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Work is Delightful! Luc Bollen, General Manager of Hilton Hefei
(2007-11-06 15:24:04)http://www.grandhotels.com.cn/eWebEditor_V280_Free_sp1/UploadFile/200711615223681.jpgis
Work is Delightful!
Luc Bollen, General Manager of
Hilton Hefei
享受工作的乐趣
——记合肥元一希尔顿酒店总经理陆博伦先生
Interview: Cherry
Li Chinese Version: Clara
English Version: Laura
Photos: Looki
Venue: Hilton Shanghai
Set in the heart of the new
Railway Business Development Area, Hilton Hefei is only a 3-minute
drive from the New Railway Station, and twenty minutes from Hefei
Luo Gang Airport by car. The 26-floor luxury
hotel is designed by the P&T Group who successfully blends
traditional Chinese cultural factors and contemporary western
designs. The spacious lobby is as high as four
floors; it is a magnificent structure of oblong tempered glass
walls and marble flooring, and crystal chandeliers cascading down
to add to the radiance. The color scheme is
bright and eye-catching.
A handful of tourist and
leisure venues are available for business travelers to relax and
pass some spare hours. The neighboring Yuan Yi
Times Square provides a tranquil retreat. There
is a golf court nearby which is an extension of hotel amenities.
Historic attractions, such as the Lord Bao
Memorial Hall (built in honor of Lord Bao Zheng, famed for being an
honest and upright high-ranking official of China’s Northern Song
Dynasty: 960-1127AD), former residence of Li Hongzhang (Li: a
leading statesman of the late Qing Empire) and Sanhe Old Town, are
easily accessible, given that the Hilton Hefei hotel is not far
from two bus terminals.
It’s been more than a year
since Luc Bollen was appointed general manager of Hilton Hefei.
That was before the opening of the 561-room
deluxe hotel, and Mr. Bollen was delighted with the appointment.
It is a kind of confirm, said Bollen, an
experienced hotelier who has been with Hilton Hotels Corporation
for some 15 years. Previous appointments have
brought him to hotels in Europe, Africa and the Gulf
Region.
“There are lots of challenges
waiting for you, everyday, at any moment, so you have to be
ready. If you take working as a lifestyle,
you’ll feel very differently. You’re not only
part of the hotel, but also part of your guests who are seeking a
homey atmosphere at the hotel. You can’t
possibly make them feel at home in a place which is not their real
home unless you know what they really want. As
far as I am concerned, serving guests is not just work, but a
lifestyle of which I will never be tired. It is
part of my life; it makes my life fuller and
richer. It delights me enormously to be able to
learn people’s real demands and what challenges are in store for
me, and to feel the difference of each country.”
Such are Luc Bollen’s comments on what he has been doing, from
which we are keenly aware of his love and
devotion. Work has indeed become part of his
everyday life.
Mr. Bollen has participated in
accommodating many a dignitaries, including Prince Charles of
Britain who impressed him immensely. The Belgium
national is fluent in English, French, Dutch and German, a bon
vivant who takes great delight in traveling. In
the topic of vacation and holiday, Mr. Bollen told the writer, “I
normally spend part of my vacation staying at home, and the rest in
touring around China. It is very challenging,
since China offers so many places that are worth a
visit.”
We’re not exaggerating by
saying that Hefei, Capital of Anhui province is in rapid
development, and the changes are almost
overnight. Mr. Bollen has a high esteem of the
city where he’s working, “In fact, it is changing
everyday. Hefei is a city on the rise, and the
soaring economy brings numerous opportunities. It
has attracted a growing number of investors over the past years,
many of whom are very famous in the trade.”
The growing city offers a
fertile soil for hotel operation. “We’re very
proud of being one of the best hotels here in
Hefei. Hilton Hefei has formed a close
collaborative relationship with the city government since last
May. The government hoped we, as a five-star
hotel, could represent the city of Hefei, in a sense, and we have
invested heavily to accomplish it. I am glad to
see the opening of the freeway between Hefei and Mt. Huangshan,
which allows us to work extensively with the well-known mountain
attraction,” said Bollen, his face glowing with the pride of being
the commander of the top luxury hotel in Hefei.
