Ravi Khubchandani is the General Manager of the Pullman Bali Legian Beach. He is a New Zealand citizen with his roots in India.
As a global hotelier with 20 years of experience, Ravi has held various leadership roles in New Zealand, India and Bali. Today, Ravi has resided in Bali for four years; he started in Bali by managing the Novotel Bali Airport; then led an IT project for Accor Asia before moving to his current assignment as the GM of Pullman Bali Legian Beach at the start of 2023.
Living as an expat since 2019, how has your time in Bali influenced your management style?
Bali is a warm welcoming cosmopolitan tourist destination. It has a rich culture that the locals have preserved beautifully through generations. This very culture complimented with the beauty of the province, makes Bali one of the most sought-after places in the world. My engagements over the years with my colleagues, local travel agents, local authorities, and people in general, have made me extremely aware, appreciative, and involved with the local culture and rituals. Bali subconsciously makes you blend and find the perfect balance between the new age management mantras and the age-old cultural nuances.
How would you describe Pullman Bali Legian Beach through your eyes?
Pullman Bali Legian Beach is a unique resort that boasts an amazing location, offering the best of all worlds! The resort is a tranquil oasis in the heart of the bustling Legian-Kuta area of Bali. With the beach at the doorstep and the best of local shopping, dining, nightlife and a mall right around the hotel, there is everything and more for everyone at Pullman Bali. Living true to its Pullman DNA, with its leisurely vibe, central location, proximity to the airport and multiple meeting venues; it is the perfect place for both leisure and business guests alike! The resort’s biggest strength though is its exceptionally warm and hospitable team that constantly curates the most memorable experiences for all its esteemed guests.
Congratulations on receiving the “Best Business and Leisure Hotel” award at Exquisite Awards 2023! How do you plan on maintaining the level of excellence at Pullman Bali Legian Beach as the General Manager?
It has been a humbling experience for the team to be recognised and appreciated for their efforts with this prestigious award. This inspires us to think of newer ways to exceed our guests’ expectations and to work towards animating and innovating our service offer further. A glimpse of this can be experienced by our guests in our promotions during the year-end festive period.
We are constantly looking at avenues of evolving and upgrading our F&B and wellness offers with new cuisines, themed buffets, Sunday brunch and also newer therapies in the Spa. We are also refreshing our rooms to give them a more welcoming look. Additionally, we have just augmented our meeting space to better cater to our constantly increasing events and MICE demand. This will continue to help us with our efforts to better cater to our national and international MICE guests.
Pullman Bali is blessed with an exceptional team; newer service benchmarks will be continually achieved by keeping the team motivated, happy and positively engaged with structured training, exposure opportunities, recognitions and incentives.
As the festive season approaches, hotels all over Bali are holding out their own string of events. How does Pullman Bali Legian Beach plan to stand out?
This festive season, at Pullman Bali Legian Beach, we are offering something truly special with our unique ‘Enchanting Journey of Nutcracker‘. Imagine stepping into a reimagined Nutcracker story, set in a tropical wonderland. Sweeping in the ballet characters around a dashing Nutcracker statue and Christmas sleigh, we have an eco-friendly, sustainable Christmas tree standing proudly at the heart of the resort. Guests can look forward to a magical Christmas Eve Dinner and a dreamy Christmas Day Brunch.
As the year draws to a close, we transition into a captivating carnival world to welcome 2024 with New Year’s Eve Dinner and The First Brunch on 1st January 2024. Our focus is on creating a family-centric celebration, with activities and offers that appeal to all ages. From special staycation packages, a diverse range of dining experiences, and relaxing spa treatments, to festive-themed cocktails available throughout December, we’re ensuring this festive season is an inclusive and unforgettable journey for everyone.
The festive season will surely bring in more groups of family tourists. As a family-friendly hotel, what are the activities in Pullman Bali Legian Beach for this season that families and children alike can enjoy?
We’re going all out to ensure families have an unforgettable time with us! Our dining experiences come alive with entertainment – think acoustic bands, dancers, and even Santa Claus mingling with guests during Christmas Eve’s Dinner and Christmas Day Brunch. The ‘Christmas Day Brunch’ and ‘The First Brunch’ on 1st January, will feature a plethora of entertainment, including live tropical bird shows, clowns, and magicians, alongside a festive-tuned acoustic band. As for New Year’s Eve, we’re planning a carnival extravaganza with door prizes, magicians, stilt walkers, and themed dancers to ring in 2024. Each experience is crafted to be a delight for both children and adults, ensuring a fun, engaging, and upbeat vibe throughout the resort.
Pullman Bali Legian Beach has upcoming plans of the Nutcracker-themed, ‘The Dance of Dreams’ as part of its Christmas Festivities event. Can you tell us more about that and the idea behind selecting the Nutcracker theme?
The Nutcracker is synonymous with being a timeless symbol of Christmas joy, known worldwide for its storybook charm, operas, and ballet performances. By choosing this theme for our Christmas festivities, we’re embracing its classical roots whilst infusing it with a vibrant, playful twist. Our Festive Booklet, encompassing all our offers is viewable on our Instagram’s Festive highlights; it is designed like a whimsical children’s storybook, complete with colourful illustrations and engaging narratives. Our goal is to encapsulate the essence of a warm, family-oriented, and child-friendly end-of-year celebration, offering a world of fun, imagination, and festive cheer to all our guests.
In our previous interview, you mentioned welcoming newer emerging markets such as South Korea, India, and the Middle East. What strategies have been put in place, and how have the guests received it?
For emerging markets, the first thing is to establish our name and presence in their minds; we achieve this with a series of activities over an extended period of time. We also genuinely examine what these guests need and how we can perfectly cater to those specific requirements. For instance, our efforts of introducing dishes from various cuisines in our breakfast buffet have been much appreciated by our guests from various nationalities. Based on the feedback from our guests, to suit their needs better, we have tweaked and curated other services too. Our guests’ response indeed has been very positive and has been well complimented with strong word of mouth from them.
In your perspective, how do you foresee the future of Pullman Bali Legian Beach in the next five years?
Pullman Bali Legian Beach with its amazing location, great brand, beautiful product, and a diligent team is poised to do better with each passing day, month and year!
The resort will continue to evolve and augment its services to its guests resulting in further improved guest satisfaction levels and even stronger guest loyalties. Since the resort is already operating at high occupancy levels, and with business expected to augment in the years ahead, we will also be adding 25 rooms along with a huge kid’s playground by the middle of next year.
Our global ESG initiatives will continue to become more integral to our operations and appreciatively visible to all our stakeholders. The resort will continue with its initiatives of introducing the latest tools, technology, and training to constantly reduce its carbon footprint, minimise food wastage and eliminate single-use plastic completely!
How can our readers get in touch with you and the hotel?
Our guests and readers can reach out to us through our social media channels – Instagram (@pullmanbali) and Facebook (Pullman Bali Legian Beach) and of course through our phone lines and e-mails!