In conversation with Roop Sodhi, Executive Director, Club & Sales, Best Western Resort Country Club, Manesar
Escape the humdrum of city life and enter the serene and soothing ambience of Best Western Resort Country Club at Manesar, for an experiential journey in a pastoral ambience and wide open spaces. Located at a relaxed, 45-minute drive from Delhi Airport, on the Delhi – Jaipur Highway, the resort is the preferred choice for conferences, events, family holidays, weekend getaways, business meetings, and weddings, making for an ideal destination for both business and leisure seekers. Bollywood, too, set their sights on this property in 1995, choosing it as their location for the second half of the famous blockbuster film DDLJ, which was shot amidst the beautiful yellow mustard fields around the resort. In conversation with Today’s Traveller, Roop Sodhi, Executive Director - Club & Sales, Best Western Resort Country Club, shares what makes the resort a favoured destination for corporates, families and millennials looking for some quality time away from the busy, hectic life of cities.
According to you, what defines the USPs of your hotel? The resort is situated near Manesar, away from the pollution and congestion of urban life and is the preferred choice of Leisure and Business travellers on the lookout for large open spaces. Spread over 50 acres of greenery, in the lap of nature, the hotel boasts an authentic rural ambience and pristine beauty. Unmatched facilities, including state-of-the-art indoor-outdoor leisure activities, Adventure Games, Mini Amusement Park, Children Activity Room, DJ Dance Floor, Rain Dance Floor, an on-site international standard Cricket Ground, lighted Lawn Tennis Court, Badminton and Cricket Net Practice Courts, a Bird Gazing Machan, a small Fishing Lake, and animal joy rides make it an experiential resort, which is unique and distinct, like no other. We provide highly personalised services, all with a smile. Our motto: No detail is too small and no effort is too big ever.
What are the challenges that you face in the marketplace? Currently, Gurugram is over-capacitated with hotels, which leads to cut-throat competition. The challenge for us is to stay ahead of the competition. To achieve this we do not reduce our prices, but instead provide some attractive freebies to our prospective customers. Further, unlike city hotels, we do not have a balanced daily traffic; for example, on weekends all our 120 rooms are full and on weekdays the traffic is rather low. However, on account of our unmatched facilities for events, we get a large number of business travellers for Conferences, Corporate Dayouts, Weddings and other Trade Shows, which is a profitable business segment.
What does the hotel offer with regard to meetings and events? The resort is a prestigious destination for Conventions, Exhibitions, Dealer Meets, Product Launches, Adventure Games, Destination Weddings and other events. We have an exclusive state-of-the-art 150,000sq.ft.-covered and open garden area, including 9,000sq.ft. Banquet/Convention hall for events, with a capacity to accommodate over 1000 people. These features make the resort a preferred destination for business travellers.
How do you maintain a work life balance? Ever so often, when the resort sees large numbers, the staff faces the challenge with their impeccable service and with a smile, even though the events may well continue till late into the night, as it gives them great job satisfaction when the guests appreciate their commendable efforts. The resort provides free boarding and lodging to about 70% of its employees and free lodging facility to employees who live with their families. The children of the employees are able to study in an adjacent Govt. Higher Secondary Co-education School and in the Amity International School, which is about 2km away from the resort complex. During their off-hours, the employees enjoy playing volley ball and cricket, and their families have access to the Mini Amusement Park and other outdoor leisure activities of the resort. Further, the resort management offers good salaries/wages and perks to its employees. All these amenities make our employees very happy and, as a result, the resort has a high retention rate of employees. All these features contribute to an excellent work-life balance at the resort.
