nervous and confused, I told him, “Look Anura, those who jump into the deep end when there is an opportunity will learn to swim quickly.”
Anura was appointed as the Trainee Restaurant Supervisor of the Village that evening. From that day, I spent an hour a day for a week privately with Anura training him one-on-one, about essentials on tray carrying, order taking, food service, menu knowledge, wines, liquor, cocktails, sales, bar controls and supervision. Anura acquired the skills very quickly and eventually specialized in food and beverage management in a five-star hotel. Today he is the Director/General Manager of a number of hotels in Kandy.
Recently when we reconnected and became Facebook friends, Anura sent me the following message: “After I left Ramada about 26 years ago, I joined Hotel Topaz and still continue to work there. You changed my career and it helped me to reach the highest position of the Food and Beverage Manager at Ramada. It’s a very long story, but in short, you told me in 1985, that ‘if your administration is right, you can do any job.’ To date, I tell this amazing career development story to all my subordinates. Thank you, Sir!”
A Bachelor’s Party with Mark Bostock
John Keells Group Chairman Mark Bostock and his wife loved visiting the Lodge and the Village. Mr. Bostock was a very nice man and a charismatic leader. He was also very particular about standards. One day, when I met him at the restaurant of the Lodge, during lunch service, He complained about an old stock of gin we had in the bar. He said, “Chandana, from my experience, that Red Spot Rawlings needs to be taken in about five tots if I want to go pretty blind! Please tell the central purchasing people at Keells to get you some decent Chelsea gin as soon as possible.”
I told Mr. Bostock that evening after dinner that the 18 managers will hold a ‘surprise’ bachelor’s party for Krishna, who would be getting married next week. “Where is the party being held?”, Mr. Bostock asked me and I said, “It will be at the lakeside cottage.” “Perfect, I love that cottage. If you don’t mind, I will join you guys at 9:00 pm, the Chairman said. “That’s great, Mark. I can finish reading my book peacefully after dinner,” Mrs. Bostock nodded with a smile.
Immediately, I called Anura and gave him a special assignment. “Call all the member hotels of Rajarata Hoteliers Association and find two bottles of Chelsea gin, on loan, within two hours.” Mr. Bostock was very impressed to see the Chelsea gin at the bachelor’s party. He liked quick action. He was in a jovial mood and narrated a number of funny rugby jokes and practical tips for married men!
“Wives always test what their newly married husbands can do well. Krishna, if you impress the wife, you will end up doing certain tasks during your entire married life. Therefore, be careful, not to impress your wife!”
When we asked for an example from the Chairman, he said, “Well, when we were about to go on our honeymoon, my wife delegated me to pack a suitcase. I immediately placed some muddy rugger boots right over some of her elegant, evening dresses. She was horrified but after that experience, over the last 35 years, my wife never asked me to pack a single suitcase again!”
1985 Christmas and New Year’s Eve
Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations at both resorts were held on a grander scale. I shared with the team my recently acquired experiences in five-star London hotels. The main changes were full entertainment packages in each resort and planning well in advance.
In addition to the resident band ‘Burn’, we contracted another band and entertainers from Colombo. By getting the Executive chefs and Food and Beverage manager/executive/supervisor to share their suggestions and plans with all 18 managers in the resort complex, I managed to create a friendly, competitive spirit among the two sister resorts.
Some of the managers knew me well, long before my Habarana days. Two of them were my classmates from high school. Two of them were my contemporaries from CHS and two other managers had worked with me at previous hotels. While leading a large team, having previous “one-on-one” relationship with some of the team members is always helpful.
