In this episode of our Special Hospitality Series with Forbes Travel Guide, we spotlight one of the "Leaders Behind the Stars" — Pradeep Raman, Managing Director of The Surrey – A Corinthia Hotel.
Nestled in New York’s Upper East Side, this newly opened luxury hotel has achieved an incredible 35% repeat guest rate in just months. Pradeep shares the secret behind its success—genuine connections. From doormen who know local pets by name to a guest who moved his entire business to the hotel after witnessing this level of care, Corinthia’s philosophy is clear: You come as a guest, leave as a friend, and return as family.
More than just attaining Five-Star ratings, the brand focuses on curating unforgettable moments that transcend mere service. Join us to hear how The Surrey and Corinthia Hotels are redefining the art of hospitality through authenticity, warmth, and a steadfast dedication to creating true connections that last a lifetime.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
hospitality is ever evolving right.
No, two days are alike.
We have to stay relevant, nomatter what we do.
So part of my dailyresponsibilities and inspiration
is to see what the currenttrends are, and I know in new
york and hospitality in general.
You know, the private membersclub is really exploding on the
(00:23):
scene.
Gone are the days where hotelswere.
Just where you came and checkedinto a hotel, there were beds
made.
You went to the restaurant onyour left, but now it's about
delivering an overall package.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Hello everyone and welcome to episode three of our
special hospitality seriescreated in partnership with our
friends at Forbes Travel Guide.
I hope you've been enjoying theconversations we've had so far
with both Malcolm Hendry fromthe Red Carnation Hotel in
London, and then we had SarahMcIntosh last week from the
Mayborn in Beverly Hills, andtoday we're headed to New York
(00:59):
City before we move on to Italynext week in this 10 part series
and, as you would have heard,all of these conversations have
been recorded live.
At the summit in Monaco, whichis going to return again to
Monaco in February 2026 foranother remarkable event, we
shared a number of highlightsfrom the event itself, and we're
sharing clips and highlightsfrom all of these conversations
(01:21):
on our social channels, as wellas the Forbes travel guide team,
so be sure to check both ofthem out on.
Linkedin and Instagram are thetwo best ways to connect with us
at Travel Trends Podcast and atForbes Travel Guide.
Now, most of you are probablyalready registered on the
streaming platform of yourchoice, but if you're not, make
sure that you do so that you'rethe first to learn when these
(01:43):
new episodes go live choice.
But if you're not, make surethat you do so that you're the
first to learn when these newepisodes go live.
Now, today we have the privilegeto speak to Pradeep Raman, who
is the managing director of theCorinthia New York.
But, as you'll hear fromPradeep, he's a true expert in
the art of hospitality and theNew York hotel scene, which I
was keen to ask a lot ofquestions about and, as you'll
hear, the special connectionthat you do need to make with
(02:05):
locals, especially in adestination like New York, in
the Upper East Side and I am abig time dog lover Many people
who listen to the show know orfollow me on social channels
know that I have an adorablegolden doodle, and when I heard
the story of how he encouragedall of their concierge to carry
dog treats to get to know thelocals and their dogs and their
(02:27):
names, I thought that wasparticularly special.
But as he highlighted to me andyou'll hear in this
conversation how it led tosignificant new business by
connecting with those executivesthat live in the neighborhood
that are hosting conferences orhaving guests in town.
So it's a remarkable example ofjust someone leading the way in
the art of hospitality.
Now, as I prepare to welcomePradeep, I just want to give a
(02:48):
bit of context to his background, which is very impressive.
He went to the prestigiousSchool of Hospitality at Cornell
.
He studied at Harvard.
He's worked with a number ofluxury brands.
He actually started withRitz-Carlton.
He's worked at the Wynn, he wasat Viceroy.
He's actually spent a number ofyears at the Montage in Beverly
Hills before moving to New York, where he's been for the last
(03:10):
decade.
That has set the stage for thelaunch of Corinthia New York,
which is actually the firstoutpost for Corinthia in the US.
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (03:18):
That's correct, dan?
Yes, it's first of many more tofollow in the United States.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Fantastic.
Well, it's interesting to haveyour view and perspective
because clearly you have a lotof experience in the hospitality
industry and familiar withForbes and their five-star
Forbes Travel Guide's five-starrating system.
But you are not yet a five-star, but you will be very shortly,
so tell us first, I guess, a bitabout Corinthia Hotels and this
(03:43):
expansion into New York and theUS.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Thank you, sam, good to be here with you.
Carinthia Hotels launched inthe late 60s by our chairman, mr
Alfred Pisani, in Malta.
So we're a multi-space company.
Our chairman is 85, but he'sstill very, very involved and
he's really it's afounder-inspired company and he
(04:09):
still lives in Malta, so we havea corporate offices between
Malta and London.
So the company was founded in60s and our first real
international hotel was inLondon in 2011, which really put
the Carinthia on the map andfast forward about 13 years.
We've launched Carinthia NewYork.
(04:31):
What we're also doing isCarinthia is at a stage where
it's massively expanding.
To put it in perspective, weopened New York, we opened
Brussels a couple of months agoand in three weeks from now
we'll be launching our propertyin Bucharest in Romania, and
following that, we'll belaunching Rome as well, and then
(04:53):
we have other properties comingup as well in different
locations, namely in Derry Gatesin Saudi Arabia.
So we are a company that's onthe rise.
Two weeks ago, we announced amassive project in Dubai, which
is extremely exciting, and thebuzzword is on what is Corinthia
doing next?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Clearly Well, you're picking all the massive, major,
iconic markets.
I was certainly familiar withCorinthia from your launch in
London.
I was really intrigued to speakto you because New York is such
a unique city to be able tolaunch a hotel in, just given
the competition in that market.
So having a stronginternational brand and then
opening up in the US I know thatis part of your expertise
(05:34):
because you're already based inNew York.
So let's talk a little bitabout that, because I'm really
intrigued to understand whatit's like to open up a new hotel
in New York City.
So tell everyone, if youwouldn't mind, where you're
based in New York City itself,because I'm sure everyone's
intrigued or they're checkingout your website to learn more
details.
So where specifically in NewYork is La Carinthia and what
(05:55):
has been your experience so farwith bringing this hotel to life
in New York City?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I have to say, as a New Yorker, it's incredible
Because, as as exciting as it is, the facts say that New York
has not launched a new hotel inquite a while.
Right, so we launched weactually the Surrey.
So we've relaunched the Surrey,a current hotel.
We're located on 76th andMadison.
(06:19):
I call it the Golden Trianglebecause we're surrounded by two
other luxury hotels, namely theCarlisle and the Mark, but we
are roughly a block away fromCentral Park on 76th Street.
The good thing is you can justwalk towards the park.
It takes you a couple ofseconds to get there.
