Interview. Ordinary questions - unexpected answers: Svetlana Shin

- This hotel, located in the city centre, was built rather recently. When have you started working in this hotel and how many years of your life have you devoted to the hotel business?
- I work here since the first days of founding the hotel and over 10 years in the hotel business.

- What represents an ideal hotel in your understanding?
- This is, first of all, a hotel with high service. Cozy and hospitable.

- The fact that your hotel is located in the city centre - does it disturb or help?
- It helps. Certainly. It is our large trump, to which we always attract the attention of our potential visitors. Location of the hotel is one of the important aspects in hotel and tourist business.

- What do foreign visitors require from a hotel?
- The visitors coming here for the first time are worked on, I would say, i.e. they have deformed information about Uzbekistan. Some think that people ride camels in the city hitherto. Certainly, they get surprised that there is such a business-hotel here. Already at the entrance employees meet the visitors with a smile and kindliness. The visitors note hospitality and cleanliness. They pay a lot of attention to these aspects. And of course, a very important role is played by the cuisine - the quality of dishes.

- What design group created the style of the hotel? Do you participate directly in the creation of a cozy atmosphere in the hotel or is it the merit of your departments? I am talking about the large number of pictures, paintings.
- A special design group was invited. The pictures carry a special semantic load in themselves because the interior is not everything. We want to uncover Uzbekistan with the aid of paintings - its creative potential and the variety of images and paints. We want to show that Uzbekistan is a modern country. We present the paintings of various craftsmen. The visitors can purchase them as a memory of our hotel. The works of Ischenko painter are presented here. In summer time the courtyard is set with sculptures. We work in different directions and this is a merit of the marketing department. (From the editors: Venetian masks, hanged out in various corners of the hotel, provide a special charm to the interior. They were purchased specially to decorate the walls).

Is there a competitive struggle between the hotels of Tashkent and is it difficult for you to control it? Usually in business there is no distinction between the male and female businessmen. But, the East is a delicate affair. Does the fact that the negotiation is carried between the man and woman help or disturb in business?
- The competitive struggle exists, there is no doubt about that. Today the market dictates conditions and we should always be ready to its changes and be up on the events. Does a distinction between the man and woman exist in business? Now the times have changed and such distinctions do not exist any more.

- How do men react to your presence at the bargaining table?
- Businesslike, as is customary in business. No indulgences.

- How does the working day of a managing woman take shape?
- From 9am and till the late evenings. The female general manager, apart from the fact that she is the boss, is also a person who has family. This is a 24 hours per day work.

- The soiree of our magazine held in restaurant "BLISS" pleased those who were present. What other companies celebrated their significant events in the halls and the restaurant of your hotel?
- Various international, for example, AMCHAM, UN, TASIS, British Council. The Ministry of Health of Republic of Uzbekistan frequently conducts conferences here. Last year the famous Soviet Russian actor Vasiliy Lanovoy performed here with the support of the Russian fund "Blagovest" and the Embassy of Russia in Uzbekistan.

- Many large companies carry out business meetings and negotiations in your hotel. What celebratory program is the hotel preparing for the visitors for St. Valentine's Day and other holidays?
- We are preparing a program for each holiday. We give small souvenirs to the residents of our hotel. More often we organize festive suppers and musical evenings in our restaurant. We do banquets as well. By the way, recently there was a cooking competition in the city and the cooks of "BLISS" restaurant won the first place. We try to surprise our clients. Although there are things, which do not always turn out as planned, our personnel tries to foresee them and to prompt to the client.

- Your wishes to the business partners and readers of our magazine.
- The forthcoming year is the year of health. Therefore I wish to all our visitors, employees and readers of the magazine, first of all, health, success and well-being.

- Talking about New Year. What changes will the architecture of the hotel undergo or it will remain compact as before?
- We plan to start the second stage of construction this year. This will be VIP-rooms and a large business-centre, a new restaurant hall. I think, that we shall finish our entire ensemble with this. An ancient building was reconstructed for the hotel. And our rooms are distinguished by one feature - excellent sound insulation. The new building will be built up anew.

- A hotel located at the center is always in sight but despite this your hotel is not surrounded by a fence and additional devices. How you have achieved safety and reliability of hotel?
- Yes, security of a high level is achieved in the hotel because we are technically equipped very well.

- Do you sometimes have business trips to other regions of Uzbekistan?
- No, because the hostess should always on the spot. It always seems that they will not manage without me.

