This week we head down to Luštica Bay, Montenegro, home to The Chedi Luštica Bay where the recent LUXE Global Awards Gala took place. We sat down with Jan Albers, the General Manager of this spectacular hotel to find out more about this underrated travel destination.
1.First thing we need to ask, could you tell us more about the history of The Chedi Luštica Bay?
Our mission is to inspire meaningful connections between guests, clients and partners alike. The Chedi Luštica Bay was born out of a desire to celebrate an active, healthy lifestyle: to experience the beauty that our peninsula's nature has to offer, to build community, to engage with locals and fellow travelers, to work and enjoy new adventures.
The core of the Chedi brand is the slogan "Where One Finds Peace". The word ‘Chedi’ typically refers to a place of meditation and has been associated with settings where one finds peace. In the same way, Chedi hotels are created as tranquil environments so that travelers, on their journeys, may rediscover the joys of stillness and be soothed by the calmness in a backdrop of beauty and comfort.
At Orascom Hotels Management (OHM), we have created 3 landmark hotels with this brand within the setting of our bespoke destinations. The jaw-dropping Chedi Andermatt in the beautiful Swiss Alps, the most anticipated opening of this year: The Chedi El Gouna in Egypt (which is opening these days) as well as our Chedi here in the heart of the Mediterranean. In Luštica Bay, a place to belong. At OHM we are first and foremost customer-driven, focusing on adapting to an ever-changing guest expectation by delivering new forms of value to our clients and of course, continually tapping new types of customers. That only works with a spotlight on service quality, creating loyalty to our brands but also and moreover to our destinations. With more than 30 hotels and 8.000 rooms in operation, we have overall more than 5.000 team members looking after our guest journey.
2. As the host venue for the inaugural LUXE Global Awards Gala, what do you believe sets this spectacular venue apart from the rest?
At The Chedi, we are proud to host exceptional, experiential, and unforgettable Gala Dinners and ceremonies of various kinds. Having hosted various of those events before, we were able to create a truly unique, luxury event that compliments, enhances, and showcases the location of your Gala Dinner and Award Ceremonies. We are humbled and honored for being chosen as the inaugural destination and resort and are looking forward to delivering an event, moments, and a style to remember.
3.What are your favorite aspects of The Chedi Luštica Bay?
An individualized approach is the centerpiece of our guest journey, along with being personal and authentic. To give you an example, we reach out to our guests ahead of their arrival to assist with anything they might desire, from a limousine pick-up at the airport to pre-booked personal trainer sessions, individualized excursions, dietary requirements, pre-set room temperatures, distinguished minibar offerings, planning special occasions in a romantic setting...the list goes on and is, effectively, endless.
As we strive to create meaningful connections, our goal is to create the place where this magic happens. But what is making the difference really? The team does. We have an incredible high number of colleagues who have been here since Day One, joining us before the hotel opened.
In previous years, particularly in the lower season months, we have turned our attention to developing our talent. From training to task force missions in our sister properties around the globe, we do everything we can to increase our service levels. That being said, it is a journey. Hospitality is a people´s industry. Our cornerstone is the team. Giving our talent space to be creative, to participate, to engage, and to actively participate in developing our guest experience is not only fulfilling, but also rewarding. For the guests, and also for every team member. What is more beautiful than enjoying what we/you do?
4.There has been a lot of news recently regarding “Underrated Travel Destinations”. Would you put Montenegro in that category?
The trend is that modern travelers want to immerse themselves in the local culture more than ever. That works more than anywhere in Montenegro. It is not overrun by mass tourism but underrated in the mindful and adventurous travel segment. Not long ago you’d go to the Mediterranean, enjoy the beaches and sun, and that was it – but what’s the difference between Croatia, Italy, Greece and Montenegro if you don’t have access to the local community? Now, the more local flavor you can add, the better for the traveler. Visiting a local olive farm on Lustica for example, e-biking through local villages and having a refreshing drink in places off the beaten track, spending a day in a hidden bay - almost alone in peak season - those are experiences money cannot buy. But we can help to unlock them.
Above all I also think modern travelers expect hotels and resorts to support their communities and be well connected with them. Among many of our initiatives to support our local community, we have recently established our "The Giving Bag" initiative. You can picture that as a laundry bag, the only difference is that you do not get it back - it contains valuables which you don’t personally need anymore, and we donate them to the Red Cross Montenegro, to give a new meaning to those products for people in need in our locality.
5.Could you tell us a bit more about your journey leading up to being the GM at The Chedi Luštica Bay?
Born and raised in Germany by a father from Friesland and a Croatian mother with roots from a tiny island called Olib, I was also blessed to be conquering the world in a hospitality family. Whilst many boys when growing up would like to become a policeman, firefighter, or pilot – I only wanted to work in hotels. Whilst I started my career in Germany, my first assignment abroad has also been to the Mediterranean, to the beautiful Maltese Islands. Followed by exciting roles and chapters of my life in Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and most recently Croatia, where I had led one of the finest boutique hotels of the country on the island of Korcula, I have joined the pre-opening team of our Chedi here in 2018.
Having gained experience in many different destinations, one thing remains constant and my main priority, and that is the commitment to delivering an exceptional guest experience. As a hospitality leader, I firmly believe that effective and cohesive human resources and teamwork play a key role in ensuring success and creating memories that shape experiences.
6.What do you believe is best factor to motivating staff to curate a successful guest experience?
In hospitality as much as in any other business, communication is key. From sharing our vision (see our philosophy) to setting clear goals, encouraging teamwork, giving positive feedback, empowering, recognizing to rewarding achievements. We also give our talent opportunities to develop, and all of these elements are key guiding principles in creating a successful and prospering environment which ultimately creates memorable guest experiences.
I strongly believe that successful and modern leadership today is influence, not authority. People doing good work feel good and people doing exceptional work feel exceptional. When that happens, and it happens all the time, let´s also talk about it. Sharing experiences and building an environment where mistakes are seen as an opportunity to learn are ingredients for a hotel to ensure continuous growth of every single team member. Maya Angelou, an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist once said: "I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." – it very much sums up how I try to lead the team and also communicate with guests. If we touch their hearts, team members will not want to leave and guests will want to return. In some cases, being a good leader means retaining our talented ladies and gentlemen, and then getting out of their way. The more often that happens, the prouder I am.
7.What is the most significant value of The Chedi Hotel - not from a hospitality perspective but a people’s perspective?
We ask ourselves daily what we need to add as it relates to guest experience. In some ways, we’re also asking ourselves what we need to subtract or discontinue. What has been successful yesterday is not necessarily successful today or tomorrow. Our internal tagline has become “Keeping Momentum” and the intent there is to celebrate the difference in our customers, how they use our hotel, what they expect from our resort and its facilities. Then we review, develop and train ourselves until we are confident that an implementation of a new service will be successful. That process does not happen in every hospitality business.
We make it a top priority to listen to our guests - and to act accordingly. We have also adopted the general philosophy of remembering that we are in the entertainment business and that means we can take a lot of the formality away. You can pay people great respect. You can create what we think is a luxury experience for you, but you do not have to have airs, formality, or be snobby. It does not fit with Luštica Bay. Our guests want to come here to seek enjoyment and relax, and not to be remembered for the tie they left behind at home. I think it is incredibly important to have the social IQ to know when to engage or withdraw. And to answer your question, yes definitely, Montenegro is one of the most - if not the most - underrated travel destinations on the planet.