We're surrounded by the best ofthe best.
Retail Diptyque recently openedtheir flagship store.
(06:41):
We're right by the GagosianGallery, sotheby's, you name it,
they're all there.
So what it does is for a guestguest.
It gives them an amazingexperience and sometimes I talk
to our guests.
I say welcome to retail therapy, one-on-one.
But coming back to your question, what was it to launch?
I think it was incrediblebecause we realized that there
(07:02):
was a need for an ultra luxuryhotel and to come into that
particular market and to be whatI like to call positive
disruptors.
So we were very tactful aboutour partners.
We partnered with Casa Tua, whoare our F&B partners out of
Miami and Aspen, and it's beennothing but spectacular.
(07:22):
The locals have really, reallywarmed up to the hotel.
We've had tremendous amount ofrepeat guests.
Just to put it in perspective,in the three and a half months
we've been open, dan, we've hadover 150 room nights, over
$150,000 in revenue, and theseare the guests that have come
back again and again becausethey love the experience.
And for us as hoteliers, Ialways tell our staff and our
(07:45):
team members we are storytellers, so we have the ability to tell
New Yorkers the story of theCorinthia, and what really makes
it special is I like to saythis to our staff as well is you
come as a guest, you leave as afriend and you return as family
.
So it's been an amazing journey.
(08:07):
The locals really wanted tounderstand what is Carinthia all
about.
So, in my capacity, with my team, we've been very, very
passionate about telling theCarinthia story, about the
chairman, what inspired him,because he has a very inspiring
story the way he launched thebrand from being a catering
business out of a necessity andthen he realized that wait, if
(08:31):
the catering business is doingwell, let me build a hotel.
So he actually hustled through,he made it happen, he opened
the Curantia Palace in Malta andfor Malta I don't know whether
you've been to Malta, but it's avery tiny nation very proud
nation, three hours from London,and for that company to expand
(08:51):
to where it is today isincredible.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Well, it's interesting.
Obviously, having thatbackground and expertise in
catering, which gives you theart of hospitality, then
obviously leads itself.
I worked with the Red CarnationHotels for many years Mr and
Mrs Tolman, who I dearly regardunfortunately that Mr Tolman has
passed away, but he has, Iguess, a somewhat similar story
and journey from South Africaand building up these hotels and
(09:14):
then he was doing the front ofhouse and she was the chef and
put these incredible recipestogether, and so that
combination of their skill setsis what led to, ultimately,
their global success and thesereal fine, high end properties.
So it's interesting to hearthat parallel with Corinthia and
the chairman's background andstory and to bring us back, I
guess, where.
(09:35):
Now bringing this brand to NewYork is one of the things.
Obviously you've got this greatbrand heritage that is expanding
globally, but when you enter anew market like New York, and
obviously they're bringing youon board because you're a New
Yorker, you have that experiencein that city and I'm keen to
know about some of yourexpansion plans in the US as
well, based on how much you canshare with us, of course.
(09:56):
But one of the things youmentioned about the guests that
have already started to book atthe hotel is how much of that is
repeat guests versus new guests.
So I'm sure there's a bit of ajourney to go on at the start,
because everyone's going to be anew guest when it's a new
property.
But some people are going to befamiliar with the Carinthia
brand, so they're going to haveexperienced London or Malta and
now they want to experienceCarinthia New York.
You're going to then havepeople that experience Carinthia
(10:19):
New York and they're returningguests and they love it.
And every time they come to NewYork which I understand from
the outside, looking in, is amajor factor because so many
people travel to New Yorkregularly that they get their
hotels that they stay at andthey're always going back to
their same hotel.
And again, that's yourexpertise, not mine.
That's just a briefunderstanding of these returning
guests, and then you're stillgoing to have new guests in the
mix.
So when you're building up yourclientele, tell us a little bit
(10:40):
about how that works for theCarinthia brand about building
up repeat guests, as you werehighlighting, and then trying to
bring new guests into theconsideration set.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Great question, dan.
It's about telling the story ofthe company and, as you rightly
said, currentia, over the years, has managed to have amazing
sense of loyalty amongst guests.
And again, london is a keymarket for us, but, not to
forget, we have great propertiesin Lisbon, you know, in St
Petersburg and other fantasticlocations in Europe as well.
(11:12):
What we've managed to do iswe've managed to leverage off
the popularity of the brand withour new guests that have come
in, because our success is thatthe Surrey is almost 100 years
old as a hotel 100 years old asa hotel.
So we took over the Surrey withour owners, the Rubin Brothers,
because it's never lost thatfor a good hotel or a good
(11:39):
company, both ends need to bespeaking the same language,
which is good ownership whosupport you through what you
want to do, are respectful tothe brand and also the brand
that wants to do the right thingfor the local market and with
the owners.
So I'm blessed to actually havethe best of both worlds.
The Rubin Brothers areincredible as owners and they're
very respectful and they'revery knowledgeable, and so is
(12:00):
the Corinthians and we recently,you know our CEO, simon Casson,
who spent almost 35 years withFour Seasons, most recently as a
president for Europe and Africaand Middle East.
He brings in an amazing sense ofdirection, along with the
managing director, simon Nowdy,who's been with the company for
almost 35 years.
(12:21):
So with these gentlemen,they've actually established the
core values of who we are.
And the reason I say values is,you know, companies open up,
but what guests really respondto is the values of the company,
and how do we treat you as acustomer and how do we make you
feel so you can't wait to comeback.
(12:41):
So, answering your question,since we've opened, our repeat
guest ratio has been over 35%For a three and a half month
hotel.
That's an amazing statistic,for sure, and when I say guest,
I want to be specific.
We've also curated some amazingpet programs, because we're in
the Upper East Side neighborhoodand one of our key things was
(13:05):
for us not to be a hotel in theneighborhood, for us to be the
neighborhood, and we wanted thelocals and the community to be
invested in our success.
So we felt the need to curatesome very, very bespoke pet
snacks.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
So every single day, we have guests that come with
their pets.
I love this.
I'm a huge dog lover, so I lovethis Exactly.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
So this is going to resonate with you, but every
single day we have guests withtheir pets who come at a
particular time and the pets sitin front of a hotel and start
wagging their tail.
You know why, dan?
Because our amazing doormen gothere.
They know them by the name andthey feed them their pet snacks.
So sweet.
And two weeks ago, while I wasin the lobby with Simon Kasson,
(13:47):
our CEO, we had a guest who camewith two bouquets of flowers
and they handed it over to ourdoorman and just to tell them
thank you so much for being sorespectful to my pets.
We love you, guys, and this isour hotel of choice.
