HOTELIERS OF THE WORLD
In
General
SANDEEP BHALLA , GM EXTRAORDINAIRE OF THE CONNAUGHT , IS COOL UNDER FIRE . IN A LUXURY HOTEL TOWN LIKE LONDON , HE MUST BE .
By DAVID EISEN
The job description for a general manager should carry one essential requirement : must possess a calm disposition . Leading any hotel — much less a luxury hotel typically favored by demanding and discerning guests — requires nothing less than stolidness in the face of adversity . In the case of Sandeep Bhalla , GM of The Connaught in London , a hotel with roots stretching back to the early 19th century , that phlegmatic trait is something he has in spades .
Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky once wrote that “ the darker the night , the brighter the stars ,” taken to mean that there is the potential for positive , even when staring down a challenge . For Bhalla , the quote strikes a literal chord .
In 2019 , The Connaught added new food and beverage venues , a project that was accompanied by major electrical work , which entailed that the hotel , for a short period , be run exclusively by generator . Late one Sunday evening , after work had been completed , the hotel flipped the switch to return to its main electrical source . “ All was working fine and everyone is high-fiving ” on a job well done , Bhalla recalled , so much so that he retired to his room at the hotel to catch some sleep . Thirty minutes later , the power went off in his room ; turns out , the power went out throughout the entirety of the hotel , casting it into darkness , overheated copper wires the culprit . Realizing the magnitude of the situation , Bhalla sprung from bed , and with iPhone flashlight aglow , bounded down the hotel ’ s corridors to the electrical panel to assess the situation .
It wasn ’ t dire , but getting things back up and running would take some time , and at a luxury hotel , patience is a commodity in short supply . Luckily , it was late at night , but The Connaught was at full capacity , which meant guests would want explanation ; some might even be irked . Bhalla went into service recovery mode . Staff members were assigned to floors to stand as sentries and lamps and other lighting equipment were moved to public areas and stairwells . Above all , the message was to reassure guests that this was only a temporary nuisance and should they need for anything at all , a staff member was only a conversation away . Twenty-five minutes later , The Connaught ’ s power was back up and running .
Bhalla has an innate capacity for composure and it ’ s what leads him through challenges like the one he faced . “ I ’ m calm by nature ,” he said . “ I might be going a million miles inside , but in any situation , it ’ s about how you portray yourself to your team — that is how they are going to react . They feed off the energy and I don ’ t want to put them in a situation if I ’ m panicking .”
In the end , equanimity won the night . “ With good communication and deploying staff members to key areas , we were able to minimize the inconvenience and reassure our guests ,” Bhalla said . “ They appreciated our responsiveness and effort , leading to a positive perception of how the situation was handled .”
Accounts like this illustrate why Bhalla has been recognized as the GM selection in HOTELS Magazine ’ s 2024 Hoteliers of the World . Bhalla ’ s story begins in India , but is acted out worldwide , and , not unlike other
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