Sandy Murray:DoubleTree By Hilton Brings Double Happiness To Shenyang

Mr. Sandy Murray General Manager of DoubleTree by Hilton Shenyang

　　A new hotel has opened in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. DoubleTree by Hilton Shenyang is a splendid new addition to this fast growing city, which will be home next year to the 12th National Games of the People’s Republic of China. This gleaming diamond on a busy corner of the city is a contemporary haven for travelers and local residents alike, where every visitor can experience the creativity brought to these facilities by Mr. Sandy Murray, General Manager, and his well-trained staff of smiling hospitality professionals. From the website: “Enjoy a warm welcome at the DoubleTree by Hilton Shenyang in Shenhe District. The central location in Wu"ai Merchandise Wholesale Market makes it an ideal base. Admire the sail-like architecture outside and the welcoming atmosphere inside. There are 389 Guest Rooms and 25 Suites. Upgrade to an Executive Floor room for access to the Executive Lounge, tea and coffee throughout the day, complimentary wireless high-speed Internet access and express check-in/check-out service.”

　　Mr. Sandy Murray came to the hospitality business early in his life. “It was my first job. I started as a busboy at 16 while still attending school. Then when I was 18 and old enough to serve behind the bar I became a barman. In one year I was working 3 jobs as waiter, barman, and mini-bar attendant, all at the same time. From day one I knew this was the industry that I wanted to work in. My job is really an extension of my life – I love traveling and hotels, so it only makes sense to make it part of my whole life. My colleagues are also my friends.” His path to General Manager began early as well. “I joined Hilton as soon as I turned 18. It was the first 5 Star Hotel to open in my hometown Adelaide, Australia. At the time I was also completing a Degree in Hotels & Restaurant Management. It was not easy and in the beginning they insisted I start at the bottom like all people of 18, but I thought I should be higher – I am so glad I did not let my pride get in the way. After 18 months in Food & Beverage (F&B), Hilton asked me to join the Hotel Management program, which I was glad I did because it gave me a good understanding of other disciplines like Finance, Business Development, and Human Resources. From there I went back to F&B and within a few years my title was Assistant F&B Manager. A key for me was to take whatever came available no matter how it sounded. Often in hotels, the posting you think will not be exciting is quite the opposite. Realizing I needed more overseas experience I transferred to London Hilton on Park Lane. I was so confident, I was going to show everyone how it was all done, but soon realized I knew very little about things. This overseas experience was a real eye-opener about what life was like outside Adelaide. London was the epicenter of hospitality and I worked with people who had so much knowledge. I was then promoted to F&B Manager and transferred to Manchester Airport Hilton. After a couple of years of enjoying the Northern hospitality I moved back to Australia to Hilton on the Park, Melbourne. I then moved with Hilton to Seoul, South Korea as Director of Operations, then Colombo, Sri Lanka, and then to Dubai, UAE. With this foundation it was very easy to move into the General Manager’s role here in Shenyang, but in the beginning things were slow so I took a 3 month posting as General Manager in Mumbai, India.”

　　With his extensive international background, planning a new Hotel in Shenyang as General Manager must be an exciting experience. “I have been fortunate with this opening. Each opening is unique and most can be difficult, however my path was made easier through the trust afforded to me by the owner and Hilton, and the project was delayed, which allowed me the time to get things right, particularly on the recruitment front. We weren’t under the usual time pressure of having to rush so we have a lot stronger team. We worked very closely with the owner to really understand what we wanted to do with this hotel and developed a proper vision, so my experience really has been very positive. My first priority was to understand the combined visions for this hotel and then build up from there. We have set ourselves the goal to be the Number 1 MICE and meeting hotel for the Northeast by the end of 2013. I firmly believe in setting very clear goals for all my department heads. It makes it much easier for them to know how they can support the operation. We then spent a lot of time building unique points for each area so that each can stand out in its own right. Today’s customer is becoming very savvy so they want a few things that are a bit different.