And one of those guests happenedto be a huge hedge fund owner
who said I'm going to bring allmy business to you, so the
(14:16):
reason I say that is becausehospitality is about delivering
it with passion and with yourheart, and I think the current
tier values that we've put in,not just with the staff but also
the guests, is that.
You know what.
Come and stay with us, we don'tcare, even if you don't stay
Once you are in the building.
Come and stay with us, we don'tcare, even if you don't stay.
Once you are in the building,you're part of us and we're
going to treat you like a familymember and you're going to feel
the sense of belonging there.
(14:38):
There's that emotionalattachment where they feel like
wait, this is amazing.
They treat my pet so well, theytreat my kids so well.
I can't wait to go back.
So it's something we're veryproud about and, for New York
especially, the scale ofhospitality is tilting.
Where you know, our goal is tomake sure that every guest that
(15:00):
is coming is made to feel likethey are the most important
person in the room.
Right, I talk to our travelpartners all the time.
I've spoken to a few duringthis trip as well.
Their guests are our guests.
Once they're in the building, aguest does not care that.
Are they going to therestaurant?
Are they going to the spa.
For them, it's like I'm at theSurrey or Carinthia Hotel.
(15:23):
So you know they get in andthey expect the best out of us
and we expect to be the bestrepresentation of ourselves.
So when we opened this hotel, wewent out to the market and our
message was very clear.
Our message was like we arehonest operators.
If you come and stay with us,you're going to feel extra
(15:45):
special and you know you'regoing to feel like you can't
wait to come back to us.
And we've seen that.
Our reviews are amazing.
Our guests cannot stop talkingabout us and it's word of mouth,
right?
It's a new hotel and thesethings take a while to stabilize
and what we've seen is gueststhat are repeating themselves
and guests that are coming aresending their family members
(16:07):
over.
Or you know the travel agentswho are sending their family
members over, or you know thetravel agents who are sending
their family members over.
A strange thing happened lastweek and I was telling a travel
partner here who's alsoattending the summit is.
I was standing outside the doorwith the doorman and there was
a lady who said you must bePradeep.
I said yes, good evening.
Am I that recognizable?
She said no, but my friend is abig agent of this company.
(16:30):
She sent me a screenshot of aphoto and she said I have to
meet you.
So I think it's incredible andthe fact that we opened.
In the location we opened, Irealized that the entire
community is invested in oursuccess.
So we're not in a locationwhere it's totally leisure,
(16:51):
where guests come and go here.
The community wants us tosucceed and they are actually
clapping for us.
So it's an amazing pivot versusother neighborhoods.
But it's exceptional, it's veryspecial, it's very organic and
it makes you want to do betterand better every day.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
That's fascinating.
There's so much there and Iguess that's where you know when
I was asking you about New York.
You're clearly an expert inhospitality, but also in the New
York market and the fact thatyou just highlighted there how
important it is to connect tothe local community and really
interesting something youhighlighted to me that is, I
guess, an important point thatthose local community members
(17:35):
can actually become advocatesfor people to book your hotel.
So it's not actually just thatyou're trying to, you know,
ingratiate yourself to the localcommunity.
That's obviously a part of it,but it actually leads to great
business opportunities as well.
So I love the story about thepets and the dog and that
certainly resonates with me.
(17:57):
The thing I wanted to ask youtoo, given that we're here at
Forbes Travel Guide in Monacoand that you are on your journey
, and one of the things thatPradeep said to me just as we
were sitting down and I was keento know their status he's like
well, we're not five star yet,but we will be soon, and clearly
, from my conversations withmany of your colleagues and you
know the incredible generalmanagers that are here is that
if they really pay attention togreat customer service and
(18:18):
experience and it's built intotheir DNA, as it clearly is in
the Corinthians from.
You know, your founder on downis that, if you do those things,
that's exactly what getting aForbes Travel Guide five-star
rating is all about, but there'sobviously a bit more to it in
the sense that there's variousthings that they're looking for
that you need to become aware of.
So tell us a little bit aboutthe journey that you're on now
(18:40):
to become Forbes Travel Guidefive-star rated so that the next
time we see each other whereverin the world that is Pradeep,
but at the summit, the summitand you are going to be
recognized as one of the fastestto get to five star.
Tell us some of the thingsyou're going to do over the next
several months to make surethat that comes to life.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Well, I just want to go back to your question where
you spoke about the journey.
I'm a firm believer in thejourney and what I talk to my
team members is don't focus onthe results initially.
Focus on the journey.
Trust in the process, focus onthe journey and the right result
will be delivered.
Five stars are very important,but I feel like the things that
(19:24):
we do to get there is moreimportant than getting the fives
.
Fives are important, don't getme wrong, but it needs to be
organic and it needs to comefrom the heart.
Service needs to be somethingyou believe in, right.
So what we're doing is we'reinvesting a lot in our internal
training and our internalsystems within the hotel, and we
(19:49):
are also doing a lot ofrepetition, and every staff
member that comes in undergoes athorough orientation, or what
we've rephrased the wordorientation.
We call it immersion, culturalimmersion.
So it's important for them toknow the story.
So anybody that comes in, wetalk about the foundation of
(20:10):
Corinthia, who our owners are.
We talk to them because it'simportant for them to know what
our basics are.
We talk to them because it'simportant for them to know what
our basics are and who are thekey members, and then, obviously
, we speak about the basics whenit comes to the service
delivery, execution.
But you know, I encourage allthe staff to provide service
from their heart.
(20:30):
So there are standards and thestandards can easily be met if
you have what I call hospitality.
You know there's a service sideof the business and there's
hospitality.
And there's something I talkday in and day out is that if
you provide service based on achecklist because you want to
(20:50):
get to the result, then you missthe hospitality side.
To get to the result, then youmiss the hospitality side.
But if you have, you understandwhat the service needs to be,
but you have the hospitalityside covered, then I think you,
you know the world is the oysterafter that.
So I think we are taking thesesteps and going back to
attaining these results.
It's all about being consistent,it's repetition and you know,
(21:14):
every day we invest a lot of ourtime and efforts with every
staff member and the leadershipteam on the standards, on the
basics, and it's not justsomething we do once every week,
we do it every single day.
I strongly believe thatknowledge is power and you have
to learn every single day.
(21:35):
None of us are perfect.
I need to be reminded of thingsevery day, and you know it's
important that you be humble andyou're vulnerable.
So me, as a leader, I don'texpect to be right all the times
, so I also tell my staff tohold me accountable if there's
something I'm missing, andthey're very happy to do that
when they can, because to me,that's what good leadership is
(21:57):
about is you need to openyourself to your team so they
have the ability to speak to youwhen they want to, and it's a
two-way traffic.
So we're taking these steps andwe're investing in the journey,
and I believe that once weperfect the journey, the result
will follow by itself.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Yeah, now, those are so many valuable insights there,
and I guess that's one of thebenefits of being here together
is that someone like yourselfconnecting with all of your
colleagues.
