希尔顿寻味之旅
——专访上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店总经理Joseph Zitnik先生
Exploring Hilton's Delicacies
--Exclusive Interview with Mr. Joseph Zitnik, General Manager of Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao
In early 2010, Hilton Hotels & Resorts unveiled a deluxe contemporary hotel, Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao, which made quite a splash in the hospitality industry. The grand opening of the Hilton hotel has marked the successful expansion of the Hilton brand in Asia. After almost 7 years’ development, Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao has grown into a five-star business and leisure hotel with a superior location, convenient transportation, advanced facilities and stylish decorations.
In this issue, Grand Hotels Media has the great privilege to interview Mr. Joseph Zitnik, General Manager of Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao. According to Joseph, the hotel boasts three buildings and 662 guest rooms, providing business travelers with an authentic luxurious experience during their stay. Located conveniently in Shanghai’s Hongqiao area, the hotel offers a great location close to a variety of shopping malls, entertainment facilities and business corporations. Easily accommodating 1,000 people at a time, the hotel features a 1,706-sqm and 6.7-meter high ballroom, which is the largest meeting space in the Puxi area. A boardroom and six flexible function rooms are also offered with Internet access and audiovisual equipment. Furthermore, the fitness center is a great place for catching up with workouts, which is quite distinctive in the Hongqiao Economic and Technological Development Zone. Guests can take an exhilarating swim in the 25m indoor pool, or play a few games of tennis on one of the two rooftop courts. Staying in shape is a breeze at the 300-sqm gym where guests can work out at any time of the day or night on a full range of premium fitness equipment. For those looking to be pampered, the SPA offers six luxurious therapy rooms, each with its own unique character. The sauna and steam rooms are also the perfect places to relax, offering an indulgent range of treatments that are sure to make the stay a truly wonderful experience.
A lot of hotels will hold varieties of beverage competitions in order to find talents in the field. Recently, Hilton Hotels & Resorts has held the F&B Master event in Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao. As the general manager of the hotel, Joseph told us, “The F&B Master event is a competition in which it discovers and celebrates the extraordinary F&B talent within Hilton Properties across Asia Pacific. As the general manager, I am honored that Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao can be designated as the host venue for this magnificent event in 2017. As a leading MICE hotel in the market, our 1700m2 pillar-less grand ballroom as well as experienced team members give Hilton Corporate great confidence that we can help make the event an extraordinary and successful one.”
Every enterprise will have new planning and deployment each year including Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao. Since the beginning of 2017, Hilton Corporate has put food & beverage back on the commercial agenda and drove a back to basics mentality and entrepreneurial focus with e-commerce as the central point of opportunity. As the flagship Hilton hotel in Great China & Mongolia, Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao is always the pilot hotel for any initiative projects. On the basis of creating eye-catching and attractive F&B products in the market, we try to expand the marketing channels by joining newly set-up regional WeChat F&B Commercial store for long-term use, collaborating with key digital and social media outlets to increase market awareness, and allying with leading F&B or leisure platforms to maximize revenue.
Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao has prioritized catering as a strategic program for Hilton Hotels & Resorts in 2017. At Hilton, dining options are designed with guests in mind. From business brunches to pre-dinner drinks and everything in between, the options at the hotel are catered especially for the guest. Yue Xuan Chinese restaurant savors Shanghai’s most authentic Cantonese food from traditional dim sum treats to delectable seafood. With a refreshing new menu every year in July, Essence features a delicious selection of Chinese, Pan Asian and Mediterranean favorites and beverages, with a quarterly themed seafood dinner buffet as its highlight. Pulse Lobby Bar on the other hand is the perfect place to sit and enjoy sweet and savory snacks or themed afternoon tea during the day and the best chilled drinks for summer night BBQs. Vine Sports Bar offers a wide selection of beers, snacks and LIVE sports with no service charge; and Delicatessen is full of sweet delights such as rich chocolates, buttery pastries and decadent cakes made by our famous award winning Pastry Chef Cary, who earned the Golden Prize award by China Pastry Cup 2017.
In addition to following up a good program, another significant aspect is for a manager to manage successfully. Speaking of the hotel management, Joseph has a lot of valuable experience to share. He stated, “Hilton’s six core values can well be described as the qualities any good hotel practitioner should have. Hospitality: Be passionate about delivering exceptional guest experiences; Integrity: Do the right thing all the time; Leadership: Be leaders in our industry and in our communities; Teamwork: Be a team player in everything we do; Ownership: Be owners of actions and decisions; Now: Operate with a sense of urgency and discipline. As to the hotel service, be hospitable means being welcoming, personable, thoughtful; be full of light means being inspiring, captivating, enthusiastic, and be warm means being open, heartfelt, and team-spirited.”
The conversation with a successful person is always pleasant and yet transient. When speaking of the future plan for Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao, Joseph replied confidently with his heart and mind, “Facing the fiercely competitive hotel industry, it is challenging to break our own renowned records as the leading position in the market. But opportunities always come with challenges. Not only will Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao continuously focus on main commercial sections like Corporate, MICE and Wedding, but also develop F&B from this year as previously mentioned, and also the leisure market to make the hotel more family friendly during weekends and holidays.” It is believed that with such a high-spirited and excellent leader as well as enthusiastic team, Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao will have an even brighter future.
