EVENTS AT THE MOUNT -Part 13

CONFESSIONS OF A GLOBAL GYPSY

By Dr. Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena DPhil

President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada

Founder & Administrator – Global Hospitality Forum

chandij@sympatico.ca

Christmas at the Mount

Working as a Trainee Waiter at the Mount Lavinia Hotel (MLH) during the 1972 festive season was the first time I worked on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve. Since then, I worked during festive seasons for 25 years until I joined academia. If hospitality is chosen as a profession, it is important to enjoy working on most public holidays and weekends. In this profession, when the guests relax and celebrate, the industry professionals work hard to make them happy. Unless one loves looking after guests and making them happy (which is the essence of the business of hospitality), this work will not suit those who consider it just a job.

At that time, as Sri Lanka attracted most of her tourists from the Western European countries, Christmas was very important to most of these hotel guests. They had decided to celebrate probably the most important family event of the year, as guests of MLH. It was our responsibility to contribute to making those guests happy. That was my attitude. I was happy that it was a key focus of the MLH to create that special Christmas ambience in 1972. That included a large Christmas tree, festive decorations, Christmas carols, special music, Christmas table arrangements and lots of good festive food. My first Christmas at a hotel was certainly memorable. During the festive season, the hotel enjoyed 100% occupancy and hundreds of local customers came for special meals. We took part in everything and many events, including the Boxing Day special parties. It was fun!

New Year at the Mount

The New Year’s Eve dinner dances were held in three different venues within MLH. We were assigned to work at the key event which was held in the main ballroom with three bands, headed by Gabo and the Breakaways and two young bands, including the all-girl Planets. I knew Gabo Peiris, and was a fan of this charismatic drummer and band leader. As a Chief Steward working for the national carrier, Air Ceylon, he was also in the Hospitality Industry. Before forming his own band, the talented drummer Gabo made his name popular in the music scene with many other top bands in Sri Lanka, such as the Jetliners, Spitfires, and Sam the Man. Gabo was the main organizer of the event. In later years, he established one of the largest travel agencies in the country, Gabo Travels. I also knew all the girls on The Planets.

I was planning to enjoy the non-stop live music, but just before midnight I was told to move to another function. That was to serve at a private party hosted by the American General Manager in his apartment. I did not like it, as I hoped to make lots of tip money by serving paying customers in the ballroom. I had no choice but to report to the General Manager’s apartment. He lived in luxury in a large apartment directly overlooking the Indian Ocean. That evening, I decided that one day I must to be the General Manager of a good resort hotel with all these luxuries totally free of charge.

In the early hours on January 1, 1973, at the end of the private party, the General Manager passed around a hat among his invitees. He requested tips for the waiters from his rich friends. As they were very generous, I made much more tip money than my colleagues who worked in the ballroom.

Beach Parties

One day, we were asked to work at a special beach party. A new band with a 20-year old band leader (mentored by his successful businessman father) performed at the event. I was thrilled with the energy of their performance and the role played by the master of ceremonies of the event, Vijaya Corea, who had a fine voice. For nearly 50 years, I am always entertained when I watch or listen to the Gypsies, led by my friend, Sunil Perera.

I quickly realized that informal events such as beach parties can create refreshingly casual ambience for the customers as well as the employees. Most of the time hotels operate in a formal setting, but occasional casual events providing variety can be very popular. That concept had an impact on my decisions on the event calendars throughout my career as a hotelier. Event creation, planning, organizing, choreography and creativity in promotion, all are exciting and enjoyable part of the hospitality business. Creating the right ambience is essential.

Years later, soon after I took over the management of MLH in 1990, my senior management team told me that on my second day at the hotel, there will be the monthly beach party. I was very happy, but disappointed to see how the management team handled the party. The entire team was in full suit supervising employees on the beach. At the next morning meeting, I gave my first order to the team. I wanted all managers including myself, to dress in tee shirts and sarongs, for all future monthly beach parties. In addition, I wanted all to be barefoot and to participate in fun competitions such as beach tug-o-war, pillow fights, games etc. to make this monthly event more entertaining. The employees were highly motivated that managers were leading by example and participating in fun activities. Within a couple of months, we doubled the popularity of and the profits from MLH beach parties.