There's a lot that not only Ican learn from you, our
listeners can learn from you,but, as you rightly said, that
we can learn from each other,and so, with us being here
together on day two of thesummit, I'm keen to know what
(22:37):
some of the interestinghighlights or takeaways have
been for you.
I've had certainly quite a fewvaluable insights from the
opening sessions, from thediscovery sessions, even the
wellness studio with a company,mindstream that I found really
quite fascinating.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour takeaways from this year's
the Summit in Monaco.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Well, first thing is I've gotten to meet a lot of my
friends who I don't get to meettoo often these days, but the
incredible thing is also meetingprofessionals that I've not met
before, where I've managed tolearn certain things from them.
I just was part of a panel andone of the panelists spoke about
(23:18):
sustainability and about doingthese organic gardens and
through landfills.
That, to me, was very, veryeye-opening for me to see what
we can take back and do in NewYork, for example.
Take back and do in New York,for example, and plus, meeting
professionals from the otherindustries, like this summit
(23:41):
brings together individuals notjust from the travel, but you
have retail right.
We have, like, the president ofChanel in Paris, who's here,
and we have others.
And we were just talking beforewe started talking here was that
we were talking about how, nomatter what industry you are in,
the baseline and thedenominators are the same we're
(24:03):
all here to take care of ourguests, and it's about investing
in the experience of the guest,and we all believe that once
you invest in that experience,everything else follows by
itself.
So to me, that has been a greattakeaway.
The other takeaway also hasbeen the ability to understand
different cultures and howpeople react to certain
(24:25):
situations.
So to me, the summit providesall the professionals the
ability to express themselvesand, I think, come together, be
in one platform and spend time.
You know, have coffeeconversations.
This morning, jerry Nzerola wasthere talking about what's
(24:46):
happening in Saudi Arabia andknowing about what they're doing
to build like a city by itself.
So I think that and obviouslywith all our vendors and
partners that are coming in,it's been great to meet all of
them and see how can we leverageof each other For sure.
Yeah, so it's been incredible.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
No, that's fantastic and I wanted to get a few of
your insights around some of thetrends you're paying attention
to in luxury hospitality,whether it be New York or the
Corinthia.
Just some of the things thatyou mentioned about some of the
sessions you've attended and allthe valuable insights that have
come out of being here at thesummit.
But what are some of the otherthings that you are already
paying attention to or planningto implement that might be
(25:28):
insightful for our listeners?
Speaker 1 (25:30):
It's a great question because hospitality is ever
evolving, right?
No, two days are alike.
We have to stay relevant nomatter what we do.
So part of my dailyresponsibilities and inspiration
(25:51):
is really exploding on thescene.
We realized that, you knowhotels.
Gone are the days where hotelswere just where you came and
checked into a hotel, there werebeds made.
You went to the restaurant onyour left.
But now it's about deliveringan overall package.
And how does that look?
(26:14):
Well, probably having a greatresidential piece to the hotel,
having a, you know, privatemembers.
Clubs are a big deal becausethrough them you're actually
getting a lot more customersinto the building.
You're getting to know a lotmore people and word of mouth,
because once the members come in, their friends come in and then
, before you, you know, it'slike a residual effect Everybody
(26:37):
gets to know who you are.
Obviously, the pressure is thatyou do what you do the right
way.
Yeah, exactly, and you do it thebest way possible and
consistently.
But we also realize that theother trend that we're seeing is
social media.
Gone are the days where you hadto rely on somebody.
A good example is influencers.
(26:58):
I don't really believe in theword influencers anymore.
Everybody's an influencerbecause anybody can come in,
they can take pictures, they cansnap photos and post it online.
So for us it's important thatevery single guest that's
walking in and out of thebuilding, no matter what they're
coming for, needs to be treatedwith the same amount of
(27:20):
intensity and the same amount ofsense of urgency that you would
treat a guest that's checkinginto the hotel.
You know we always talk abouteven if a guest wants to go to
the restroom at the hotel.
We escort those guests, wethank them for coming to the
hotel.
You know, right from ourdormant they say thank you for
coming to the Sarriya KurunteHotel.
And if the guest says I want togo to the restroom, we escort
(27:42):
them on the way out.
We say we look forward toseeing you back.
And what we're seeing is thatguests really like the fact that
they're being respected andthey like the fact that they're
being treated well.
But coming back to your questionwith the trend clubs are a big
deal.
I also feel like privatizingminibars and room service, for
example.
It's about what I want to use aparticular word here called
(28:07):
curating perpetual demand, whereyou are curating demand based
on what the customer needs.
Know your customer is veryimportant, and you know when the
guest goes to a restaurant.
For example, if you know you'regoing to celebrate a birthday
party with four or six guests,it's a great idea to call you as
(28:32):
a guest three, four days inadvance.
Get your wine preference.
So if it's like a ChateauLatour or if it's a good
Bordeaux, we open it up 24 hours, we decant it, it's ready and
it's in the best shape and thenyou can consume it.
So it's about knowing yourcustomer.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
That's fantastic.
You've got so many valuableinsights.
Pradeep, you're such a greatguest to be on the show.
I really appreciate your time.
I want to make sure that ourlisteners can find out more
about Corinthia and New York andconnect with yourself.
So, for those of the listenersthat are either travel agents or
work in the travel industry,tell us how they can partner
with you and especially makingbookings for their clients, and
then, for those people that arejust interested in now traveling
(29:11):
to New York and experiencingthe hotel, how they can find out
more information.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Well, I would say wwwcurrenthiacom, Nice.
Look at New York, yep, and myparting statement to all of you
who are listening is you'll comeas a guest, you'll leave as a
friend and you'll return as afamily member.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
I love that.
Well, I feel like there's astrong connection.
I look forward to seeing you inNew York next time.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Likewise.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Next year, wherever we're going to be in the world
for the next summit.
But thank you, pradeep, thankyou, dan, thanks so much for
joining us on episode three ofour special 10-part hospitality
series in partnership with ourfriends at Forbes Travel Guide.
I hope you enjoyed ourinsightful discussion with
Pradeep Raman from Corinthia,new York, which, of course, was
recorded live at the summit inMonaco.
We're going to be releasing newepisodes every Thursday for the
(29:55):
next several weeks and in ournext episode we're going to
journey back to Europe to speakwith Roberto Protagioni, who is
the general manager of thestunning Castle Falfi Hotel,
which is in the heart of Tuscany, and he's one of the newest
additions to the Forbes TravelGuide five-star hotel list.
So not only are you going tohear his interesting story, but
(30:16):
also a lot about this beautifulproperty as well.
