Charles Azzopardi & his management ‘credo’:
“we were still recruiting people
exuding a warm and friendly ap-
proach but we were also more con-
cerned that they would be good
team players too,” he explained.
“This ensures that the team spir-
it would continue to deliver the
qualities we are known for - a
warm, friendly and professional
disposition – so we preferred to
employ people who knew their job
well irrespective of nationality.
Charles continued: “Additionally
what was important for us was that
during the full 16 months that we
were renovating the hotel, we kept
our staff on full salary. It’s family
here. And this obviously reflects on
the quality of service that the guest
receives.” This reflects itself in the
fact that guests and staff interact very
well together like old friends, espe-
cially if the visitors are regulars.
during the full 16 months
that we were renovating
the hotel, we kept our
staff on full salary. It’s
family here. And this
obviously reflects on the
quality of service that the
guest receives.
HOSPITALITY MALTA
He is clearly the soul and ethos of the hotel - friendly, hands-on,
efficient. He has been with the Phoenicia for over 23 years, having
starting out as sales and marketing director in 1994. So, what are
his philosophies for managing and gaining success?
• I think that in life it is better to keep things simple…..so that people can easily
understand, be steadily behind you and deliver;
• You must believe in your people. They are the ones who are delivering your
level of service to your clients;
• If they are good, happy, well trained, they deliver at the level the client expects;
• That leads you to taking care of your clients - they are the ones paying every-
one’s salary at the end of the day!
• Clients are the reason we exist. Without them there is no hotel.
• I believe in doing things differently. Be friendly, not stiff. Be inclusive, not exclu-
sive. The client must feel this from the first step he or she walks into the hotel.
There is no place for snobbery in the business of hospitality.
• At the end of the day all this must be translated into delivering a return on
your efforts. That’s why we’re in business after all. Like a three-legged stool,
one leg significantly reflects the other.
“If one were to look at the core
values of what The Phoenicia was
in the recent past and what Camp-
bell Gray are proposing today,
you will find quite a lot of com-
monality,” explained Charles. “We
both say our staff are our strength.
We both say that we are here to ex-
ceed client expectations and that
every decision we take is in favour
of the customer. Our priorities
are the same and we are not try-
ing to change each other. We’re
just trying to make each oth-
er better!” he added succinctly.
Charles spelt the management con-
cept for their Malta operation very
clearly: “We will be offering a level of
operation and design that is different.
Campbell Gray have experi-
ences across the globe, from
London, to the Caribbean, even to
Beirut … they bring all this knowl-
edge with them. We have benefit-
ted from this level of profession-
alism to the overall experience of
The Phoenicia that they brought with
them – and it is new to these Is-
lands. Everything they have done
in the hotel makes a statement.
And it can also be a costly one too.
They have moved the hotel’s stand-
ards upwards as well as the way of
doing things from what they were
up to these new levels… and that
can spill over on to what the other
sectors in Malta can do as they were
never used to it too!” he concluded.
SEPTEMBER | 2017
55