Lagos Continental Hotel, one of the top hospitality outlets in Nigeria is busy with a lot of activities geared towards making guests more relaxed and comfortable. The hotel is undergoing massive facility upgrade to add to its aesthetics, creating an ambience that leaves an indelible experience in the minds of guests when they visit.
General Manager, Lagos Continental Hotel, Karl Hala, in an interview with Travellers Magazine as part of the #lagostop10hotels Project, said the hotel is breaking boundaries in the hospitality industry, creating an atmosphere of friendliness and endearing itself to new clients, while deepening its relationship with existing ones. Karl spoke on how the hotel is consistently venturing into new areas to be at the top of it game. Lagos Top10 Hotels. Excerpt:
How long have you been in Nigeria?
I have been coming in and out of Nigeria since 2008, which is 14 years now.
Originally, where is Karl from?
Vienna, Austria. Vienna is the only city in the world where the cuisine is named after the city Viennese kitchen. It has wonderful music, art, and amazing food.
How did you get into hotel business?
I would say by default. My father was an architect and my mom is a Dr. In Philosophy. In my mom’s family, three of her sisters had hotels in Austria, I always liked it. So I was put into the hotel school and we never looked back.
So how long have you been in the hotel business?
I think about 40 to 48 years or something.
Was it accidental?
Yes, because, I remember I was playing basketball in the league. I had a match, but the grades were not impressive. So I thought in order to play, let me hide my grades. Coming home my mother was waving the certificate at me, and then we had an interesting discussion and I think the next day she registered me for the pre-exams of the hotel school in Vienna and I passed it. So that was how it happened.
Was it because you had a family member that was in the hotel business so your mom decided that you tow that line?
No, but because of her sisters and the hotels, and I loved it there. They were in the upper areas of Austria, more like countryside. You know, you could play bowling there. When I was six years, I swept away the tables, got a few shillings of tip and I said, that’s good, that is my business.
So do you know how many hotels you have worked with?
I think I have worked in about 20 hotels.
In how many countries?
It must have been 14 countries and 17 cities.
How many continents?
Four continents.
Where did you serve first as a GM?
My first GM was in Livingstone, in Zambia at the Mosi-oa-Tunya Intercontinental in 1991.(The smoke that thunders). In the morning, when you come out of your house the breeze of the water fall would come into your face. And we formed a very good relationship with the Mukuni tribe within the Victoria Falls living area and the senior chief Mukuni became friends with us. And from then onwards, we became a cultural center. We created tourism forums within the area of Livingston beyond, and we promoted. It was my first time that I really got involved in active promoting a very specific area, the falls. South Africa brought private airlines in, we brought voyage from the UK with 80 people coming through everyday, staying with you. Because this falls look different every day, it is absolutely magnificent. That was a good time.
Have you ever tried the devil’s pool?
Yes, but at this time, there was no devil pool. We had actually did breakfast next to the falls and we got the original huts from chief Mukuni, there was nothing electric, everything, how they would have prepared the eggs and we would have the hut. We would watch the falls and we would have the eggs and champagne as it should be.
Your first time in Nigeria, which hotel were you running?
None, because I was responsible for Africa for all Intercontinental hotels, Crowne Plazas, Holiday Inns. I was based in Nairobi. And I had come out from Poland in April 2008 and my first trip was actually to Nigeria. At this time we had four projects including this Intercontinental and I loved it from the beginning. It was mystic adventurous and the people in Nigeria are different because if you get to know them you will understand why they want to yell about it and they have a super golden heart, i liked it and i love it now.
So, where did you go?
I went straight away to see the site and then I checked all the hotels because we had no hotel directly. So I was staying in every hotel that was there.
What happened to the chain in Nigeria?
The chain in Nigeria pulled out because there were issues in the relationship with the owners. And they couldn’t be amended. So Intercontinental cancelled the operating management agreement. I think beginning in 2018, the Intercontinental Hotel Group pulled out. Then it was in receivership and the new owners, 11 PLC put it back about two years ago. They showed the confidence, they are very experienced in the Nigerian market. They are already here since 35 years in different fields and they put in the trust and the monies to bring this hotel back to its glory.
Is hotel back to its glory?
I think the whole scenario of COVID helped us, the entire market in Lagos. After the lifting of the lockdown, we reopened the hotel, because it was closed for six months. I came back last summer and reopened in September and we have never looked back. And the point is that Nigerians love to travel. Now they couldn’t travel, nor could anybody come in, because all your meetings, business, or any other business where you need to come to stay in a hotel did not take place directly. So business took place within Nigeria and primarily by Nigerians. It doesn’t matter whether it was meetings or it was leisure, or it was direct business. Everything works. And, you know, Nigerian’s are very entrepreneural.
A lot of people think that after the closure and the branding change and everything, the hotel, isn’t the Continental that we used to know?