So make sure you are subscribedto get alerted when new
episodes go live of TravelTrends on your streaming
platform of choice, and we alsodo send out a monthly newsletter
so you can register for that atTravelTrendsPodcastcom for
updates and exclusive contentthat we send out.
And make sure that you arechecking out the social channels
(30:37):
for at Forbes travel guide andat travel trends, both on
LinkedIn and Instagram for clipsand highlights from all these
discussions until next week.
Safe travels.
hospitality is ever evolving right.
No, two days are alike.
We have to stay relevant, nomatter what we do.
So part of my dailyresponsibilities and inspiration
is to see what the currenttrends are, and I know in new
york and hospitality in general.
You know, the private membersclub is really exploding on the
(00:23):
scene.
Gone are the days where hotelswere.
Just where you came and checkedinto a hotel, there were beds
made.
You went to the restaurant onyour left, but now it's about
delivering an overall package.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Hello everyone and welcome to episode three of our
special hospitality seriescreated in partnership with our
friends at Forbes Travel Guide.
I hope you've been enjoying theconversations we've had so far
with both Malcolm Hendry fromthe Red Carnation Hotel in
London, and then we had SarahMcIntosh last week from the
Mayborn in Beverly Hills, andtoday we're headed to New York
(00:59):
City before we move on to Italynext week in this 10 part series
and, as you would have heard,all of these conversations have
been recorded live.
At the summit in Monaco, whichis going to return again to
Monaco in February 2026 foranother remarkable event, we
shared a number of highlightsfrom the event itself, and we're
sharing clips and highlightsfrom all of these conversations
(01:21):
on our social channels, as wellas the Forbes travel guide team,
so be sure to check both ofthem out on.
Linkedin and Instagram are thetwo best ways to connect with us
at Travel Trends Podcast and atForbes Travel Guide.
Now, most of you are probablyalready registered on the
streaming platform of yourchoice, but if you're not, make
sure that you do so that you'rethe first to learn when these
(01:43):
new episodes go live choice.
But if you're not, make surethat you do so that you're the
first to learn when these newepisodes go live.
Now, today we have the privilegeto speak to Pradeep Raman, who
is the managing director of theCorinthia New York.
But, as you'll hear fromPradeep, he's a true expert in
the art of hospitality and theNew York hotel scene, which I
was keen to ask a lot ofquestions about and, as you'll
hear, the special connectionthat you do need to make with
(02:05):
locals, especially in adestination like New York, in
the Upper East Side and I am abig time dog lover Many people
who listen to the show know orfollow me on social channels
know that I have an adorablegolden doodle, and when I heard
the story of how he encouragedall of their concierge to carry
dog treats to get to know thelocals and their dogs and their
(02:27):
names, I thought that wasparticularly special.
But as he highlighted to me andyou'll hear in this
conversation how it led tosignificant new business by
connecting with those executivesthat live in the neighborhood
that are hosting conferences orhaving guests in town.
So it's a remarkable example ofjust someone leading the way in
the art of hospitality.
Now, as I prepare to welcomePradeep, I just want to give a
(02:48):
bit of context to his background, which is very impressive.
He went to the prestigiousSchool of Hospitality at Cornell
.
He studied at Harvard.
He's worked with a number ofluxury brands.
He actually started withRitz-Carlton.
He's worked at the Wynn, he wasat Viceroy.
He's actually spent a number ofyears at the Montage in Beverly
Hills before moving to New York, where he's been for the last
(03:10):
decade.
That has set the stage for thelaunch of Corinthia New York,
which is actually the firstoutpost for Corinthia in the US.
Is that right?
Speaker 1 (03:18):
That's correct, dan?
Yes, it's first of many more tofollow in the United States.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Fantastic.
Well, it's interesting to haveyour view and perspective
because clearly you have a lotof experience in the hospitality
industry and familiar withForbes and their five-star
Forbes Travel Guide's five-starrating system.
But you are not yet a five-star, but you will be very shortly,
so tell us first, I guess, a bitabout Corinthia Hotels and this
(03:43):
expansion into New York and theUS.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Thank you, sam, good to be here with you.
Carinthia Hotels launched inthe late 60s by our chairman, mr
Alfred Pisani, in Malta.
So we're a multi-space company.
Our chairman is 85, but he'sstill very, very involved and
he's really it's afounder-inspired company and he
(04:09):
still lives in Malta, so we havea corporate offices between
Malta and London.
So the company was founded in60s and our first real
international hotel was inLondon in 2011, which really put
the Carinthia on the map andfast forward about 13 years.
We've launched Carinthia NewYork.
(04:31):
What we're also doing isCarinthia is at a stage where
it's massively expanding.
To put it in perspective, weopened New York, we opened
Brussels a couple of months agoand in three weeks from now
we'll be launching our propertyin Bucharest in Romania, and
following that, we'll belaunching Rome as well, and then
(04:53):
we have other properties comingup as well in different
locations, namely in Derry Gatesin Saudi Arabia.
So we are a company that's onthe rise.
Two weeks ago, we announced amassive project in Dubai, which
is extremely exciting, and thebuzzword is on what is Corinthia
doing next?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Clearly Well, you're picking all the massive, major,
iconic markets.
I was certainly familiar withCorinthia from your launch in
London.
I was really intrigued to speakto you because New York is such
a unique city to be able tolaunch a hotel in, just given
the competition in that market.
So having a stronginternational brand and then
opening up in the US I know thatis part of your expertise
(05:34):
because you're already based inNew York.
So let's talk a little bitabout that, because I'm really
intrigued to understand whatit's like to open up a new hotel
in New York City.
So tell everyone, if youwouldn't mind, where you're
based in New York City itself,because I'm sure everyone's
intrigued or they're checkingout your website to learn more
details.
So where specifically in NewYork is La Carinthia and what
(05:55):
has been your experience so farwith bringing this hotel to life
in New York City?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I have to say, as a New Yorker, it's incredible
Because, as as exciting as it is, the facts say that New York
has not launched a new hotel inquite a while.
Right, so we launched weactually the Surrey.
So we've relaunched the Surrey,a current hotel.
We're located on 76th andMadison.
(06:19):
I call it the Golden Trianglebecause we're surrounded by two
other luxury hotels, namely theCarlisle and the Mark, but we
are roughly a block away fromCentral Park on 76th Street.
The good thing is you can justwalk towards the park.
It takes you a couple ofseconds to get there.
We're surrounded by the best ofthe best.
Retail Diptyque recently openedtheir flagship store.
(06:41):
We're right by the GagosianGallery, sotheby's, you name it,
they're all there.
So what it does is for a guestguest.
It gives them an amazingexperience and sometimes I talk
to our guests.
I say welcome to retail therapy, one-on-one.
But coming back to your question, what was it to launch?
