THIN, grey-haired and soft-spoken, Mr Ralf Gresch, 44, manager at the Festive Hotel, makes an unlikely Pied Piper as he leads a boisterous brood of children through the plush hotel lobby.
‘You need to find Donkey,’ he says, waving a toy replica of the lovable cartoon character from the Hollywood animated blockbuster Shrek.
Instantly, half a dozen children forage under sofas and peek behind curtains in search of their grey, grinning friend.
‘Hey, I found one,’ shrieks a bespectacled 10- year-old. ‘Me too, me too,’ shout others.
The children were having a great time at the soft launch of Resorts World Sentosa’s (RWS) hotels last weekend, experiencing the hospitality on offer at Festive Hotel, one of the three hotels providing very different guest experiences.
For them and their parents – friends and family of RWS employees – the mood was one of childish high jinks and good cheer as they made the most of their free run of a brand new hotel.
The atmosphere at the Hard Rock Hotel next door was a tad more grown-up, with guests getting a glimpse into the lives of famous rock stars. Bruce Springsteen blared from the speakers and rooms were adorned with haunting black-and-white photographs of rock stars through the ages.
In contrast, elegance and sophistication ruled at Hotel Michael, with art aficionados marvelling at the angular designs of famed American architect Michael Graves, the designer of everything at the hotel – including the restaurant’s cutlery.
All three themed hotels – plus the elite invitation-only Crockfords Tower facility – will officially open their doors to the public on Wednesday. And a further two hotels are planned – Equarius and Spa Villas – to open at a later unspecified date.
When all are up and running, the resort will have a total of 1,800 rooms. Mr Roger Lienhard, vice-president of food and beverage and rooms at RWS, says visitors will be spoilt for choice.
‘Each one offers a vastly different experience in terms of design and ambience,’ he says.
Whatever style of accommodation is selected by visitors, they should be sure to enjoy a high level of service from staff. The Festive Hotel’s Mr Gresch insists that wherever staff are they will be ‘friendly, humble and always at your service’.
Their attention is focused on detail. For instance, a key task of every staff member at his hotel is to ensure children are given special treatment.
Over at Hard Rock, pleasing customers is also high on the agenda.The hotel’s manager, Mr Peter Wong, 50, who could pass muster as a rock star himself given his turquoise-streaked hair, has a whiteboard listing the service ‘challenges of the day’.
Last weekend, staff were grappling with a unique problem – how to quickly transport birthday cakes from the resort’s central kitchen at Hard Rock to Hotel Michael nearly a kilometre away.
‘We soon realised birthday amenities needed to be stocked at each individual hotel,’ said Mr Wong. ‘All it required was buying a few extra fridges.’
The smooth service and myriad comforts that the range of hotels promises do not come cheap.
Room rates inclusive of breakfast at the Festive Hotel start at $400 a night, at Hard Rock they come in at $450, while at Hotel Michael the base price is $500.
Given that even the luxurious Bellagio in Las Vegas is currently offering weekday rates starting at US$139 (S$195), aren’t the RWS rates a little on the high side?
Not according to hotel industry analyst Robert Hecker, who points out that the RWS prices are pre-discount ‘rack rates’.
More importantly, the ‘demand generators’ contained within the integrated resort make it natural for RWS hotels to charge a premium, said Mr Hecker, who works at consulting company Horwath HTL.
Comparing rates with Las Vegas might not be appropriate, he thinks. ‘Las Vegas is still hurting badly from the recession. And Singapore’s tourism curve is on the rise.’
Source: Straits Times, 16 Jan 2010
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