Traveling and Hotel

Grand Hotels Meets Glenn Wilkinson, People Talent Development Consultant

旅途中的酒店生活

——人力资源顾问Glenn Wilkinson做客《大酒店》

Interview: Cherry Li  Chinese Version: Clara  English Version: Linda  Photos: by Wendy

生活在繁忙大都市的人总想着能够逃出这般喧嚣，转身进入一片静谧，在山川与河流中感受自然的美好，即使只有短暂的一段时光，也足以令很多人流连不已。而那些活在所谓的“自然”世界中的人也许毕生的愿望就是能够走出大山，来到灯红酒绿的大城市，即使映入眼帘的只是车水马龙和熙熙攘攘的人群。哪里都是“围城”，因为到处都是人。如果一个人能够自由进出这座城，那他的生活就是许多人艳羡的对象了。

Glenn Wilkinson先生的生活为不少人所羡慕，显然，他在自然与工作之间找到了最佳的平衡点。作为人力资源发展专家，Glenn专长于培训体系的建立与拓展、管理能力、个人发展、跨文化团队管理、沟通技巧以及客户服务等方面的培训。他来自澳大利亚，但已在中国工作生活了多年，闲暇时间总是和来自无锡的太太及家人一起饱览中国的大好河山，用他自己的话说，就是“总是和家人一起处在旅行的过程中”。Glenn有多家国际酒店工作的经验，如今的他在旅行和工作中总是辗转于各地的酒店，因此对于酒店有着独特的感悟。在采访的前一天，Glenn一家刚从丽江回到上海，之前他们将足迹留在了西安和北京。于是很自然地，他向我们讲述了这段旅行中的种种关于酒店的经历。

在北京的时候，正好是中国饱受“毒奶粉”困扰的时期。在这期间，让Glenn感受最深的是星巴克第一时间对此做出了反应，在店铺中有告示牌表示自己不使用在检验中出了问题的牛奶，这让消费者感到很放心。但让人遗憾的是，不少星级酒店却没有及时应对。Glenn说：“我认为酒店的管理层或是市场营销部门，应该第一时间对此事做出反应。也许有的住店客人对于‘毒奶粉’事件并不清楚，但我觉得作为酒店，就是应该及时告诉客人事实，使他们免受不良物质的侵扰。同时应在早餐菜单或自助餐前说明一下酒店的牛奶是安全的，让客人们安心。”

西安在Glenn眼里是一个美丽的城市，他们参观了许多名胜古迹，感受到了两千多年的历史文化的积淀。他们入住的是西安天域凯莱酒店，那是一家有一定历史的酒店。Glenn认为，一家好的酒店，必须要有与之搭配的晚餐才称得上好酒店。当时酒店里正供应东南亚美食自助餐，于是他们一行人就兴致勃勃的想要去品尝。但当他们到了那里后发现只有意大利面、鸡肉、鱼之类的普通菜肴，并不是他们想要的东南亚风味，因此改去了酒店的中餐厅。Glenn说道：“在我们点好菜以后，酒店的总经理来到我们身边，向我们表示问候，而在晚餐的最后，他甚至为我们送上了甜点以弥补先前的不快，这让我们颇为感动。酒店高层能在那么短的时间内就得知我们的情况，这一点我感到十分意外。”西安的小吃非常有名，人们常常会乐于选择有特色的餐厅，即使是在酒店。Glenn说：“如果我是酒店方或是管理层，我会加大对酒店餐厅的宣传，吸引人们前来用餐。西安的酒店并不像上海的酒店那样需要那么多的行政楼层、酒吧等。每个地方的酒店都应该有其自己的地方特色，作为酒店方，应该从顾客的角度去考虑，他们想在酒店里得到怎样的体验。在西安这样的旅游城市，我们对于酒店的要求其实很简单，干净整洁的客房、到位的服务，还有可口的食物。”

从Glenn对于丽江的描述，他对于那座美丽城市的喜爱已经溢于言表了：“丽江是一个非常值得一去的地方，尽管如今那里也有浓厚的商业气息，但你完全可以对它置若罔闻，好好感受丽江的历史文化气息，尽情品尝当地的美食小吃，还有呼吸在大城市里鲜有的新鲜空气。” 丽江没有那么多国际品牌的酒店，因此他们一行下榻在丽江官房大酒店花园别墅。“整家酒店规模非常大，我甚至不知道一共有多少幢别墅，那里的空气相当清新，酒店还配有一定数量的小巴。我觉得这是一家本土的酒店模仿国际品牌酒店的成功典范”。Glenn在享受自然带来到的愉悦感受的同时，并没有停止对酒店业的思考：“中国在旅游方面还应该加大宣传力度，很多人来了上海、北京、西安、成都，但他们都只是来一次，而泰国等一些东南亚国家却是不少人一生会去好几次的度假胜地。事实上我觉得，中国的酒店是非常不错的，只是说有些细节性的地方还有待改进，与国际性的五星级酒店还是有一定的距离的。”

