General manager Deepiesh Kumar Sethi says his team are making more of an effort to market different segments of the hotel to consumers. He told Boutique Hotelier: “We are doing more marketing on the pool and spa offering at the hotel. London hotels with pools are rare and the location of the hotel away from the hustle and bustle of London is a major plus.”
Sethi said the hotel has opened a new Mediterranean restaurant called ESTIVA, as a result of Millennium increasing investments in the restaurant arm of the business.
The hotel is tapping into growing demand for F&B experiences, offering live music on Friday and Saturday nights and bottomless brunch on Sundays.
Sethi explained: “Attracting guests to the hotel outside of overnight stays means the hotel is buzzy with regular visitors who live in the local area and is a Chelsea hotspot to hang out in. [The popular reality TV show] Made in Chelsea even filmed a segment here which aired in November.”
Over the course of 2023, Chelsea Harbour Hotel has leaned in to increasing visibility of the hotel via PR and marketing. Sethi says the hotel was “proud” to appear in HELLO!, GQ and Conde Nast Traveller, while Esquire magazine featured the hotel in an article on “The Ultimate Guide to Luxury London Hotels With Pools.”
Sethi says recruitment at the hotel is mainly smooth except for a “trickle of hard to fill roles.”
The Chelsea Harbour Hotel has long term partnerships with local universities and prestigious Hotel Management schools to recruit at grassroots level. This approach is part of its Youth Attraction strategy into hospitality, which the hotel is “invested in significantly.”
Sethi says the hotel’s focus is on “ensuring an unrelenting quality talent pipeline to fill positions as and when they arise.”
He also said there is “perpetual investment in Leadership development wherein all managers are encouraged to act like Leaders and run their respective departments with utmost empathy and usage of soft skills.”
Sethi concludes: “In essence our hotel culture is to upskill Leadership so that they are effective leaders with the right set of soft skills and consequently the vision of a caring, nurturing and fun work environment is materialised.”
The Chelsea Harbour Hotel was the host venue for the 2023 Boutique Hotelier Awards.
