Up until a few years ago Indira Phyneandy might never have imagined that the current focus of her professional life would have been on restoring the fortunes of what was once considered to be one of the city’s most tasteful hotels.
In fact, the unpretentious remigrant from Canada readily concedes that her training and skills are not altogether consistent with hotel management. What she combines are the skills of a marketing executive, an appetite for hard work and a sense of loyalty to her father, who, while he owns the facility which Indira serves in the capacity of Director, admits that he is more than happy to pursue such chores as she wishes him to do. Up until now, those virtues have served her well in what she says has been a taxing assignment.
Situated at the corner of Middle and Waterloo streets in Georgetown, what used to be the Cara Suites has now been renamed the Halito Hotel.
In 2012 Indira returned home to take over the running of the hotel, severing its ties with the company known as Cara Investment (Guyana) which had run the operation for the previous 19 years. “When I took over the reins I knew nothing about the industry. I was in marketing. I was doing presentations in boardrooms about how businesses can boost their sales and marketing.”
While her efforts are still to result in a complete turnaround of the hotel’s fortunes, both Indira and her father, John Phyneandy, are reporting pleasing progress. One of its notable recent accomplishments, she says, has been its success in building customer confidence to the point where it enjoys the continued patronage of major international firms doing business in Guyana.
The Halito’s strengths, she says, have been its relentless pursuit of high standards, its unerring focus on pleasing the customer and the commitment of its staff to the realization of management’s goals. In an environment where skills in the service sector are hard to find, Indira says that she owes the hotel’s accomplishments under her leadership largely to the sustained loyalty of her staff.
Such skills in hotel management as she has acquired over the past two years have been due, primarily, to sleepless nights, self-training, utilizing the services of the Internet and interfacing with other hotel owners. She particularly values the support she has a received from Ronald Van Dijk, a native of Holland who has been in the hotel industry for over a decade and has over two decades of experience in the hospitality sector.
The new name of the hotel has been chosen carefully. In Portuguese, Halito means a breath of fresh air and that is just what Indira has set her sights on realizing at a time when a surfeit of hotels in the capital are engaged in an aggressive competition for guests.
Rather than being preoccupied with the competition, Indira says, she has chosen to tackle the challenge head-on. As the hotel’s Director she has chosen to offer a boutique-style facility, that is, one that provides personalized service. Her own experience of North America tells her that the demand amongst travellers is for a combination of modest comforts, intimacy and quick and efficient service. Elaborateness and luxury, she says, are not always prerequisites for the successful running of a hotel.
Intimacy, she says, can provide distinct advantages in quality customer service. As Director of the 17-room Halito she enjoys the facility of being able to interact with guests. ‘I have found that guests who have easy access to management feel a greater sense of service,” Indira says. More than that, by providing guests with access to her private cell number she is aware that once a problem arises she is no more than a phone call away. “Everyone wants their problems to be resolved
quickly and that is often not possible with large hotels,” she notes
Client feedback, she says, is critical to building management confidence. Those compliments, she says, invariably come in the form of glowing praises for the quality of service offered by her staff. Beyond that, she explains, guests have developed an acute appreciation of the differences in the quality of service offered by local hotels. “I have had guests insist that we find accommodation for them. There are times when they would come to us and be quite prepared to sit around waiting for a room to be prepared.”
Her greatest pride reposes in the fact that what the Halito offers has attracted a number of repeat guests. She estimates that around 80% of her guests are business travellers. “They are looking for comfort and efficiency. I have found that much of our marketing comes from satisfied guests who spread the word to others through Trip Advisor,” she says. Trip Advisor is an American travel website that provides information in support of the travel planning and provides a feedback facility.
Halito’s accommodation ranges from the hotel’s Presidential Suite to Standard and Family rooms. Rates range from US$99 to US$180 per night. The Halito’s other facilities include a Business Centre, a Bistro and restaurant and bar. Its cuisine ranges from dishes associated with fine dining to the exotic variety associated with creole food. It is, she says, an opportunity for locals to get a taste of the Halito.
Nor is the Halito neglecting to offer what has now become the anticipated IT infrastructure which is expected to be available at even the most modest hotels. Its facilities include Wi-Fi services while the Business Centre offers complimentary computer and internet access.
January to June and September to November are the Halito’s peak periods. Those are, Indira says, “the periods of demanding business travel.”
Indira says she is in the business for the “long haul.” The period behind her has been satisfying but she is only too well aware that there is still a long road to travel. It will, she says, test her stamina but having come to better understand to nature of the challenge she believes that she is more than suitably equipped to rise to it.