谈到在酒店用餐，Glenn说他很看重早餐，因为这是一天中最重要的一餐。他个人比较倾向于下榻在市中心的酒店，这样出行比较方便，并提供优质的早餐，比如上海世茂皇家艾美酒店。他说：“每当我的妻子和我想享受一顿丰盛美味的午餐或晚餐时，我们都会选择世茂皇家艾美，在我们去过一次之后，就被那里深深吸引了。不仅推广活动做得非常到位，就餐氛围也十分随性。”选择酒店的时候，他们都认为舒适是最重要的。他坦言他十分欣赏上海明天广场JW万豪酒店和浦东的新梅公寓，这两家酒店都非常出色，拥有绝佳的地理位置。“从我个人角度来讲，我更喜欢新梅公寓，走进酒店可以感觉到那种气派，非常有气势。透过落地窗，可以看到浦东的美景。如果我是需要长期住在上海的话，毫无疑问我会选择她，会向别人推荐她。”对于作短暂的商务旅行的人士而言，Glenn以北京和上海为例，分别推荐了北京JW万豪酒店和上海希尔顿酒店。他说：“北京的JW万豪酒店，给我留下了很深的印象，不论是客房的大小还是盥洗室的大小都非常合我心意。至于上海希尔顿酒店，我曾在那里工作过三年，酒店处在繁华的静安商业中心，去机场的话也相当便捷。对商务旅行者而言，酒店的地理位置非常重要，并不一定要在市中心，但必须要离工作的地方比较近，这样才不至于浪费时间。”

由于工作的关系，Glenn客户大部分是大型知名企业，在为他们的员工作培训的时候，无论是在北京、上海或是深圳，他们不一定只选择五星级酒店，有时也会选择较高品质的四星级的酒店。因此，与其他高段对话客人通常指下榻在五星级酒店不同，Glenn十分了解上海的各类酒店情况。“有的酒店并不是全上海数一数二的酒店，但他们拥有得天独厚的地理位置、公道的价格、优质的服务，同样受到不少人的追捧。”他俨然已经成了上海的酒店通。

Glenn一家人总是处在旅途中，没有也不会停下他们的脚步，因为旅行不仅荡涤了他们的心灵，也为Glenn的工作带去了不少的灵感，两者配合得天衣无缝。酒店为他的旅途提供一个遮风挡云的港湾，他也无时无刻都在关注着酒店的发展。在他的生活里，总有这样那样的乐趣点缀着，相映成趣。

Glenn最喜欢的酒店：北京JW万豪酒店和上海希尔顿，上海世茂皇家艾美酒店、上海明天广场JW万豪酒店和浦东新梅公寓

Glenn选择酒店的标准：早餐，舒适程度，离办公地点的距离

While city dwellers are eager to escape the urban hustle and bustle and retreat to the embrace of Mother Nature, to spend time with mountains and rivers (even for a brief time), country folks wish that for once they could leave their remote villages lying in the shadow of mountains for over-populated cities, walled societies where people rubbing shoulders with each other. Streams of vehicles, flashy neon lights and vibrant nightlife broaden their horizons. Naturally, he who can move in or out of the walled societies at his own will may be envied by many.

Glenn Wilkinson is evidently leading a covetable life, having reached the balance point between work and leisure. As a professional People Development Consultant, Glenn specializes in training systems, leadership/management training, cross-cultural awareness and communication skills, among other things. The Australian has lived in China for years, during which period he and his wife, a native of Wuxi, and other family members have toured around the country for stunning natural views. “I’m always traveling, with my family.” Owing to his cooperation with several international branded hotels and numerous hospitality experiences, Glenn has a very personal understanding of the hotel industry. As he and his family had just returned from Lijiang (in Yunnan) the day before our interview, it was just natural that he related the various hospitality experiences during the trip, which also included Beijing and Xi’an.

Glenn’s stay in Beijing coincided with the “tainted milk” scandal, and he was deeply impressed by Starbucks who announced in the first minute on the in-shop signboards its abandoning of questionable milk powder. While the cafe chain giant’s quick response helped to restore consumer confidence, some hotels were regrettably sluggish in reaction. Glenn said, “I think it is the duty of hotel management or the marketing department to respond to it, as quickly as possible, and to help guests ignorant of the incident understand the real situations so that their intake of the industrial chemical in question can be avoided. The hotel can add a line to its breakfast menu stating the milk on offer is safe and reliable, or simply tell diners so in advance.”

