At the launch of Bloomrooms @ Janpath, we spoke to Tom Welbury, VP Strategy, Bloom Hotel Group, on his love for India.
Anupriya Bishnoi
Tell us something about Bloomrooms @ Janpath.
The reason we were able to launch the hotel in less than 100 days is because we have a world-class team across the board. We are quality-obsessed! We are constantly experimenting and innovating ways that matter not just to our overall guest experience but to our trusted travel partners as well. As a location, this is unbeatable; it’s very special because there isn’t a world-class mid-market hotel brand in Central Delhi. Finally, you can stay happy at Connaught Place without blowing your budget! The product feels premium despite a highly affordable price point. For example, Bloom offers to all its guests Grohe rain showers, Egyptian cotton linen, and fresh air systems that only most leading hotels can boast of. Interestingly, Bloom is the first mid-market brand globally to trademark its sleep experience – the CloudBed. It’s clear that this strategy has worked with Bloom boasting industry-leading guest satisfaction levels and an exceptional 30 per cent of all business coming from repeats. Our travellers, who come from both the corporate and leisure segments, are not interested in lavish experiences; they want everything clean and crisp delivered with efficiency. The services we render are not complex or over-the-top; they are warm and friendly. We are reinventing the mid-market hotel space by offering world-class quality at highly affordable rates. We also believe in reducing the hassle for our guests, whether it be our express check-out system or the lighting switch logic in your room.
How would the brand get greater visibility?
Every Bloom location is specifically selected to be the best in the relative micro market. Whether it’s Calangute in Goa (where we have two properties), 100 Feet Road Indiranagar in Bengaluru, or New Delhi railway station, Bloom is known for being closer to
the action and it’s one of the driving forces behind our success.
What are the expansion plans?
Our goal is to open 100 hotels by 2020. We are open to all locations and not just Tier-I. Having set foot in competitive Tier-I markets such as Delhi, Bengaluru and Goa, the Bloom brand is now expanding rapidly across India to combine quality with scale. Now, as part of our 100-hotel roll-out plan, the brand is considering Tier-II locations in markets such as Ahmedabad, Pune, Aurangabad and Kochi among others.
The ‘rooms’ name may cause confusion in the customer’s mind about the segment Bloomrooms operates in. Your take?
The Bloomrooms brand was launched in 2011 and was the first brand globally to associate the room as being a core part of the stay experience. Any follower brand confused our pure interpretation of ‘rooms’. Aggregators and Bloomrooms are completely different. We are a hotel brand. We design, we build, we operate hotels and we have a highly loyal customer base.
Are you looking at going international?
We are obsessed with India right now. We are not like a greedy kid with his hand in the cookie jar. Maybe, if my travellers ask me to open a property outside of India, I will think about it because that’s a genuine reason. Our goal is to open 100 hotels by 2020. We are open to all locations.
