The ManicaPost
Liberty Dube Post Correspondent
GOLDEN Peacock Villa Hotel has embarked on a major facelift in a bid to gain five-star status as well as meet international standards.
The Chinese-infused hotel which commenced operations in 2012 seeks to ensure that their brand remains relevant and attractive to the current and new markets.
The refurbishments that will be done in two phases will see the hotel upgrading its hotel rooms, swimming pool and restaurant as well as introducing ancillary services for guests such as fitness centre and entertainment facilities. The refurbishment process is expected to end before the end of this year.
“The hotel will remain functional and it will not interfere with guests’ relaxation or any other business. We have engaged experts to spearhead business re-engineering process to transform our product and in turn give value for money to guests and not to short change them, our philosophy is customer is key and king. In response to the guest feedback and recommendations from the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, the hotel management is introducing a shade at the reception and drive through road for the convenience of our guests, this will also introduce a valet service which is peculiar with five-star hotels — international standard. The hotel is also working on user -friendly facilities appealing to all guests including physically disadvantaged, mainly bathroom facilities have to be convenient to all. Our car park is also going through a massive refurbishment; the facility will be able to accommodate more than 50 cars under shed.
“The procurement department has been tasked to buy room amenities such as refrigerators and new linen. The objective is to align with market needs and new trends. We are not ignorant of market dynamics. The hotel has invested in market intelligence and research programmes to continuously receive feedback and facilitate decision making,” said Mr Willard Madhombiro, a member of the management team. The refurbishments will also see the hotel migrating from manual keys in hotel rooms to vin-cards system. The hotel already embraced plastic money facility to facilitate online business transactions, point of sale, while swiping machines which are already available would soon be installed at every revenue centre.
“Our guests have embraced technology and therefore as an international brand we cannot be seen to be lagging behind. Mice business is also a new phenomenon in tourism industry, we therefore need to address our shortcomings to be able to meet the needs of meetings, incentive, conventions and exhibitions. Every department including the restaurant and the kitchen are also working hard to ensure our guests have no reason to complain. Our chef and food and beverage manager have embarked on rigorous training exercise to ensure that the team is familiar with new dishes such as Chinese, American, European and African,” added Mr Madhombiro.
The hotel’s latest major refurbishment was the erection of state-of-art Glow Bar which has off-late become an entertainment hub of Manicaland.
The bar is ideal for all ages. It has so far hosted a galaxy of artistes such as Audius Mtawarira, Amara Brown, Tehn Diamond and Ngoni Kambarami. The hotel has 83 rooms and has a capacity to accommodate 135 guests.
