The Big Interview: Hotel General Managers Paul Davies And Ron Vos

　　Skyport"s Salina Patel interviews Paul Davies, general manager of the Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel and Ron Vos, general manager at London Heathrow Marriott Hotel, who first met in 1994 when they worked at the airport"s Renaissance before their careers took them on separate journeys.

　　After 17 years apart the pair were reunited when they both landed back at Heathrow last year, they talk about what they missed most, challenges during their time at Heathrow and looking ahead to the Olympics.

　　Skyport"s Salina Patel (SP): How long have you been in the hotel industry?

　　Paul Davies (PD): 25 years. I joined Marriott as an apprentice chef in 1987, after completing two years at Catering College, working six days a week 12 hours a day to learn as much as I could. I was at Heathrow from 1994 - 1999 before my first opportunity for a general manager (GM) position in 1999. I worked at Renaissance Reading, Marriott Meon Valley Southampton and my last project was opening the Marriott Twickenham situated in the rugby stadium in April 2009 - a six year project and the proudest moment in my career. I came back to Heathrow in June 2011.

　　Ron Vos (RV): 33 years. After compulsory service in the army in Germany, in 1979 I started as assistant chief steward at the Sonesta Hotel in Amsterdam which later became the Renaissance. Responsibilities included dishwashing, cleaning the kitchen and the glass china and silverware. I worked at the Renaissance Heathrow in 1992, before my first general manager (GM) position at the Renaissance Brussels in 1995, then Marriott Heidelberg Germany, and returned to Brussels in 2001, before returning to Heathrow in 2011.

　　SP: When did your worlds collide?

　　PD: 1994 Ron was my boss. He was executive assistant manager to the GM and I was director of food and beverage. We have seen each other over the past 15 years at various meetings in the US and Europe. We are now neighbours in 2012, both still working for Marriott. Mr Marriott is alive and will be 80 years old in March and Ron and I will be in LA for a worldwide GM"s meeting to celebrate this.

　　RV: I first came to Heathrow in 1992 where I worked at the Renaissance Heathrow as executive assistance manager. I met Paul shortly after when he started in 1994.

　　SP: First impressions of working at Heathrow?

　　PD: Great like a second family, crazy business, every type of customer. You have to be prepared for every scenario and crisis management situation. We all remember Christmas 2010 and last year we were all so prepared but the snow, fog or ice never came.

　　RV: Hotels are much larger here than mainland Europe. Also being a hotel in Heathrow, delayed flights are something you need to be prepared for and it is so important to have an organised efficient team to handle them - which I"m very proud to say I have.

　　SP: What did you miss about Heathrow?

　　PD: The spirit, pace and day-to-day challenges. This is a BIG hotel and a BIG business with huge responsibilities but I thrive on this and I have a GREAT team. As a manager you are only as good as your team and I am very proud of my hotel and team.

　　RV: I missed the friends I had made and the fact that you could be so close to the city of London and the countryside at the same time. I only really realised how much I had missed Heathrow when I came back for a family occasion in 2010 and decided with my family we would all move back here. I was fortunate to have the role of GM for the London Heathrow Marriott come up a year later.

　　SP: What has changed at Heathrow?

　　PD: More HOTELS! It"s much more competitive especially with the growth of the budget hotels. The pace is much faster and the way we do business with the emergence of the internet, email and iphone. The airport is more organised with less delays and guests more demanding due to social networking sites. The Renaissance has had around £10 million spent on it since I was last here with a new restaurant, meeting rooms and lobby and of course STARBUCKS!

　　RV: For me it"s really exciting to see Terminal 5 because when I was working at the Renaissance Heathrow in the 1990s, it was my idea to convert the pool at the Renaissance into a meeting room for the Terminal 5 enquires and negotiations BAA were having. It"s so great to see T5 was actually built. Also there are so many more hotels here! When I left Heathrow in the mid 90s Heathrow Marriott was under construction and now it"s where I work, so that in itself is pretty amazing.

　　SP: Most memorable moment at Heathrow?

　　PD: In December last year we hosted a Christmas afternoon tea party for 40 OAPs with the Mayor; it was a very special moment as some of the ladies were 100 years old plus.

　　RV: One day in 1993 when I was working at the Renaissance Heathrow I got lots of calls from journalists around the world to check if it was true the hotel was on fire! Contractors who were working on the roof had caused a fire on the rubber roofing which looked as though the whole hotel was a blaze. Of course it was not as dangerous as it first looked and luckily no one was hurt and there was no damage done.

　　SP: What benefits can Heathrow hotels expect as we head towards the Olympics?

　　PD: There will be a good feel factor in the news and we need this as there is so much doom and gloom around in the media. The infrastructure will be pushed to the limit getting people around from airport to Olympic site. The challenge will be post Olympics from mid September.

　　RV: I think this event will attract many guests to the area not only this year but in the future as well. Heathrow hotels can play a big part for the rowing events that will take place nearby and we are expecting a good overflow as the London hotels fill. I"d like to think that there will be an increased awareness of the Heathrow during this period for the future - especially to those guests who would normally have gone into London.