On May 27th, the burgeoning Lagos hotel market will officially welcome Joy Gate Hotel, a new entrant. In this Interview, Charles Ukaumune, general manager of the hotel, which had a soft opening last Friday, speaks with Obinna Emelike on the difference the hotel brings to the table, offerings, among other issues. Excerpt:
What difference is Joy Gate bringing to the table in the Lagos hotel market?
Joy Gate Hotel is a business hotel that will give guests what other hotels in this axis will not offer them. We have positioned the hotel as the best on the Airport Road axis; offering quick and affordable service.
The hotel is dedicated to surpassing the expectations of discerning guests; enabling them to enjoy intimate services, as well as, home-away-from-home experience. We pride in offering customized service. We are not for mass offerings but customised to meet guests’ specifications. We offer our guests rooms, food and wine menus the exact way guests want them.
Moreover, our proximity to the Nigerian gateway – about five minutes drive to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport – is an added advantage. In all these, we take customers requests and feedback very important in order to continually satisfy them.
What are your key offerings?
We have 51 tastefully furnished rooms. Our five categories of rooms are; standard, superior, deluxe, ambassador suite and diplomatic suite. All the room categories offer comfort and good rest to guests amid other world-class leisure enabling room facilities. They are also functional for the business traveler, who needs to connect to the world or run his business while on a trip. The rooms come with different views, especially airport runway and city views of Ajao Estate, Oshodi and Ikeja.
I urge intending guests to take advantage of our opening promotional rate for a standard room for 28,000 instead of 36,000 and diplomatic suite, our highest room, for N110,000.
We also have four well-stock bars. From the Fountains Bar at the swimming pool, Executive Lounge and the Runway or Rooftop Bar, among others, Joy Gate Hotel carters to quality unwinding amid choice drinks.
The exciting thing is that our Runway or Rooftop Bar offers panoramic views of airplane taking off from the domestic wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport Ikeja. You will also be impressed with the aerial views of Ajao Estate, Oshodi and Ikeja from the rooftop bar.
We also have a banquet hall that can take up to 120 guests depending on the style; 60-68 for classroom style and 120 guests for theatre style. There is a swimming pool on the ground floor.
Do you think the quality of your food offerings will impress guests?
Our restaurant is world class and takes up to 40 guests at a time, while our meals are African, and intercontinental. We have one of the best chefs in Nigeria, including South African and Cotonou chefs.
Also, our food and beverage manager comes from an international brand in Lagos here, so we are equipped and ready to host the world with the best of food and wine menus.
Who are the pioneering team members of Joy Gate Hotel?
The team is led by Charles Ukaumune, my humble self. I am the general manager with almost 28 years experience in the hospitality industry.
I have managed many properties in Lagos including Planet One, Sweat Sensation, and Sumerset Court. I have also managed faculties for Airtel in the north west of Nigeria, and their base stations in 18 states. For me, managing Joy Gate Hotel after many years in the hospitality industry is something I can do with my eyes closed. Having the best team around me, from the food and beverage manager, front office manager, the chef and other staff, we are good to deliver the best quality possible to the guests.
Are you aware of some international brands that are already in your area?
We are not competing with anyone; we come with our intimate service, which is different. Though Joy Gate Hotel is indigenously branded, people managing it have international experience spanning years in branded hotels such as Accor Group, Radisson, Hilton and Marriott, they are all here. For me, what matters is not the type or name of the airplane, but the experienced captain in the cockpit.
What about facility maintenance, which has been issue for most indigenous Nigerian hotels?
Owners of the hotel believe in return on investment. Also, return on investment does not just mean opening new hotels and outlets, it also means maintaining the ones you have and improving on facilities. If you come today and see a curve TV of 37” or 42” in the room, when you come next time, you will see a new model with better entertainment offerings. That is what we are here to do.
We are going after facility maintenance at its best. We have scheduled our maintenance even to the cleaning of cobweb. The housekeepers know when to do the various cleanings, fumigation among others and do not fail.
We also have automated facility maintenance that pops up when the time comes, so you have a notice of a week or two weeks window before it is due for maintenance including our two generators. We have every reason to succeed because we are determined to do so and focused on our goals.
While your focus is on intimate service, how do you equip staff to deliver on your standard?
Before the hotel came to this point, we had and still have on board Ijeoma Ugamah, a hospitality expert. She has spent six months training, grooming staff and managers and equipping them with the right skills. At present, we have done almost 18 trainings for line staff and managers on management, customer service and even phone etiquette.
Our staff can tell of your countenance and the kind of service you will need even from the phone interaction. Obviously, with all the impactful training and grooming, the staff know what to do at any point in time to meet and satisfy guests’ expectations.
We recognize training as key; hence it is an ongoing thing despite the 18 trainings the staff have already undergone. We even have external trainers coming in. Also, the calendar is already filled for trainings from now till December.
What is your target market?
We are hoping to get our share of the Airport Road/Ajao Estate axis hotel market. It is not all about making money, but also making friends and engaging in partnerships.
How has patronage been since the soft opening?
We are officially opening on May 27, 2019, but we are already over booked in our online requests and walk-in bookings by both individual and corporate clients. We are even looking at partnering with some hotels around this axis to push our overflow to them. For May 27th and May 29th Democracy Day, we are overbooked.