Xi’an, in his eyes, is a beautiful city strewn with relics and interesting sites epitomizing China’s long history and rich culture; the many places he and his family had visited impressed them deeply. As to hotels, Glenn stated that a hotel unable to offer a decent meal of some authenticity is not a good one. When he and his family were staying at Gloria Plaza Hotel, a relatively older property in Xi’an, they were excited by the news of a Southeast Asian buffet, but only to be deeply disappointed later on because it turned out to be a dull collection of Italian pastry, chicken and fish, not the kind of Southeast Asian delicacy they’d expected. They simply made a beeline for the hotel’s Chinese restaurant.

“After we had placed our orders, the general manager of the hotel approached us to pay compliments, and to make up for our disappointment with the buffet, he even sent us a complimentary dessert at the end of the dinner. This is sweet. I never expected the senior management to learn about us so quickly,” said Glenn.

“Xi’an is famous for its local snacks, and restaurants offering these specialty foods are preferred by diners. The same is true with hotel restaurants. If I were a member of the hotel management, I would invest more to promote our restaurants so that customers would come to us. Luxury hotels in Shanghai normally have Executive Floors and bars, but it’s a different story in a tourist destination like Xi’an, where we tourists want nothing more than a clean and orderly room, attentive service and tasty food. Hotels are expected to reflect the features of the location city. Only when the hotel management put themselves in guest’s shoes can they truly understand what kind of an experience guests look forward to.”

Glenn was apparently overflowing with admiration in his depiction of Lijiang: “Lijiang is definitely worth visiting. Yes, it is now a bit over-commercialized, but you can just ignore it, and focus more on the city’s cultural and historic side. Try the local delicacies, and inhale deep the fresh air. Big cities don’t have such fresh air.” As there aren’t many international hotels available in the tiny tourist city, they eventually chose Lijiang Guanfang Hotel’s garden villas. “The hotel is very big; I can’t tell how many villas are out there. The air is clean and refreshing. The hotel even has its own fleet of mini-buses. I think it shows how successful a Chinese hotel can be after it has adopted the business model of international branded hotels.”

Glenn never stopped contemplating on the hospitality industry, not even when he was in nature’s embrace. He added, “China should try to make its rich tourism resources more widely known to the rest of the world. Many foreigners have visited cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Xi’an and Chengdu, but they never returned, while others would visit Southeastern countries like Thailand more than once, even several times. I think Chinese hotels are good on the whole, but some specific aspects should be improved if they want to rival 5-star international branded hotels.”

The topic shifted to dining at hotels when Glenn said he esteemed breakfast as the most important of the three meals in a day. That is why he is more inclined to stay at a downtown hotel, which not only is easily accessible, but also offers very fine breakfast. He then took Le Royal Méridien Shanghai as an example, saying, “Every time my wife and I want a luxurious lunch/supper, we go to Le Royal Méridien Shanghai. We’ve been there once, and can never part with it afterwards. Both of us love the promotions and its easy, laid-back atmosphere.”

His choice of hotels depends largely on comfortableness, which is best represented by JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai at Tomorrow Square and Marriott Executive Apartments at Union Square Pudong, both of which boast unrivaled locations. “Personally I prefer the Marriott Executive Apartments, the pure majesty of which is very impressive. The ceiling-to-floor French windows open to Pudong’s spectacular views. I’d recommend it to anyone planning to stay a long time in Shanghai.” JW Marriott Hotel Beijing and Hilton Shanghai were also mentioned as two exemplary hotels in Beijing and Shanghai commendable for business travelers who won’t travel for long.

“I am very much impressed by JW Marriott Hotel Beijing; the room size and bathroom are just to my taste. As to Hilton Shanghai with which I had worked for six years, I’d say it’s perfect. Its central location in Jing’an district makes it easy to reach from the airport. To business travelers the location of a hotel is of vital importance; it is not necessarily in the heart of a city, but should be close to the office so that time spent on inner-city traveling can be saved.”

Unlike other interviewees who are more used to 5-star luxury hotels, Glenn has thorough knowledge of various hotels in Shanghai, since his clients, the majority of which are big multinational companies in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, would sometimes put him in very fine hotels of lower ratings. “These hotels are definitely not among the best in town, but their unmatched location, wallet-friendly rates and quality service have won many admirers,” said the expert on Shanghai’s hotels.

Glenn and his family are always traveling; they would not and cannot stop. Traveling has not only purified their minds, but also provided inspirations to Glenn’s career planning. He keeps his eyes on the development of hotels, which offer a temporary home to travelers like him. The life of Glenn Wilkinson is fun, of this sort or that.

Glenn Wilkinson:

Favorite hotels: JW Marriott Hotel Beijing, Hilton Shanghai, Le Royal Méridien Shanghai, JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai at Tomorrow Square, Marriott Executive Apartments at Union Square Pudong.

Criteria for selecting hotels: Breakfast, Comfort, Proximity to office.