Weddings and Bridesmaids

The socialist government led by the Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike in the early 1970s had a closed economic policy. They reduced most imports, including Hollywood movies (a decision I hated, as I was a movie buff, who watched 150 movies a year!). They also placed restrictions on consumption of rice, and limited events such as catered weddings to just 150 guests. That meant smaller weddings that needed fewer part-time banquet waiters. Our team of five Ceylon Hotel School (CHS) students were assigned to serve all 150 persons attending each of these weddings. Most of the weddings those days were late afternoon events with easy to serve finger food.

There were no tips, but we liked weddings as we were able to flirt with the bridesmaids who usually gave us homemade wedding cakes. In return, we passed thank you notes with our contact numbers to blushing and giggling bridesmaids. As most of my colleagues were shy, I volunteered for selfish reasons to organize this mischievous practice on the behalf of all five CHS trainee waiters. I gave my own contact to the prettiest bridesmaids and distributed my batchmates’ contacts to the others.

Exit Interview

Mr. Robert McFadden, General Manager of MLH, made a good last impression when he personally conducted a group exit interview with five of us on our last day at MLH in 1973. He asked for our views and suggestions to improve service and reduce theft. I was very vocal about the shortage of silverware, which affected the speed and quality of service to the guests. At that point, the General Manager opened a cabinet in his office and showed us a small stock of expensive cut glass and silverware. He told us that these are the few remaining items from large stocks imported when Hyatt took over the management of MLH. He was disappointed that the rest had been stolen. Branded or unbranded, hotels must have good control systems to minimize theft. I did not comment further, but though the losses had to be mainly due to faulty management.

We were grateful for the opportunity of an exit interview and felt important that the General Manager sought our ideas. Since then, I have been a big fan of exit interviews. It is as an excellent way to collect useful information, and better understand the root cause of grievances.

Later at the Mount

When I returned to MLH as the General Manager in 1990, I was happy to host many VIPs such as heads of state/government and local and international celebrities as hotel guests and customers. Never a dull moment at the Mount.

In 1992, MLH established a Sri Lankan record (still unbroken) by organizing six New Year’s Eve dances, attracting over 3,000 guests. The main dance was held on the Terrace and the pool deck. Gypsies was the lead band I selected. Other five dances were held in the Empire Ballroom, the Regency Ballroom, the Little Hut Night Club, the Rooftop and the Paradise Beach. The largest event was the beach party, targeting a very young market segment. I contracted Sunil Perera to do a guest spot at each of five secondary dances, and be the main attraction on the Terrace.

I have many more fun stories about my time as the General Manager of MLH and the Founding Managing Director of the International Hotel School (IHS) at MLH. I plan to narrate these in chronological order in this column in the future.

After my three-year contract, I left Sri Lanka for good to focus on my international career. Since I left MLH in December 1993, I have stayed there many times as a guest, doing consulting assignments, leadership development sessions and the International Hotel School re-structuring projects. I chose MLH as the venue for two of my most important life events – the homecoming/wedding reception for my wife and I, and my 50th birthday party. On those two occasions, I never looked at the menu. I simply told my former team member, Executive Chef, Publis, “You decide on the menu, Chef. Anything good for you is good me.” On both occasions, just as I expected, Chef Publis exceeded my expectations. When it comes to memorable and magical events, there is no better venue than MLH. It has been my home away from home during the last 31 years.

Waves of the Indian Ocean continue to pound those 20 famous natural boulders behind MLH. In spite of the current downturn of business owing to the global pandemic, MLH will bounce back as it has always done for over 155 years as the most iconic hotel in Sri Lanka. Twenty Boulders (or ‘Gal Wissa’ in Sinhala from which the local name of the city, ‘Galkissa’, derives) will continue to protect MLH for centuries ahead.