We basically came in and rebuilt the team and went out to say hello to everybody we know. Because it was a popular hotel and it has become now more popular. And it has to do with how we network, you know, relationships don’t stop if you keep them going. And that helped a lot with what we did here. We showed more flexibility on how we approach the clients. How we try to assure them that we have power and security now. That we can be flexible even when they want to negotiate an event, be it a wedding or a seven days conference. We can tailor that to the client’s needs. Because we listen to clients and with this listening, we gain friends, which turn this into business for us.
Talking about how they brought back the Hotel after the Ownership Changed hands?
Re-Doing the hotel started from the backbone. And the backbones are your systems. Air condition, for example is key. So we have our own generators now and we can provide seamless power. And every other area we focus on, be it system fire and safety, wherever we are looking at, we are doing it.
As we speak, we have interior designers coming in to redesign the areas where our guests are. This gives a sense of arrival when you come through our entrance into the lobby, be it the restaurants or the reception. The audio visual is always key because we want people to feel the vibes when they come in. Whether it is the music and how we play it, whether it’s from the Nigerian music scene or wherever else. We want to bring the culinary out and change the entire restaurant setups.
So we want to have a serving attitude, bringing models where everything comes to you. And the Catering outlets have differences, especially on the second floor where we have at the moment, the Chinese and an Italian. So, all these things are going to happen one way. The other one is we plan to partner more. It means we are looking at the best of audio visual, top of the art equipment. So we are in the process of signing up an agreement and it means whoever comes in here, whether it’s your virtual meetings, or you just want a little ear piece, you will get it from us.
Everything has to be there to fulfill all the wishes, expectations of an experienced traveler. And as you are fully aware Nigerians are very experienced travelers.
READ: Africa: Lagos Top 10 Hotels: Lagos Continental gives you a 3D View of The Commercial City of Nigeria – Karl Hala. GM
So now we have this opportunity to impress them from the culinary part, from the meetings point of view and of course the comfort we are having here, in the rooms. The rooms are the largest, the minimum size we have are 42 square meters. And these windows, this is your 3D, this is your Lagos. So you don’t have to go and watch National Geographic or anything. You come to the Lagos Continental, take a look outside and sip a glass of champagne with it.
I believe the location of the hotel is perfect and the design of the hotel adds to the location. So that makes it a landmark in Lagos. It is one of the tallest hotels in West Africa and it gives you the views of Lagos. Many of our guests just see usually from the ground levels, but when you come up here, it’s so green, the waters, the lagoons, and the islands, it is just a stunning place.
You have eaten Nigeria food before which is your favourite?
Goat pepper soup.
Why?
I like goat and spiced soups. So this is always somewhere between this Chinese or Asian part of this hot soup. But when I came here and they asked me to try it, I think the first soup I had, it took me two hours to recover. But now even if I don’t eat it too spicy, I like it when it’s well done and the spice is well balanced. I like it very much.
That is different from most Europeans, because they run from spice and request for mild one. But you have stayed long in Africa and you are used to it?
I am Viennese, we don’t eat spices. I had my first pepper steak when I was 23 years old and I almost died. But because you travel all over the world, you enjoy the cuisines, either in your hotel or you are invited to meet people. It is a good experience.
You have stayed in other African countries, which of the African countries have you stayed the longest?
Kenya, because of the regional office for Intercontinental. So that was longest six years.
Probably that is where you picked up the goat pepper soup?
No, no. I already liked it in Vienna. And then in Serbia, they have the baby ones and then it is a very special Easter dish there, so I always loved it.
So what makes Karl happy?
Karl is happy when my family’s happy. My former football fanaticism is now Kid Fanaticism.
You been in and out of Lagos, what has changed the most in Nigeria?
What has changed the most is the social scene, the architecture, the designs. Let me start with the later, you see many more office towers. So commercial trading is more consolidated, and has become modern in the true sense of the word. When I go out, the number of beach lounges, restaurants, bars is awesome. Very well designed, very modern, it’s a playground for anybody like me, who is a foodie who wants to chill. That is the biggest change. But the traffic hasn’t changed.
Do you think it is because of wealth or because of exposure, what do you think contributed to this change?
I believe that there are two parts to it. One of them is that quite a number of Nigerians have opened restaurants, lounges in London and Dubai. That also has an impact here because of course Modernity and now you build up more Nigerian places, but also more international fusion kitchens, and whatever comes around, that definitely played a role. And the other one, I think, is the situations all over Middle East and Africa, which has brought people in here. And because you have certain nationalities already in house, so Nigerians and the Lebanese are very much in the culinary world that we are looking at. That has also contributed. But because we are looking into this, we are thinking about bringing the London, Dubai experience to the Lagos Continental to develop a pan Nigerian cuisine with its cocktail. Travel still takes place, not as much before, but lots of friends and family now come here. We want to offer something like this experience at our place. So that is happening even as we speak. That is the Nigerian way.
When are you going to open this new place to the public?
Not this year, it will take some time. What we want is to do it right. And it has a lot to do with where we want go to. As I said, designers are coming up next week and it is going to be a formidable project.