I think it was incrediblebecause we realized that there
(07:02):
was a need for an ultra luxuryhotel and to come into that
particular market and to be whatI like to call positive
disruptors.
So we were very tactful aboutour partners.
We partnered with Casa Tua, whoare our F&B partners out of
Miami and Aspen, and it's beennothing but spectacular.
(07:22):
The locals have really, reallywarmed up to the hotel.
We've had tremendous amount ofrepeat guests.
Just to put it in perspective,in the three and a half months
we've been open, dan, we've hadover 150 room nights, over
$150,000 in revenue, and theseare the guests that have come
back again and again becausethey love the experience.
And for us as hoteliers, Ialways tell our staff and our
(07:45):
team members we are storytellers, so we have the ability to tell
New Yorkers the story of theCorinthia, and what really makes
it special is I like to saythis to our staff as well is you
come as a guest, you leave as afriend and you return as family
.
So it's been an amazing journey.
(08:07):
The locals really wanted tounderstand what is Carinthia all
about.
So, in my capacity, with my team, we've been very, very
passionate about telling theCarinthia story, about the
chairman, what inspired him,because he has a very inspiring
story the way he launched thebrand from being a catering
business out of a necessity andthen he realized that wait, if
(08:31):
the catering business is doingwell, let me build a hotel.
So he actually hustled through,he made it happen, he opened
the Curantia Palace in Malta andfor Malta I don't know whether
you've been to Malta, but it's avery tiny nation very proud
nation, three hours from London,and for that company to expand
(08:51):
to where it is today isincredible.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Well, it's interesting.
Obviously, having thatbackground and expertise in
catering, which gives you theart of hospitality, then
obviously leads itself.
I worked with the Red CarnationHotels for many years Mr and
Mrs Tolman, who I dearly regardunfortunately that Mr Tolman has
passed away, but he has, Iguess, a somewhat similar story
and journey from South Africaand building up these hotels and
(09:14):
then he was doing the front ofhouse and she was the chef and
put these incredible recipestogether, and so that
combination of their skill setsis what led to, ultimately,
their global success and thesereal fine, high end properties.
So it's interesting to hearthat parallel with Corinthia and
the chairman's background andstory and to bring us back, I
guess, where.
(09:35):
Now bringing this brand to NewYork is one of the things.
Obviously you've got this greatbrand heritage that is expanding
globally, but when you enter anew market like New York, and
obviously they're bringing youon board because you're a New
Yorker, you have that experiencein that city and I'm keen to
know about some of yourexpansion plans in the US as
well, based on how much you canshare with us, of course.
(09:56):
But one of the things youmentioned about the guests that
have already started to book atthe hotel is how much of that is
repeat guests versus new guests.
So I'm sure there's a bit of ajourney to go on at the start,
because everyone's going to be anew guest when it's a new
property.
But some people are going to befamiliar with the Carinthia
brand, so they're going to haveexperienced London or Malta and
now they want to experienceCarinthia New York.
You're going to then havepeople that experience Carinthia
(10:19):
New York and they're returningguests and they love it.
And every time they come to NewYork which I understand from
the outside, looking in, is amajor factor because so many
people travel to New Yorkregularly that they get their
hotels that they stay at andthey're always going back to
their same hotel.
And again, that's yourexpertise, not mine.
That's just a briefunderstanding of these returning
guests, and then you're stillgoing to have new guests in the
mix.
So when you're building up yourclientele, tell us a little bit
(10:40):
about how that works for theCarinthia brand about building
up repeat guests, as you werehighlighting, and then trying to
bring new guests into theconsideration set.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Great question, dan.
It's about telling the story ofthe company and, as you rightly
said, currentia, over the years, has managed to have amazing
sense of loyalty amongst guests.
And again, london is a keymarket for us, but, not to
forget, we have great propertiesin Lisbon, you know, in St
Petersburg and other fantasticlocations in Europe as well.
(11:12):
What we've managed to do iswe've managed to leverage off
the popularity of the brand withour new guests that have come
in, because our success is thatthe Surrey is almost 100 years
old as a hotel 100 years old asa hotel.
So we took over the Surrey withour owners, the Rubin Brothers,
because it's never lost thatfor a good hotel or a good
(11:39):
company, both ends need to bespeaking the same language,
which is good ownership whosupport you through what you
want to do, are respectful tothe brand and also the brand
that wants to do the right thingfor the local market and with
the owners.
So I'm blessed to actually havethe best of both worlds.
The Rubin Brothers areincredible as owners and they're
very respectful and they'revery knowledgeable, and so is
(12:00):
the Corinthians and we recently,you know our CEO, simon Casson,
who spent almost 35 years withFour Seasons, most recently as a
president for Europe and Africaand Middle East.
He brings in an amazing sense ofdirection, along with the
managing director, simon Nowdy,who's been with the company for
almost 35 years.
(12:21):
So with these gentlemen,they've actually established the
core values of who we are.
And the reason I say values is,you know, companies open up,
but what guests really respondto is the values of the company,
and how do we treat you as acustomer and how do we make you
feel so you can't wait to comeback.
(12:41):
So, answering your question,since we've opened, our repeat
guest ratio has been over 35%For a three and a half month
hotel.
That's an amazing statistic,for sure, and when I say guest,
I want to be specific.
We've also curated some amazingpet programs, because we're in
the Upper East Side neighborhoodand one of our key things was
(13:05):
for us not to be a hotel in theneighborhood, for us to be the
neighborhood, and we wanted thelocals and the community to be
invested in our success.
So we felt the need to curatesome very, very bespoke pet
snacks.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
So every single day, we have guests that come with
their pets.
I love this.
I'm a huge dog lover, so I lovethis Exactly.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
So this is going to resonate with you, but every
single day we have guests withtheir pets who come at a
particular time and the pets sitin front of a hotel and start
wagging their tail.
You know why, dan?
Because our amazing doormen gothere.
They know them by the name andthey feed them their pet snacks.
So sweet.
And two weeks ago, while I wasin the lobby with Simon Kasson,
(13:47):
our CEO, we had a guest who camewith two bouquets of flowers
and they handed it over to ourdoorman and just to tell them
thank you so much for being sorespectful to my pets.
We love you, guys, and this isour hotel of choice.
And one of those guests happenedto be a huge hedge fund owner
who said I'm going to bring allmy business to you, so the
(14:16):
reason I say that is becausehospitality is about delivering
it with passion and with yourheart, and I think the current
tier values that we've put in,not just with the staff but also
the guests, is that.
You know what.
Come and stay with us, we don'tcare, even if you don't stay
Once you are in the building.
Come and stay with us, we don'tcare, even if you don't stay.
Once you are in the building,you're part of us and we're
going to treat you like a familymember and you're going to feel
the sense of belonging there.
