《大酒店》九月封面故事： 新机遇，新里程 —专访凯悦集团区域副总裁及上海金茂君悦大酒店总经理夏浩强

A New Milestone with New Opportunities

-An Exclusive Interview with Mr. Anthony Ha, Area Vice President and

General Manager of Grand Hyatt Shanghai

新机遇，新里程

—专访凯悦集团区域副总裁及上海金茂君悦大酒店总经理夏浩强先生

From what used to be a small and desolate fishing village over 30 years ago, Pudong district has grown into an international cosmopolitan city and landmark in China’s reform and opening up progress. Over the past three decades, the time has brought a great change to this place with new development happening each passing day. The year 2021 marks a new opportunity for Pudong New Area as in the new national development guidelines, it will be built into a pioneer area for socialist modernization. Pudong is positioned as a pioneer of reform and opening-up at a higher level, a benchmark for innovation and technology development, a functional platform of global resource allocation, a paradigm of expanding domestic demand, and a model of modern urban governance. Situated in the Jinmao Tower, a landmark skyscraper in Pudong, Grand Hyatt Shanghai has witnessed the growth of the area in the past 22 years. As Pudong embraces its new opportunities, it also marks a critical new milestone for the hotel.

Grand Hyatt Shanghai occupies level 53 to 87 of the 88-story Jinmao Tower with a total of 548 luxurious rooms. Mr. Anthony Ha, General Manager of Grand Hyatt Shanghai and Area Vice President at Hyatt Corporation, has over 30 years of hotel management experience in many high-profile international hotel chains. He believes the most important criteria for a true luxury hotel is its services, which should be of the highest quality and also impact on the image of the brand. The Grand Hotels team paid a visit to Grand Hyatt Shanghai again this year to conduct an exclusive interview with Mr. Ha, where he shared with us the latest development of the hotel in the past year.

With a rich history of 22 years in the industry, the hotel remains committed to its classics, focusing on both inheritance and innovation. “Our main guest group used to be people born between the 1960s and the 1980s. However, as time goes by, a younger generation, born in the 1990s and even after 2000, has become the main
consumer group in the market. The shift in customer demographics reveals that changes must be made. I proposed the idea of ‘navigating changes’ in a staff meeting even before the pandemic. The outbreak of the Coronavirus disease accelerated the progress of change, where, like a filter, it eliminated those who were rigid and failed to adapt. The remaining players were encouraged to push on with innovation and reform so that they could stay competitive.” Mr. Ha shares his insight on the current market. During the pandemic, he worked closely with the team to renew the classic elements of the hotel and achieved a successful breakthrough. Taking advantage of the hotel’s iconic food and beverage venues and taking consumer preferences into account, Grand Hyatt Shanghai has creatively launched the Impression Gallery and Dining.

“The concept of Impression Gallery and Dining originated from an impressionist painting exhibition that I went to some time ago. Deeply impressed by its extraordinary ambiance of classical art, I hit upon a curious idea that having impressionist flair meet gourmet cuisine at our restaurant may generate an exclusive dining experience in an artistic environment. When the idea started to take shape, I discussed with the team the plan and feasibility. The existing Piano Bar offers the space, and due to the pandemic, we could take our time working on the gallery
and dining design in detail.” Mr. Ha shares how the idea of Impression Gallery and Dining came into being. Sitting on the 53rd floor, the new artistic dining space is a key addition in the luxurious restaurant category of the food and beverage portfolio at Grand Hyatt Shanghai.

Just as how impressionist artists would pay close attention to the interplay of light and shadow, Impression abandons traditional restaurant decorations and uses projecting technology to create the convivial ambiance of an Impressionist gallery. The theme of projecting also changes according to the season. In summer, Water
Lilies by Claude Monet will be shown to express the nature-inspired beauty and pay homage to elegance in art; and in winter, the plan is to perhaps using the works by Van Gogh featuring dark tones and grey colors so that a sense of winter elements is created in the dining area that echoes with its artistic character. In addition to the immersive environmental layout, impressionist touches are also showcased in the art of plating. For example, Monet’s Vegetable Garden is inspired by the artist’s Water Lilies, where food is arranged in such a gentle and ornamental fashion that it vividly reproduces impressionists’ painting style. “Innovation in my mind should be thorough and carried out from within. Rather than common ingredients, I hope to offer the rare and treasured at this unique dining space, including M9+ full blood wagyu, Mozambique scampi, and King salmon. Our Chef de Cuisine, Mr. Sihui Pan, a seasoned professional from Singapore, revisited premier French impressionist Monet and his works and designed the 6 Courses Dégustation Menu and the 8 Courses Continental Dinner Menu. We will keep working on our menu to integrate more impressionist elements, such as looking for ingredients that are from the hometown of impressionist artists. We aim at igniting all of the five senses, namely sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, of our guests with world-famous artists’ impressions.” Mr. Ha emphasizes his expectation of Impression and dedication to guest experience. What’s more, themed gifts are also available to reinforce the impressionist concept as an enrichment of experience.

