Face-to-Face: John Gardner, General Manager, Caravelle Hotel
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1) Beyond the 50th anniversary of the Caravelle Hotel last May, what has achieving this milestone meant for such an iconic part of Saigon’s history as the Caravelle Hotel?
For the Caravelle it has gained us enormous media coverage not just in Vietnam but worldwide, particularly in North American publications where there is a greater association with the hotel from the days of the war period when it was central to the press corps of the time. In conjunction with the anniversary we have just published a history book of the Caravelle which is now on sale in our gift shop. This has been the culmination of a 2 year project and has drawn many people out of the woodwork who either used to stay here, eat and drink here, work here, or have had some association with the hotel over the years who all have a story to tell. Apart from all of the publicity we’ve managed to attract, I think it’s a huge milestone in the life of any hotel, particularly such a landmark hotel to reach 50 years old.
2) Where next for the grande dame of Saigon hotels?
11 years ago the original Caravelle opened its’ doors again with a complete makeover together with a new 24 storey tower added adjacent to the hotel. We are now finalising the details of a renovation of the hotel lobby and lobby lounge which will start around April 2010. Once that project is completed we will commence an even bigger project to renovate all of the guest rooms. That will probably be a 2 year project in total as we will only do it floor by floor to minimise the effects to our guests and the hotel operation. The intent is to keep the Caravelle at the forefront of innovation among the city hotels as it always has been since it opened its’ doors 50 years ago.
3) With your commanding central location within the heart of HCMC’s business, entertainment, shopping and sightseeing sectors, who in fact are your main clients?
Before the world economic crisis approximately 70% of our clientele were corporate guests however that changed this year quite dramatically with companies slashing their travel budgets. Now we are receiving about 50% of our guests from the corporate and MICE sector and the rest made up of leisure groups and individuals. We’re hoping that will change back to a greater share of corporate guests again as the world’s economy improves in the future.
4) How much do your famous restaurants, bars and other amenities contribute to the success of your business from walk in, rather than residential trade?
Interestingly most of our F&B business is from local walk-ins as opposed to in house guests. That’s really quite normal as when people travel they want to get out of the hotel they are staying in and explore other restaurants in the vicinity, I do it myself when I travel. Also Saigon Saigon Bar is an iconic bar and probably the most famous bar in the city if not Vietnam. Located on the roof of the original building it’s where the journalists used to hang out during the war period and often write their stories from there. It’s always listed in all the travel guides to Vietnam as a “must see” while in Saigon.
5) You have just won the inaugural award for the best business hotel showing service and dedication to the community. Can you tell us a little about your social responsibility programmes?
The Caravelle has always been closely involved with the community in terms of social support programmes by way of donating room nights, meals, etc to a multitude of charity organisations for fund raising purposes. Throughout the year we also host a number of doctors and aid workers that come here for various social works. In addition we also stage one major fund raising event ourselves in the form of a banquet dinner and concert in our ballroom the proceeds of which go to a different charity each year. For the last few years this concert has been a combination of local entertainers plus the Hong Kong Male Welsh Choir who fly here especially for the event at their own cost. We also support an orphanage each year just before Tet where we take food, clothing, etc for the children.
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