Victor Dönmez. General manager of the NH Parque Central Hotel
<b> Q- The NH Parque Central Hotel is just about to turn five years old. What has been the hotel’s key achievements? </b>
A- The biggest achievement has been the kind of staff that we have pieced together, a hardworking, highly professional personnel that’s always ready to meet the needs of all guests. We work around the clock, seven days a week. We look for details, we welcome guests from all parts of the world and we’ve managed to assess what our clientele’s demands really are according to its own characteristics. By doing so, we’ve managed to provide a customized service that pleases guests and urges them to check back in.
Secondly, professional training has been a key element in our success, and we keep it very much in sync with international standards. Around 95 percent of our employees speaks a second language fluently, whether they’re in direct contact with guests or not. That’s a way of providing not only a better service, but also of passing Cuban values on to them. Last year, each and every one of our 240 employees received an average 1.4 courses. In the same breath, the front office team received training abroad in order to get more experience and pass that experience on to workers.
The third biggest success is that we’ve managed to make the hotel look like brand new. We work from a preventive standpoint every step of the way and pay close attention to such details as rooms, painting, carpeting and everything that gives guests the impression of being in a brand-new hotel. And last but not least, we’ve reaped good revenues, but they bank entirely on all of the above.
<b> Q- What are the hotel’s major markets? </b>
A- Last year we scored a 68.7 percent occupancy rate, and over two thirds of that figure were Americans. The logical runner-up is Spain –because we’re a Spanish chain- followed by France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Belgium.
<b> Q- What prospects are you making for this year? </b>
A- The European market will be our top priority this year, though we’re looking for some new markets. Spain could jump to the to of the list or remain in the second spot, probably followed by the U.K. and Italy. In the case of the latter, we mostly receive businesspeople, plus incentive groups from France and Germany.
<b> Q- Cuba’s Tourism Ministry recently gave your hotel the five-star category. What aspects were taken account of for that decision? </b>
A- We’re an international competitor, so that means there’re common guidelines and standards that we must abide by in keeping with hotels in other countries. In a very wise move, the Cuban Tourism Ministry is conducting a standardization process. They followed the same proceeding with the rest of the hotels on the island nation; they dispatched a very professional team to the hotel that left no stone unturned around here, so to speak. That prompted the team to give us the five-star category.
<b> Q- How long have you been in the hotel sector? </b>
A- I’ve been in the business for eighteen years and I’ve worked in different countries, more recently with Golden Tulip in the Netherlands and now with NH, the company that bought it out.
<b> Q- Is this hotel NH’s only lodging in Cuba? </b>
A- Yes, it is. We run and market this hotel in a joint venture with the Cubanacan Group.
<b> Q- How many hotels does NH own around the world? </b>
A- This is a Spanish group. NH stands for Navarra Hotels. The company owns 265 facilities in 19 nations, and we’ve got hotels in most major cities. The biggest chunk of our hotels are in Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland, though we’re now expanding in the Balkans.
<b> Q- What about Latin America and the Caribbean? </b>
A- In the Caribbean, we only own resorts in Cuba and Mexico, plus in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil in the case of Latin America.
<b> Q- What makes NH hotels stand out? </b>
A- The company’s philosophy of catering to guests. We’re a group of urban hotels that targets businesspeople in the first place. And we provide the best conveniences and comfort money can buy for this kind of traveler. We guarantee them whatever they need for the businesses and we try to make them feel like home.
<b> Q- What challenges does anyone have to face up to when running a hotel in Cuba? </b>
A- Cuba is a major travel destination and stirs up plenty of curiosity and snooping around. For me, this is a great experience because I like the way Cubans are, their traditions. I’m a man of Turkish origin and perhaps the Mediterranean binds us together. I don’t feel here as if I were in a strange country at all. My top challenge is try to make the NH Parque Central Hotel the very best in Cuba. That’s a challenge for me and my staff.