- How does your family react to the fact that you live for the hotel affairs round the clock? Who from your children will follow in your footsteps?
- The elder son studies in the Institute of Service, and I really hope that he will be with me in this business. My daughter and husband treat my commitment at work with understanding. How do I treat my work? I always made the following idea a rule - everything that you do, you do it for God. This is my credo which helps me in life and work.

- What are you in the family circle?
- I really love cooking, therefore if there is time, I definitely cook something delicious at home. I love simple homemade dishes.

- St. Valentine's Day is a holiday, which is not peculiar for our country. What is your attitude to it?
- Enthusiasm because it is a kind holiday concerned with a simple human and, I would say, basic feeling - love. Another holiday is popular among women - the 8th of March. They attach a lot of significance to it. Now justice is restored on St. Valentine's Day men will also receive presents, i.e. the game should be in two goals. As a genuine hostess Svetlana showed us the entire hotel. What surprised me was that she knows it as her own five fingers. No matter where we appeared she knows how and where the small or common light is switched on, how to move apart curtains. It seems to me a few male general managers can brag of such knowledge of their "house". We enter the restaurant hall.

- In restaurant business - Svetlana continues, - it is important not only to rise up to a certain level but also to keep to the established level. This is very difficult and interesting.

- Do you engage in the staff recruitment yourself?
- Yes, I deal with the recruitment of cooks, waiters, technicians and also employees of the entire hotel. I interview everyone because people spend most part of their time at work. It is important for me to know, what they breathe, how they live, what is their mood. Our entire service depends on this.

Then we took the elevator to the other floors of the hotel. Continuing our theme I have posed a question: On what rather bad character traits of a person can you close your eyes, if he is a dab? What will you forgo: a professional or a good man? Svetlana answered that a decent, good person is important for her while a professional can be brought up in the collective. I cannot literally quote Svetlana's words because a significant interval of time on the tape of my Dictaphone was occupied by silence. What is it: a fault of my Dictaphone or one of the technical know-how in the field of security and confidentiality? Let's leave this secret undiscovered.

- How did the idea to name the hotel "Poytaht", which in translation from Uzbek means "capital", occur?
- We contemplated a lot about the name. But, our location predetermined the name. In May our hotel will be three years old.

- This is a rather small period in business; 5 years are usually necessary as a minimum. How do you estimate what is achieved?
- A lot has been done and our success in many respects depended and depends on marketing and marketing researches. Today our hotel has occupied its niche, we have a lot of partners with which we work more than one year. Once again it is very important to keep our feet. In her private office the general manager told about the work of hotel employees in the field of tourist services.

- How does the hotel make clear to the visitor that he, while being in a hotel of modern European style, still lives in Uzbekistan?
- In the restaurant Uzbek dishes, plov in particular, are served each Thursday. It is a constant tradition of the restaurant.

In the end of our conversation Svetlana has taken an interest in the affairs of our magazine, plans for the nearest future. The conversation turned to the final results of any work. At this moment of conversation Svetlana surprised me with the answer. To be honest, during our conversation she has made an impression of a soft and somewhat even "domestic" woman, which did not match her post of the general manager of one of the leading hotels of the city. I kept thinking and comparing myself to her. She works with a large number of employees and is so womanly, and I work with only 10 employees and sometimes resemble soldier Jane. Does she achieve success with her softness and maternal kindness only, what is the ultimate goal of her work? And consequently I asked a question: "I, as an editor of a magazine, am extremely satisfied with the publication of each new issue. Then the work on a new issue begins, i.e. we have a vicious circle. And what is the final result of the work of the hotel?" Svetlana has answered simply: "Profit at the end of the year." I was overwhelmed - I expected to hear such an answer from a bigwig of the financial world, some large man with a gold chain on his neck. And then I recalled Svetlana's words: "Businesslike, as is customary in business. No indulgences". This is right - business does not forgive the weak. It is possible to be subtle, somewhat idealistic, but never a dweeb. While preparing this material I deduced the original formula of success. Here it is: high professionalism plus knowledge of the human factor, skillful combination of knowledge of the laws and mechanisms of your business with the knowledge of human soul whosesoever it is - of an employee or visitor of the hotel.

Thus a subject for thought arose: a man in business or business in a man - what is more important? Let's discuss it on the pages of our magazine. E-mail us: timeout@buzton.com