Oberoi Grand hits global list

Kolkata's Oberoi Grand has been voted one of the top 25 conference hotels in Asia by the readers of the travel magazine SmartTravel Asia, backed by SmartTravelAsia.Com.

The Grand was the only Indian hotel on the list, which was topped by the Grand Hyatt of Hongkong.

Not surprisingly, among Asian cities, Bangkok had the highest number of top rated hotels with as many as eight hotels, followed by Hongkong with six and Singapore with four.

Amitabh Rai, the general manager of the Oberoi Grand, attributed the hotel's success to its staff.

"Every month, at the staff meeting, the staff shout out "No" very loudly 15-20 times, because the message is that no staff member should ever say no again in the month to any guest seeking a service or some help", he quipped.

The hotel had 200-odd employees serving 216 rooms and three major banquet halls and some small meeting rooms.

"We are rebuilding the Chowringhee Road wing into very large, super-luxury rooms and suites with a view of the Kolkata Maidan and the river beyond", said Rai.

The hotel had a Thai restaurant and a coffee shop as dining options, while the former Indian restaurant space was used as a stand-by banquet hall at times.

The banquets service team which directly bagged the award handled guests round the year as strong demand had resulted in booked out banquest spaces in Kolkata in the last year.

The Oberoi Grand achieved average room revenue of over Rs 15,000 in the last year.

The poll ran between May and July 2007 to catch prime frequent travellers around the world at various peak travel and Web activity periods.

On average, voters took 14.79 air trips over the past 12 months and as many as 10.2 percent took over 40 air trips.

They earned $164,684 in household income, making them prime business and leisure travellers.

As many as 60 percent of voters were based in Asia, largely Hongkong, Singapore, Australia, China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Japan, while 20 per cent came from UK and Europe and 20 per cent from the USA and North America.

Apart from the big regional blocs, readers voted from countries like Ukraine, Russia, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Mexico, the UAE, Israel and Macau.