Arun Raju, Vice President & Head of Projects, InterGlobe Hotels feels that we need to look at adaptability and interchangeability in every aspect of design. He was part of the panel discussion on 'Design for Every Style & Need’.

The hospitality industry has seen close to the worst downtime during the recent pandemic. As traveling got totally paused; some hotels were turned into quarantine centers, some of them were functioning with some percentage of operations and some got permanently shut.

Arun Raju explained that in the last 2-3 months their sites have come back to over 95 per cent operations and work is going on full steam. Raju further shared about the ongoing projects and said, "We have got six hotels under construction out of which three are in Mumbai, two in Bangalore and one in Goa."

'Design for Every Style & Need’ was the topic under debate for the second panel discussion on the fourth day in the weBBlast series by BW HOTELIER and Hansgrohe on ‘Design – Innovation to Conservation’. 

Mentioning about the expansion in the hotels right after being badly impacted itself is a proof of reestablishment. "We stay committed to our expansion plans and already have invested 2,000 crores into our portfolio", Raju asserted. Adding more to the same he mentioned that their development team has come 'back in action' and they are looking at a promising deal at Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi.

Discussing creating new space, a cafeteria for employees, redefining the outlook of co-working spaces, creating a new sitting style in the lobby; Raju emphasized and said, "The focus is there on design. We are looking at adaptability and interchangeability in every aspect." While putting his thoughts on the table of giving a comfortable, needful, and innovative experience to their employees of the hotel as well; Raju stated that "Happy employees will get the happy guests."

On the challenges in the material supply for the new design and about the learning curve in terms of designing that pandemic has reinforced; Raju opened up and candidly shard, "This was a big disruption. We have to think in a new way. We have to start to look for new options and new sources for the material supply"

We all would agree that adversities are the mother of invention and innovation. Despite the huge pandemic, the hospitality industry is on the way to bounce back gradually to thrive for the success of the new normal with new conventions. Raju shared good news that they are already hitting at 40 -42 per cent occupancies’, they believe 'to be back soon' and their expansion plans are in place to take care of that.

Presenting his closing remarks he shared his belief that, "We stay committed to the expansion plans; we believe that it is a market that got a little pause in between and it will surely bounce back in a few more months."