(14:38):
There's that emotionalattachment where they feel like
wait, this is amazing.
They treat my pet so well, theytreat my kids so well.
I can't wait to go back.
So it's something we're veryproud about and, for New York
especially, the scale ofhospitality is tilting.
Where you know, our goal is tomake sure that every guest that
(15:00):
is coming is made to feel likethey are the most important
person in the room.
Right, I talk to our travelpartners all the time.
I've spoken to a few duringthis trip as well.
Their guests are our guests.
Once they're in the building, aguest does not care that.
Are they going to therestaurant?
Are they going to the spa.
For them, it's like I'm at theSurrey or Carinthia Hotel.
(15:23):
So you know they get in andthey expect the best out of us
and we expect to be the bestrepresentation of ourselves.
So when we opened this hotel, wewent out to the market and our
message was very clear.
Our message was like we arehonest operators.
If you come and stay with us,you're going to feel extra
(15:45):
special and you know you'regoing to feel like you can't
wait to come back to us.
And we've seen that.
Our reviews are amazing.
Our guests cannot stop talkingabout us and it's word of mouth,
right?
It's a new hotel and thesethings take a while to stabilize
and what we've seen is gueststhat are repeating themselves
and guests that are coming aresending their family members
(16:07):
over.
Or you know the travel agentswho are sending their family
members over, or you know thetravel agents who are sending
their family members over.
A strange thing happened lastweek and I was telling a travel
partner here who's alsoattending the summit is.
I was standing outside the doorwith the doorman and there was
a lady who said you must bePradeep.
I said yes, good evening.
Am I that recognizable?
She said no, but my friend is abig agent of this company.
(16:30):
She sent me a screenshot of aphoto and she said I have to
meet you.
So I think it's incredible andthe fact that we opened.
In the location we opened, Irealized that the entire
community is invested in oursuccess.
So we're not in a locationwhere it's totally leisure,
(16:51):
where guests come and go here.
The community wants us tosucceed and they are actually
clapping for us.
So it's an amazing pivot versusother neighborhoods.
But it's exceptional, it's veryspecial, it's very organic and
it makes you want to do betterand better every day.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
That's fascinating.
There's so much there and Iguess that's where you know when
I was asking you about New York.
You're clearly an expert inhospitality, but also in the New
York market and the fact thatyou just highlighted there how
important it is to connect tothe local community and really
interesting something youhighlighted to me that is, I
guess, an important point thatthose local community members
(17:35):
can actually become advocatesfor people to book your hotel.
So it's not actually just thatyou're trying to, you know,
ingratiate yourself to the localcommunity.
That's obviously a part of it,but it actually leads to great
business opportunities as well.
So I love the story about thepets and the dog and that
certainly resonates with me.
(17:57):
The thing I wanted to ask youtoo, given that we're here at
Forbes Travel Guide in Monacoand that you are on your journey
, and one of the things thatPradeep said to me just as we
were sitting down and I was keento know their status he's like
well, we're not five star yet,but we will be soon, and clearly
, from my conversations withmany of your colleagues and you
know the incredible generalmanagers that are here is that
if they really pay attention togreat customer service and
(18:18):
experience and it's built intotheir DNA, as it clearly is in
the Corinthians from.
You know, your founder on downis that, if you do those things,
that's exactly what getting aForbes Travel Guide five-star
rating is all about, but there'sobviously a bit more to it in
the sense that there's variousthings that they're looking for
that you need to become aware of.
So tell us a little bit aboutthe journey that you're on now
(18:40):
to become Forbes Travel Guidefive-star rated so that the next
time we see each other whereverin the world that is Pradeep,
but at the summit, the summitand you are going to be
recognized as one of the fastestto get to five star.
Tell us some of the thingsyou're going to do over the next
several months to make surethat that comes to life.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Well, I just want to go back to your question where
you spoke about the journey.
I'm a firm believer in thejourney and what I talk to my
team members is don't focus onthe results initially.
Focus on the journey.
Trust in the process, focus onthe journey and the right result
will be delivered.
Five stars are very important,but I feel like the things that
(19:24):
we do to get there is moreimportant than getting the fives
.
Fives are important, don't getme wrong, but it needs to be
organic and it needs to comefrom the heart.
Service needs to be somethingyou believe in, right.
So what we're doing is we'reinvesting a lot in our internal
training and our internalsystems within the hotel, and we
(19:49):
are also doing a lot ofrepetition, and every staff
member that comes in undergoes athorough orientation, or what
we've rephrased the wordorientation.
We call it immersion, culturalimmersion.
So it's important for them toknow the story.
So anybody that comes in, wetalk about the foundation of
(20:10):
Corinthia, who our owners are.
We talk to them because it'simportant for them to know what
our basics are.
We talk to them because it'simportant for them to know what
our basics are and who are thekey members, and then, obviously
, we speak about the basics whenit comes to the service
delivery, execution.
But you know, I encourage allthe staff to provide service
from their heart.
(20:30):
So there are standards and thestandards can easily be met if
you have what I call hospitality.
You know there's a service sideof the business and there's
hospitality.
And there's something I talkday in and day out is that if
you provide service based on achecklist because you want to
(20:50):
get to the result, then you missthe hospitality side.
To get to the result, then youmiss the hospitality side.
But if you have, you understandwhat the service needs to be,
but you have the hospitalityside covered, then I think you,
you know the world is the oysterafter that.
So I think we are taking thesesteps and going back to
attaining these results.
It's all about being consistent,it's repetition and you know,
(21:14):
every day we invest a lot of ourtime and efforts with every
staff member and the leadershipteam on the standards, on the
basics, and it's not justsomething we do once every week,
we do it every single day.
I strongly believe thatknowledge is power and you have
to learn every single day.
(21:35):
None of us are perfect.
I need to be reminded of thingsevery day, and you know it's
important that you be humble andyou're vulnerable.
So me, as a leader, I don'texpect to be right all the times
, so I also tell my staff tohold me accountable if there's
something I'm missing, andthey're very happy to do that
when they can, because to me,that's what good leadership is
(21:57):
about is you need to openyourself to your team so they
have the ability to speak to youwhen they want to, and it's a
two-way traffic.
So we're taking these steps andwe're investing in the journey,
and I believe that once weperfect the journey, the result
will follow by itself.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Yeah, now, those are so many valuable insights there,
and I guess that's one of thebenefits of being here together
is that someone like yourselfconnecting with all of your
colleagues.
There's a lot that not only Ican learn from you, our
listeners can learn from you,but, as you rightly said, that
we can learn from each other,and so, with us being here
together on day two of thesummit, I'm keen to know what
(22:37):
some of the interestinghighlights or takeaways have
been for you.