　　Use of iPads from training purposes to showing all our menus

　　Using very contemporary operating equipment

　　Uniforms that make team members confident and look ‘in charge’

　　Training is critical – we have sent many team members to other cities to ensure they reflect the true DoubleTree philosophy of providing care for our guests

　　These points will definitely get us off to a good start.”[page]

　　Regarding hotel development in Shenyang Mr. Murray said, “In the time I have lived in Shenyang I hear more and more people talking with excitement about the changes in the city. Next year we have the National Games where there will be a real need for deluxe accommodation. All the business leaders I meet are talking up the expansion of business in Shenyang, so it only makes sense to increase accommodation to follow this lead. The changes of building design and facilities are very fast and in my 3 years here I have noticed that the environment is going international, with a refreshing contemporary feel that could be in any modern city of the world.”

　　Mr. Murray has established a marketing plan targeting 2 key areas. “For rooms, the great thing about being with the Hilton family is to use our powerful reservation booking system, which is now available in Chinese. Also, we have our Hilton Honors Program that offers points for stays at the Hilton Family of Hotels. The majority of our guests will book through local accounts where first we need to build relationships and ensure we live up to what we promised. With the National Games coming we are in the right place at the right time and we will use all marketing tools available to us to promote our contemporary offerings through advertising, Internet, and social media, and when the guests arrive we will take care of them. I often say, ‘a customer is not a customer until he comes back the second time.’ For F&B we are introducing a Dining Privilege Card that will allow guests to receive special offers and discounts whenever they dine with us. In addition, we have some fun and exciting activities planned – I do not want to give too much away, but let’s just say there will be a lot of color involved, with our unified color themes changing every 2 months, where we intend to link the whole hotel together from Housekeeping to Restaurants. It is sure to be a lot of fun!”

　　Mr. Murray is proud of the venues available to his guests. Elements all-day dining restaurant is internationally themed but with local focus. Yi Yuan Chinese Restaurant has Cantonese and local foods that are healthy due to the careful sourcing of ingredients. On the 7th Floor is a 1000 square meter gym including a 24-meter swimming pool, and the Eforea Spa. With 24,000 sq. ft. of flexible meeting space and banquet facilities on two levels, this hotel is the perfect venue for conducting business, with an elegant ballroom, 18 meeting rooms, meeting support services and a 24-hour business center. The Lobby Lounge is very modern and contemporary, which affords a relaxing and comfortable environment to unwind at the end of the day or after dinner. Mr. Murray and his team will create special time specific events to take advantage of the special talents available, such as the Best German Bakery. Certain things will be available only at certain times, making it fun to participate. “Be the best, build a reputation, and move on.”

　　When asked if he had any philosophical comments to add, Mr. Murray was effusive. “After living in many different countries I tend to use several sayings I believe in. 1) ‘Simplify & Amplify’. Keep things easy to understand and repeat regularly! There are so many priorities in hotels from growing the business, keeping an eye on service quality, to controlling costs that we need to break key points down to its simplest language that everyone can relate to. These are reminded daily like a mantra for all. 2) ‘We always have time to do a job twice incorrectly, but never enough time to do a job once correctly.’ Ensure good preparation! For me this is about slowing everything down and ensuring accuracy. When under tight deadlines we too often allow mistakes in our work. This is mostly related to poor briefing when people say ‘I do not have time – just do it’, so people do the best they can with poor information with a disappointing result and the need to repeat the work.Additionally, the concerned team member feels upset, as they have done a poor job. 3) ‘Hire slowly, fire quickly’. When recruiting, luckily we had enough time to really get to know candidates before taking them on board. I also believe in connections through the recommendations of colleagues and I am proud to say that we used no agencies for our entire hiring process. However, even through this approach we occasionally made mistakes so these people either need to be turned around in 90 days through mentoring, where we have been very successful, or find alternative employment. It is better for them as well as for the organization. 4) ‘90% of management decisions can be made by the average 16 year old child’. Encourage the team to speak out! The key to this is that many team members know what they should do but hesitate and make bad decisions as a result. Our role as leaders is to guide and help our teams to be confident to stand up for what needs to be said and done. Often our upbringing does not support this philosophy. I have found that young Chinese are much more aligned to this new way of management, and we at DoubleTree definitely encourage them to express their views.”