What has been your experience in the hospitality industry?

I began early in a very reputable, tremendous hotel, at a 5-Star Southern Sun property. It was a sister project and tourism was giving its due in good phases at Dortmund; we saw a very good standard.

That time, it was like the Civil Service, in the morning you wore your suite, in the afternoon, we wore shorts and tuxedo. Maybe I’m a little bit of a traditionalist, so, I worked in those hotels. I also worked in Protea Hotels.

After that, I ventured into restaurant and did corporate catering contracts where I served bid companies with staff up to four thousand.

What informed your decision to move to Nigeria?

I have never travelled before, so, it was a great decision for us. At that time, the view about Nigeria was very different and I jumped on the plane.

I flew down here and I just met a new country, a new people I didn’t know existed. They are very friendly; hardworking and I really wanted to get on with the people and my new job.

So, I landed at Protea Hotel Ikoyi, Lagos, where I worked. I brought skills, knowledge, and training; I think I did great.

After that, I returned to Mantis for one and a half years. As you know, they were busy with The George Hotel Project Ikoyi. But you know I was not fortunate enough so I had to go back to South Africa where I worked in a 7-Star hotel, Carelus Safari Spar and Lodge.

It was a bit of a journey coming back because then, they were developing the Providence Hotel in GRA Ikeja and Leadway Hotel, Ikoyi, that was also changed from Protea Hotel to a new name called Layola.

When this opportunity became available and it was always going to be a beautiful project, the design is good, plan well thought out, good furniture, good fittings, and that’s how I came here for three months now.

Here’s a boutique type in the hospitality industry where you have your five senses catered for, which is taste, smell, hearing, touch, sight, so the music is fine, seat comfortable, the smells are good, the taste is good, so may be that’s something different you will experience here.

What fresh ideas are you bringing to the hospitality industry?

There is one thing that is pertinent at The Envoy Hotel and it is the security condition of this place. We have reached level 4 of certification programme, the highest level you can get; it is a very stringent condition.

The time we were in Ikoyi, it was the time of Boko Haram; security was stepped up in all the hotels in Lagos.

So, we were fortunate to get a good security company for intelligence training etc, and we are happy we brought the company into the system.

It’s a big Canadian company and we work very close with the American Embassy to make sure that this place works.

Is this high profile security not inhibiting room occupancy?

A lot of people would rather be in Maitama, Wuse area or elsewhere, but some guests want to be able to eat their meal, read a book, drink their wine, enjoy the night; that’s where we market ourselves to. Have your fun and do your work in a cosy place, so, they like the serene environment.

What measure have you put in place to ensure you sustain the standard?

Security is number one in this place. Already, we have a plan to maintain standards.

The architectural plan is great, but as you operate the property, you see the defects. We will continue with improvements, strict changes.

After six months, some things are coming into place; the doors are done, the hinges are oiled, the lawns are cleaned; we pay strict attention to details. We will keep it up.

How are you dealing with the competition form other brands in Abuja?

It’s the same thing as Nigeria playing Bafana Bafana. For the challenges, you need to know your study and your competition.

You need to see where their weaknesses are and where their strength is. You look at your weaknesses, your strength, then you look at the market condition and you plan your course of action.

Sure, we fix our rates, our offering like the evening turn out sales, entertainment at nights and Sunday buffets. We use these things to enhance our competition offering.

What is the interest of the hotel in entertainment particularly music?

We would like to create a music experience on Friday nights. We understand the Friday night traffic; people like to go launch, like to be entertained but we are peculiar. We are a distance from the big city centres and we need to attract customers, but our window is about 7pm to about 10pm window.

We can’t be too noisy because my guests are indoors; I don’t want to upset them.

We got small window and we need to take small interesting voices; bring them up, expose them and bring them to the market and hopefully we are finding acceptance. It’s just a small entertainment niche for us; we are still developing more actions with food.

What are your strategies to sustain good customers care and staff training?

First, you start with recruitment because you need to recruit with the right attitude, because without the right attitude you are going nowhere.

After that, induction and training starts. We have a very good trainer from South Africa that did the implementation; we have the team that visits frequently to make sure that the managerial skills are kept up to date and we are moving to online Web based training.

Also, every quarter, we have a team that does all skills training, house keeping training, front office training, skill training for restaurant and bars.

How are you dealing with the issue of poor power supply?

It is a countrywide challenge; I can’t say that we do better or worse than the rest. But power as it is done with the latest technology involved like domestic switched overs and things like that, our hotel is designed for small and efficient power; that’s a very strong direction for the group. We also have a Planet 21 scheme where we want to have as small as possible covering footprint where we would have solar power.

It’s a challenge and I don’t think it will be fixed in the near future. We are looking ahead on how to recycle our waste; we throw a lot of edible foods away. We can use them in growing compost for plants and things like that, so, our group has got a very aggressive model that we move to Planet 21, which all the hotels will comply and use. Solar panels, wind, heat generated and then re-used in different areas.

How do you rate The Envoy Hotel? 

Realistically, we are a Four and half star hotel. According to Tripadvisor, we are four and half star hotel; the Hilton is Five Star hotel according to public opinion.

In model boutique hotel grading, our hotel did very well; we just won award in England as the best boutique hotel for our dry court property.

So, we think we are fighting a good fight in our class.

Next year, we will also like to file for the Pen Award, which the Weathbaker Hotel in Lagos won; I think they have won it so many times and is time somebody from Abuja give them a good fight.

Where would you like to see The Envoy Hotel in the next five years?

I would like to see our cuisine really stand out; we are still finding our feet in terms of fine dinning and really sourcing the best products.

The owners have built a marvellous structure, so, we will really want to match it with really marvellous and stand out cuisines so that their fusion with Nigerian and continental dishes will stand out.

We would like to keep our security as high as it is even higher because we can’t do anything if we don’t have security.

If we lose a life or property, it can affect us, so, that’s our prime objective.
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