Over the past few years, the theme of “Stories of Shanghai Architecture”, also known as “Architecture Can Be Read”in Chinese, becomes an important way of understanding urban culture and history, which has developed from the original QR code scanning to a diversified, artistic and three-dimensional approach. Grand Hyatt Hotel has kept abreast with the latest development, expressing the values and features of the Shanghai Museum to highlight the vitality and character of the city. Recently, the hotel works collaboratively with the Museum Café by Shanghai Museum, which is a themed cultural brand inspired by the ancient writing of Su Shi, a preeminent scholar in the Northern Song Dynasty that goes, “Read widely and absorb the best from the books; acquire deep knowledge and make use of it when needed.” Mr. Ha introduces the collaboration, “I visited Shanghai Museum in March and came across the idea of cooperating with them. After three months of communication and preparation, we held the opening ceremony at the end of June. The previous cultural space has been renovated with new food and beverage elements added in to create innovative Shanghai Museum IP products. This has been a win-win collaboration between two strong partners. Taking advantage of our brand and resources, we support the communications of the Shanghai Museum brand and the Chinese culture. The two parties will also continue exploring the potentiality of co-branding products in the cultural tourism industry and how we may present more cultural exchanges and collaborations creatively.” The Museum Café is located in Xintiandi at 123 Taicang Road. Being close to the Site of the First National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party also makes the collaboration even more meaningful in the year 2021 when the whole nation is celebrating the centennial of the Party. Mr. Adam Mathis, Executive Chef at Grand Hyatt Shanghai, and our Pastry Chef worked together to create a series of “Grand Hyatt Shanghai x Shanghai Museum”Chinese and western-style desserts, taking inspiration from the collections at the museum. The images of blueand-white pottery, silk tapestries with birds and flowers, and Guxiu embroidery are reinterpreted in old Shanghai style snacks. The Chinese-style disserts are featured by Lotus Crisp, Osmanthus Mung Bean Cake, Deep-fried Rice Cake with Black Truffle, while the delicate western pastries include “Da Ke Ding” Treasure Chestnut, which represents the most treasured piece of all the collections at Shanghai Museum, “Bronze Sphere” Lekoufu and“Blue-and-White Pottery” Matcha Mousse, to name just a few. Among them, the Lotus Crisp and the Mung Bean Cake are homage to the Jiangnan-style culture, which are designed in the background of the “Spring Blowing in the Wind: Jiangnan Culture Art Exhibition” at the Shanghai

Museum.

Apart from being General Manager of Grand Hyatt Shanghai, Mr. Ha is also Area Vice President at Hyatt Corporation and oversees the operations of Hyatt’s portfolio hotels in Jiangsu Province and Shanghai. As the “Five New Towns” initiative further drives the integration of the Yangtze River Delta, road trips become popular and hotels begin to see an increase in customer sharing in the same greater area. That poses new opportunities and also challenges for hotels. Mr. Ha comments, “In the post-pandemic era, short trips have become a big trend. The hotel needs to review its target market, unlock potentials by either launching new products or renewing
existing product portfolios and forging competitive product and pricing strategies. The hotel also looks into strengthening cooperation with local lifestyle service platforms to attract more guests and drive consumer spending in several areas, such as food and beverages, spa and fitness, and recreation and entertainment.”

Mr. Anthony Ha is frank and open who loves to share with us the new developments and changes at the hotel every time we meet. This year is remarkable and unprecedented  in that the entire Chinese nation, working closely together, stays true to its mission and embarks on a new journey. The author believes with a rich history of over 20 years in China and a strong commitment to the local market led by Mr. Ha and his team, Grand Hyatt Shanghai, a luxurious stay fully embracing traditional Chinese culture, will surely seize new opportunities in this new chapter and maintaining its strong position as a top landmark hotel in Shanghai!