I've had certainly quite a fewvaluable insights from the
opening sessions, from thediscovery sessions, even the
wellness studio with a company,mindstream that I found really
quite fascinating.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour takeaways from this year's
the Summit in Monaco.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
Well, first thing is I've gotten to meet a lot of my
friends who I don't get to meettoo often these days, but the
incredible thing is also meetingprofessionals that I've not met
before, where I've managed tolearn certain things from them.
I just was part of a panel andone of the panelists spoke about
(23:18):
sustainability and about doingthese organic gardens and
through landfills.
That, to me, was very, veryeye-opening for me to see what
we can take back and do in NewYork, for example.
Take back and do in New York,for example, and plus, meeting
professionals from the otherindustries, like this summit
(23:41):
brings together individuals notjust from the travel, but you
have retail right.
We have, like, the president ofChanel in Paris, who's here,
and we have others.
And we were just talking beforewe started talking here was that
we were talking about how, nomatter what industry you are in,
the baseline and thedenominators are the same we're
(24:03):
all here to take care of ourguests, and it's about investing
in the experience of the guest,and we all believe that once
you invest in that experience,everything else follows by
itself.
So to me, that has been a greattakeaway.
The other takeaway also hasbeen the ability to understand
different cultures and howpeople react to certain
(24:25):
situations.
So to me, the summit providesall the professionals the
ability to express themselvesand, I think, come together, be
in one platform and spend time.
You know, have coffeeconversations.
This morning, jerry Nzerola wasthere talking about what's
(24:46):
happening in Saudi Arabia andknowing about what they're doing
to build like a city by itself.
So I think that and obviouslywith all our vendors and
partners that are coming in,it's been great to meet all of
them and see how can we leverageof each other For sure.
Yeah, so it's been incredible.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
No, that's fantastic and I wanted to get a few of
your insights around some of thetrends you're paying attention
to in luxury hospitality,whether it be New York or the
Corinthia.
Just some of the things thatyou mentioned about some of the
sessions you've attended and allthe valuable insights that have
come out of being here at thesummit.
But what are some of the otherthings that you are already
paying attention to or planningto implement that might be
(25:28):
insightful for our listeners?
Speaker 1 (25:30):
It's a great question because hospitality is ever
evolving, right?
No, two days are alike.
We have to stay relevant nomatter what we do.
So part of my dailyresponsibilities and inspiration
(25:51):
is really exploding on thescene.
We realized that, you knowhotels.
Gone are the days where hotelswere just where you came and
checked into a hotel, there werebeds made.
You went to the restaurant onyour left.
But now it's about deliveringan overall package.
And how does that look?
(26:14):
Well, probably having a greatresidential piece to the hotel,
having a, you know, privatemembers.
Clubs are a big deal becausethrough them you're actually
getting a lot more customersinto the building.
You're getting to know a lotmore people and word of mouth,
because once the members come in, their friends come in and then
, before you, you know, it'slike a residual effect Everybody
(26:37):
gets to know who you are.
Obviously, the pressure is thatyou do what you do the right
way.
Yeah, exactly, and you do it thebest way possible and
consistently.
But we also realize that theother trend that we're seeing is
social media.
Gone are the days where you hadto rely on somebody.
A good example is influencers.
(26:58):
I don't really believe in theword influencers anymore.
Everybody's an influencerbecause anybody can come in,
they can take pictures, they cansnap photos and post it online.
So for us it's important thatevery single guest that's
walking in and out of thebuilding, no matter what they're
coming for, needs to be treatedwith the same amount of
(27:20):
intensity and the same amount ofsense of urgency that you would
treat a guest that's checkinginto the hotel.
You know we always talk abouteven if a guest wants to go to
the restroom at the hotel.
We escort those guests, wethank them for coming to the
hotel.
You know, right from ourdormant they say thank you for
coming to the Sarriya KurunteHotel.
And if the guest says I want togo to the restroom, we escort
(27:42):
them on the way out.
We say we look forward toseeing you back.
And what we're seeing is thatguests really like the fact that
they're being respected andthey like the fact that they're
being treated well.
But coming back to your questionwith the trend clubs are a big
deal.
I also feel like privatizingminibars and room service, for
example.
It's about what I want to use aparticular word here called
(28:07):
curating perpetual demand, whereyou are curating demand based
on what the customer needs.
Know your customer is veryimportant, and you know when the
guest goes to a restaurant.
For example, if you know you'regoing to celebrate a birthday
party with four or six guests,it's a great idea to call you as
(28:32):
a guest three, four days inadvance.
Get your wine preference.
So if it's like a ChateauLatour or if it's a good
Bordeaux, we open it up 24 hours, we decant it, it's ready and
it's in the best shape and thenyou can consume it.
So it's about knowing yourcustomer.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
That's fantastic.
You've got so many valuableinsights.
Pradeep, you're such a greatguest to be on the show.
I really appreciate your time.
I want to make sure that ourlisteners can find out more
about Corinthia and New York andconnect with yourself.
So, for those of the listenersthat are either travel agents or
work in the travel industry,tell us how they can partner
with you and especially makingbookings for their clients, and
then, for those people that arejust interested in now traveling
(29:11):
to New York and experiencingthe hotel, how they can find out
more information.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Well, I would say wwwcurrenthiacom, Nice.
Look at New York, yep, and myparting statement to all of you
who are listening is you'll comeas a guest, you'll leave as a
friend and you'll return as afamily member.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
I love that.
Well, I feel like there's astrong connection.
I look forward to seeing you inNew York next time.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Likewise.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Next year, wherever we're going to be in the world
for the next summit.
But thank you, pradeep, thankyou, dan, thanks so much for
joining us on episode three ofour special 10-part hospitality
series in partnership with ourfriends at Forbes Travel Guide.
I hope you enjoyed ourinsightful discussion with
Pradeep Raman from Corinthia,new York, which, of course, was
recorded live at the summit inMonaco.
We're going to be releasing newepisodes every Thursday for the
(29:55):
next several weeks and in ournext episode we're going to
journey back to Europe to speakwith Roberto Protagioni, who is
the general manager of thestunning Castle Falfi Hotel,
which is in the heart of Tuscany, and he's one of the newest
additions to the Forbes TravelGuide five-star hotel list.
So not only are you going tohear his interesting story, but
(30:16):
also a lot about this beautifulproperty as well.
So make sure you are subscribedto get alerted when new
episodes go live of TravelTrends on your streaming
platform of choice, and we alsodo send out a monthly newsletter
so you can register for that atTravelTrendsPodcastcom for
updates and exclusive contentthat we send out.
And make sure that you arechecking out the social channels
(30:37):
for at Forbes travel guide andat travel trends, both on
LinkedIn and Instagram for clipsand highlights from all these
discussions until next week.
Safe travels.
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