His most recent position before
the promotion was the Director of Operations of Hilton
Shanghai. “I didn’t feel any difference until
shortly after, and then I knew I was completely
wrong. When I was eventually informed of the
appointment, all I could feel was, oh, it sounds great! At the same
time I was fully conscious that I would be saddled with heavier
responsibilities. It was so stimulating that I
accepted the appointment without hesitation.”
Like many other successful GMs,
Mr. Bollen has a very capable team with whom he works quite
well. “Many of my executives are from other
parts of China, like Wuhan and Xi’an. It is a
young and versatile team, I’d say, and everyone enjoys
working. To open a new hotel means we have to
start from scratch, which posed a huge challenge to every one of
us. However, the process was filled with
surprises and the happiness of being able to find a right location
for yourself. It gives you a sense of
accomplishment when you find the hotel seems to have climbed one
step higher at the end of the day, or the guests find it a great
place, as comfortable as their own home.” Work
fills him not only with a sense of accomplishment, but with fun and
enjoyment as well.
Feel at home is not the only
requirement of hotel guests; they also expect the hotel to feed
them with fine food. It is a trend nowadays for
people to dine at a hotel restaurant, and Hilton Hefei offers a
range of fine restaurants to treat them, only one quarter of whom
are in-hotel guests. The remainder, 75%, comes
from outside the hotel. Diners can choose Happy
Panda, Hilton Hefei’s newly opened theme restaurant; even the name
sounds pleasurable, not to mention the arrays of sushi, Korean
barbecue and traditionally made pizza. Or pamper
themselves with delicacies on offer at three other popular Hilton
Hefei eateries, Sens, Phoenix and Indigo, and pass the after-dinner
hours at SOHO Entertainment Complex, where they can have a taste of
the hottest entertainment scenes in town.
Till now, a total of five
branded international hotels has launched Hefei, of which Hilton
Hefei is the best. However, more hotels are
coming in, which adds fuel to the market
competitions. Luc Bollen has no intention to
evade the increasing challenge. He has firm
confidence toward the prospect of the hotel, and a clear
positioning and planning, too, just like many of his counterparts
do.
“Generally speaking, Hilton
Hefei is a business hotel, and we strive to make it the first pick
for business travelers, tourists and conference
participants. We hope the
Hefei-Tongling-Huangshan Freeway could strengthen our link with the
Huangshan Mountain tourist attraction. The
expanding freeway network makes it a lot easier to travel to Hefei;
from Nanjing to here only takes 40 minutes, from Shanghai two hours
and a half. Hilton is a global brand, and all our
employees should speak fluent English. The hotel
has invited native English-speaking teachers to give them training,
helping them to improve their language proficiency so that they can
deliver better service to guests.”
Luc Bollen has an eloquent and
humorous character. He, on many occasions,
doesn’t look like a general manager who is supposed to be
inapproachable and giving orders all the time.
Conversely, he has frequent contacts with guests and staff, through
which he is able to feel for how they really have
felt. To him, it is a big loss if a hotel general
manager doesn’t communicate with the guests. “I
hope that every guest would say ‘I feel great living here; it is
just like living at home’, that they would acknowledge our efforts
and come back when they visit Hefei next time. I
dream of offering them a home away from home, where they feel
comfortable with our attentive service and tasty food.
” Now that the general manager is working hard
in the right direction, it is not difficult for his dream to come
true.