2010年初，上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店的开幕引起了酒店业不小的轰动，它的开幕标志着希尔顿品牌在亚洲地区成功的扩张。如今，历经7年的发展，上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店已成为一家地理位置优越、交通便利、软硬件设备先进、布局时尚的五星级商旅休闲酒店。
大酒店传媒有幸在本期采访到了上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店的总经理周文先生，让我们跟随周文先生的步伐 ，一起走进上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店。据介绍，上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店是一家拥有三座大楼以及662间客房，以商旅客人为主要目标群体的五星级豪华酒店，酒店周围轨道交通便捷，云集各类高端时尚购物中心、娱乐设施、领馆别墅和高档住宅区。还拥有挑高6.7米，面积达1706平方米的超大宴会厅，可以接待超过1,000人的盛宴或婚礼，这在浦西可谓是首屈一指。同时，酒店内有6间大小不同的会议室和一间董事会会议室，每间都设有有线或无线宽带接口，先进的影音器材，也一应俱全。另外，上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店的健身休闲设施，在虹桥经济技术开发区也算得上是凤毛麟角：25米的室内恒温游泳池、两个露天网球场和设备齐全的健身中心，使宾客全面舒展筋骨，保持活力。如果需要褪去旅途的疲惫，则可选择奢华舒适的水疗室和桑拿浴室，享受各式纾缓身心的怡人服务，足以令宾客焕发清爽神采。
相信很多酒店集团都或独立或联合地举办过不少餐饮大赛，并凭着这一赛事发掘了许多餐饮人才。近期，希尔顿酒店集团也在举办一场名为“餐饮大师杯赛”（F&B Master）的活动，希望以此来挖掘希尔顿国际亚太区的餐饮人才，而活动现场，就定在上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店。作为酒店的总经理，周文先生在接受《大酒店》采访时就此事表示：“F&B Master是希尔顿集团内部在亚太地区举办的一项挖掘拥有非凡技能的餐饮人才的竞赛。作为酒店总经理，对于上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店被指定为2017届这一盛事的举办场地，我感到非常荣幸。作为市场上领先的会展酒店，上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店内部1700平方米的大宴会厅和经验丰富的团队成员给了希尔顿公司极大的信心，而我们也相信，我们能够完美完成任务，将这项活动举办得成功且非凡。”
所有进步中的企业，在新的一年，总会有新的规划与新的部署，这也预示着新的发展，希尔顿集团亦在2017年对餐饮板块进行了战略性的部署，不仅把餐饮项目提上了商业议程，还提倡旗下酒店大力发展电子商务，将电子商务作为商务发展的契机。作为希尔顿集团大中华和蒙古地区的旗舰店，上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店始终是希尔顿任何项目或计划的试点酒店，面对希尔顿集团的餐饮部署，酒店自然也积极响应：在创建引人注目、吸引力强的餐饮产品来稳固市场的基础上，上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店也试图通过电子商务的方式来扩展销售渠道，包括通过区域微信来创建餐饮网店，与关键的数字媒体和社会媒体合作来提高社会关注度，与领先的餐饮休闲平台合作等方式，来实现酒店收益的最大化。
作为2017年希尔顿集团的战略性项目，上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店在餐饮上自然也没少下功夫，酒店将自身的餐饮优势，在内部的粤轩、元、卡颂美味店、驿动吧、蔓运动吧五个各具特色，风格迥异的餐厅和酒吧上发挥得淋漓尽致：堂皇雅致的粤轩，主打最地道的粤式盛宴，有琳琅满目的菜式，传承经典的点心和新鲜精选的海鲜。元餐厅，全天候提供大厨们在明档厨房和美食摊档现场烹调的新鲜菜式，囊括寰宇的多元化风味，例如种类繁多的自助中式、亚洲和地中海各国佳肴。驿动吧，宾客可在此享受英式或中式下午茶，悠闲品味自制的馅饼、三明治和糕点；或在黄昏时分举杯畅饮鸡尾酒，佐以美味可口的西式和亚洲烧烤小吃，把酒言欢，体会忙里偷闲的怡情小趣。蔓运动吧，吧如其名，宾客可以在此边看体育直播，边畅享种类繁多的啤酒与零食。卡颂美味店里则林林总总充满了甜蜜而丰富的巧克力、糕饼和各式点心，而这些，全都经由荣获2017年中国甜品锦标赛金奖的糕点厨师Cary制作。
一个好的管理者，除了跟进项目之外，最重要的，还在于管理二字。谈到酒店管理，周文先生亦颇有心得，他表示：“希尔顿的六个核心价值观可以很好地描述何为一个好的酒店从业者应该具备的素质。热情：热情好客，热衷于为宾客提供卓越的客户体验；诚信：正直诚信，坚持诚实守信的价值观；领导：善于领导，努力成为行业和团体的领导者；团队合作：善于团结协作，成为团队中的一员；主人翁精神：把握方向，成为活动的决策者；现在：随时保持紧迫感和纪律感。在酒店服务上，要以欢迎、友善、周到、积极向上的态度对宾客热情以待，以坦诚、真挚、团结的态度对同事温暖以待。”
与成功者的交谈总是显得愉快而短暂，在采访的最后，被问及规划中的上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店蓝图是什么样子时，周文先生满脸的踌躇满志：“面对如今竞争激烈的酒店行业，打破自己现有的记录，占据市场主导地位是一个挑战，但是，机遇总是与挑战并存的。未来我们不仅要继续发挥上海虹桥元一希尔顿在商务会展方面的优势，而且将如我前面所述，大力发展餐饮，在亲子和假日休闲方面下功夫，争取扩大酒店在休闲市场的份额。”相信，拥有如此意气风发、才能卓越的领导者以及热情高涨，众志成诚的团队，上海虹桥元一希尔顿酒店的未来定会尽如人意。
