Juan Candeal . General Manager of Havana´s Occidental Miramar Hotel

Q- How long have you been working for Occidental Hotels?

A- I’ve been there for exactly three years, since I joined the staff of the Occidental resort we have in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. From there, I served for seven months in Athens and moved on to the chain’s latest hotel in the Mayan Riviera. I remained there for a year and a half until I was appointed to lead the Occidental hotel in Havana.

Q- You’re really a man who’s been able to cope with some major challenges in this company, aren’t you?

A- You bet. What we really count on in this company is a team of highly dedicated professionals that knows the ropes about hotel service; a team that knows how to rely on guests and takes their comments on the way things are run around into account. That’s the key to success for us, that is, to make guests find what they’re exactly looking for, what they’re proposing on their comments and what they’re really wishing to find. That’s a line of work we’ve done our best to fulfill, and my team of professionals and myself will be bending over backwards to make that happen here. We must deliver what guests really want. I must say that after six months of operations, we’ve been able to iron things out and turn the hotel into an example of the way this company actually operates. And the reason why this hotel is now working on all six is because of the team that we have. I hope you get the hang of what I’m trying to say. All professionals working for Occidental are somehow made of a different kind of tissue.

Q- Did you also work for the Madrid Palace?

A- Yes, I did. I cut my teeth there as I receptionist and I started to move up the ladder. I worked for the Palace for nine years, and after nine years I got a pretty good offer to work for the Ritz Hotel. I also served there for a number of years. Then I moved to Barcelona, Santander and other locations.

Q- What’s the goal of your visit to Cuba?

A- The main goal is to turn this hotel into a reference point in Havana’s emerging business and commercial realm. I think this is a place where all businesses, all corporate visits, all people coming on educational and business trips can find that this hotel is ready to help them pull off their activities and their meetings with all services and conveniences that this establishment has to offer. From the gym and the swimming pool to the spa and the meeting halls, everything is set. And we’re now working on the opening of a new business center and an executive floor.

Q- What kind of tourism is Occidental Miramar going to home in on?

A- Given the hotel’s location, we’re looking for corporate people, business travelers and other similar guests. But also because the hotel is in the city of Havana, we need to further develop its tourist and cultural potentials. That’s why we also want to be the base of many circuits that depart from Havana and reach out to other parts of the country, let’s say Varadero, Holguin, you name it. We want to put Occidental Hotels on the map through the Miramar, which by the way, is a top-flight, one-of-a-kind product. We want to lure a clientele like the one we’ve already snared in such hotels as the Miguel Angel in Madrid, the Embajador in Santo Domingo, the Royal Halloween in Punta Cana, and the one in the Mayan Riviera. With so many tourists here in Cuba, we want to use the Miramar as a pivotal resort for our company to develop itself right here on the island nation.

Q- What guests and countries is Occidental going to rivet its attention on?

A- Our natural trend, given the location of the hotel, its history and our tradition, is to turn to France, Spain, Portugal and the entire European market. On the other hand, we’ve got some pretty good ties –and we’re also making those ties even stronger- with Canada and South America. These are all emerging countries and we hope their tourists could start coming to this neck of the woods anytime soon. As a matter of fact, they’re already wishing to come here, mostly drawn by the country’s culture.

Q- Now on to Allegro’s incorporation to Occidental Hotels and to the fact that American tourists are used to Allegro’s service. Could this move have the strength to help bring that market to Occidental products in Cuba?

A- Allegro is one of the biggest transactions our company has ever made. The move turned Occidental into the leading all-inclusive company in the Caribbean and, of course, they’ve founded a new group called Allegro Resorts. This is a product that targets family travels and in which everything is within reach. Of course, we now have the Gran Playa Turquoise Hotel, the Occidental Miramar (an urban hotel) and we’d like to buy other properties as time goes by. That array of actions will make our products up to par with what the American traveler really demands.

Q- What are Occidental’s projects in Cuba, as we speak?

A- The Occidental Miramar is gaining ground as a new property within the company. We’ve got the Gran Playa Turquoise Hotel, plus other projects that are still on the drawing board and that we’ll talk about some other time.

Q- In addition to Gaviota, what other groups could join the Occidental’s family?

A- For us, Gaviota Co. is the hand that’s introducing us to the Cuban market, so for the time being, everything we’ve got is done through Gaviota. This relation is beginning to pay off in both know-how and personnel training. We’re relying on Occidental advisors for this kind of job, people who have come from other regions to help us train our own staff. As we speak, we’re like newlyweds in their honeymoon, so I’m not informed about projects with companies other than those we’ve already had with Gaviota.

Q- What investments are you making for the re-launching of the hotel?

A- Well, investments are above all centered on branding, on putting on a new face. We’re transforming all of the hotel’s signs, brands, bills, posts and everything else. We’re even sewing new uniforms for our staff. We’re also doling out new procedures, new working style, quality guidelines and everything. We’ve installed our own management system. And in this particular effort, we’re strengthening the presence of advisors and going at great lengths from a marketing standpoint.