出生于比利时的陆博伦先生还精通多种语言，如英语、法语、荷兰语及德语。在希尔顿酒店任职期间，陆博伦先生参与并接待过许多国际著名人物，如接待查尔斯王子时与他的谈话给他留下了很深刻的印象。他喜欢美食并热爱品酒，也热衷于旅游。在谈到他的假期的时候，他告诉笔者，“当我在享受假期的时候，我常常会回家一段时间，而剩余的时间我则会在中国旅游，这是个很大的挑战，因为中国有很多地方值得你驻足观赏。”
如今的合肥正在飞速发展着，可以毫不夸张地说，这个城市正经历着日新月异的变化。对于自己工作的城市，陆博伦先生给了它高度的评价：“事实上它真的是每天都在发生变化。合肥是一个正处于上升阶段的城市，随着商业的发展，这里到处是机遇，越来越多的投资商看中这里，在过去一年多的时间里，这里出现了很多知名企业的身影。”城市的发展为酒店的经营营造了一个良好的环境，很适合酒店的发展。“作为当地最好的酒店，我们感到非常自豪，我们与政府紧密合作，他们希望我们能成为真正能代表合肥的五星级酒店，因此我们做了很多的投资。自去年五月以来，我们已然成为了非常好的合作伙伴。而如今，随着从合肥到黄山的高速公路的通车，这为我们带来了许多可以与旅游胜地合作的商机。”谈到此，陆博伦先生满脸洋溢着作为合肥顶级酒店总经理的自豪感。
在就任合肥元一希尔顿酒店总经理之前，陆博伦先生在上海希尔顿酒店担任营运总监一职。他说道，“在一开始我并没有感觉到这两个职位有什么不同，但很快我就意识到我错了。当我得知公司的最终决定时，我感到这听起来棒极了，但这同时也意味着我肩上的责任越来越重了，但这又的确是令人兴奋的事，于是我没有一秒钟迟疑就接受了任命。”和许多成功的总经理一样，陆博伦先生有一个很好的团队，他们合作得非常默契，“在我的管理团队里，许多高层领导来自中国不同的地方，如武汉、西安。可以说，这是一个年轻的、多元化的团队，对于工作，每个人都乐在其中。酒店的新开业意味着一切从零开始，这对我们所有人而言虽然是一个很大的挑战，但在这个过程中，同时又充满着惊喜，因为从中你可以找到属于你自己的准确定位。在一天结束的时候，你发现酒店似乎又更上一层楼了，你的客人也体会到了家的感觉，他们认为这里是一个不错的地方，这些都给了你巨大的成就感。”工作在给了陆博伦先生成就感的同时，更赋予了他生活的乐趣。
每一位来到酒店客人，在注重家的感受的同时，对于酒店的食物的要求也颇高。而如今的人们开始热衷于到酒店来享受晚餐，元一希尔顿拥有多间高级餐厅，餐厅25%的客人是住店客人，而剩下的那75%的客人就是这个城市中的其他人群了。酒店内有一个一听名字就会感到非常愉快的餐厅，叫做“乐乐熊猫”，这是一间全新概念的餐厅，刚营业不久，有韩式烧烤、日本料理，也有意大利的美食，是一间“国际型”的餐厅。酒店三个各具创意及最新潮的现代豪华餐厅，令客人无须离店即可尽享人间美食。以及SOHO吧——合肥最热门的娱乐之所，带给宾客最奢华的激情体验。
如今合肥有五家国际品牌酒店，尽管现在合肥元一希尔顿酒店是当地最好的酒店，但随着竞争酒店的日益增多，酒店面临的挑战也日益加剧。对此陆博伦先生并不回避，而是对酒店的未来充满了信心。和众多酒店总经理一样，陆博伦先生对于合肥元一希尔顿的未来有一个非常明确的定位和规划，“总的来说，我们酒店是一家商务型的酒店，同时，我们也致力于成为商务、旅行及会议的首选下榻酒店。现在，有了“合铜黄”高速公路，我们也特别希望能和黄山旅游资源加强密切联系。随着高速公路的不断扩建，以后到合肥来会变得相当方便，南京至合肥只要40分钟，上海也仅需2.5小时。为了符合希尔顿这一国际品牌的形象，酒店内的员工都会讲一口流利的英文。另外，酒店还特地聘请了外籍英文教师，他们会对每个不同岗位的职员进行培训，使他们能够更好地为客人提供服务。”
陆博伦先生非常风趣健谈，很多时候他并不像一名高高在上的总经理，总是指挥着别人，相反的，他常常会走到客人中间、走到员工中间，真正体会他们的感受，他认为作为总经理，如果不与客人接触的话将会是他的损失。“我的期望就是每个来到酒店的客人都说‘在这里我住得很好，感觉像在自己的家里一样’。人们都能肯定我，他们在下次来到合肥的时候仍然下榻在我们酒店。我希望我的酒店能像客人们的家一样，让他们享受到舒适的服务、尝到可口的食物。”陆博伦先生的期望并不难实现，因为他现在正在为实现这一切不断地努力着。
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