FROM THE WESTIN GURGAON ,NEW DELHI

WESTIN EXPERIENCE SPECIALIST

Name: Himanshu Kapoor

Designation: Westin Experience Specialist

Working at: The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi

New Delhi born Himanshu Kapoor

(25) never had a ghost of a dream that God will be so merciful to him....the new year gift has been incredibly resplendent... On Jan 02, 2014 the breaking news has been splashed. He has been selected as "Westin Experience Specialist". Indeed, a rare honour...now, he is one the 17 Westin Experience Specialists all over the world; importantly, the only one person of its kind in India, also in Asia. Remember: there are 192 Westin hotels in the world; eight more will be opened shortly, before the fall of 2014.

Westin Experience Specialist (hereafter WES)is the brainchild of Brain Povinelli, the Global Brand Manager, based in USA. Come March 2015, Westin Brand Specialist will be a Brand Standard. The Camera crew along with the spin doctors from the corporate office in USA had been at the Westin Gurgaon New Delhi for the video shoot on the introductory video to be released shortly all over the world. This happened last month in Gurgaon.

The obvious choice for the pilot project for WES has been the Westin Gurgaon New Delhi, as this hotel happens to be the flagship hotel of the Westin hotels in India.

The first announcement on WES was made in a Town Hall in 2013,  it was in October...then in December interviews happened on this open position..on Jan 08, this year, the WES  program has been kicked off... More guidelines started flowing from The Global Brand Team...every month Webinars were orchestrated... Brainstorming sessions   happened in Gurgaon; Corrective actions were taken; technology has been upskilled things were retooled; data collected has been compiled, analyzed for further improvement.

Sharon Courtney (Global Brand Team-Westin and Le Meridien) and Luke Barton(Global Brand Team-Westin and Le Meridien) constantly were in touch with Gurgaon; while, Anoop Pandey(Front Office Manager) and Jerome Lienart(the Hotel Manager), both at Westin Gurgaon New Delhi were co-ordinating the loose ends flawlessly.

"Revealing more dope on WES, Himanshu Kapoor disclosed: “We will write to the guests well in advance before he reaches the hotel to gain knowledge on the Trip persona. Execute the guest's likes and preferences; make the service more personalised; service delivery orientation is very guest centric".

Himanshu's role is to sell experience; act as a link between the departments; function as a catalyst, in other words be the one point contact not only for the guests, but for the internal guests also in terms of teamwork and synergy.

"Since this WES program has been given the green signal, we have increased the face to face interaction with the guests exponentially; From Jan 2014, we have started getting very good reviews in Tripadvisor. Last year, we were ranked eleventh in Gurgaon. This has changed, today we are one of the first four as per tripadvisor rankings" says Himanshu.

Delivering an unforgettable experience to the guests is the point. For that, they have been thinking out of the box; going out of the way to dazzle and delight the guests.

Kapoor passed out from the International Institute of Hotel Management, New Delhi. Living with his mother and younger brother in Delhi. Workout happens to be his favorite hobby. "The day I am not going to the gym means that, that particular day looks very incomplete" says Himanshu Kapoor.

Good luck and Godspeed to WES program!! 

Text and pics: R Kesava Mallia in Gurgaon