Challenges keep ‘old’ GM feeling young

WATERFRONT Pavilion Hotel and Casino GM Jimmy Hideyuki Boyles

An expert in sales, American hotelier Jimmy Hideyuki Boyles certainly knows how to pitch his product—himself.

The 23-page resumé of the new general manager of Waterfront Pavilion Hotel and Casino highlights his achievements: His last posting as GM for the 407-room Gran Meliá Jakarta that won the TTG Award for Hotel of the Year (2014);  25 years with the Sheraton group; and short stints with Westin and  Marriott hotels including a position as  GM of the JW Marriott Surabaya; postings  in Hawaii, Los Angeles, Florida,  Fiji and Japan, among others.

The last page reveals his personal data, including his birthday in 1949.

Asked how he answers questions about his age, Boyles said, “You’re young as you feel. If you stay active, you’re okay.  If you have nothing else to do, you get old quickly. There’s a saying that older families have young children, [thus] they are more active and they tend to also enjoy life better.”

The Hawaii-born Boyles has 10 children, aged between 9 and 35 years old, and eight grandchildren. He often visits them in Indonesia.

From night clerk to sales

Being an hotelier was not part of his game plan. While studying biology at the University of Hawaii in 1972, he took a part-time job as a night clerk at the Sheraton Moana, dubbed the Grande Dame of Waikiki.  When Boyles was about to resign, the general manager told him that the hotel industry was a colorful industry that came with perks, including a good salary.

Back then, Hawaii’s hotel industry was young and open for hiring, regardless of the aspirant’s background.

Boyles negotiated his salary with the GM, and was promoted to reservations and front office, until he was put on the management training program.

When he became assistant manager, Boyles thought he envied the people in the sales department. They had fun, which involved traveling and dining clients in fancy restaurants.

Boyles bravely spoke with the senior vice president of sales and said he was growing weary of hearing guests’ complaints.

While keeping the post as assistant manager, Boyles became  the hotel’s Japanese sales executive since he also studied Niponggo in college. In two years, the sales of the Japanese market increased by 400 percent.

As a result, he was promoted to sales manager of the Sheraton Hotels in the Pacific. He was the youngest at 26 years old.

Doubling the price

For two decades, Boyles was director for sales and marketing in various properties of Sheraton.

He recalled that when he was director for sales and marketing of Sheraton Hotels in French Polynesia in 1987, he was sent to Hotel Bora Bora, one the properties in Tahiti. With 40 rooms and some thatched villas, the business was flaccid.

The manager complained he lacked rooms to increase the profit.  Boyles suggested doubling the rate from $250 to $500 a night.

“The demand was already there,” says Boyles. The guest was already experiencing Tahiti itself, its clear blue lagoons, the marine life, the white sandy beaches, the mountains and forests. Although business flourished, the hotel was later purchased by another company.

One of the high points of his career was as regional sales director in Hawaii. He was tasked to troubleshoot at Sheraton Fiji Resort in 1989. The government was attacked by two coup d’états, which had driven away tourists.

To change the marketing plan, Boyles redefined the market based on the destinations where the airlines came from. It turned out that Fiji’s main markets came from Australia and New Zealand.

Boyles worked backwards by wooing travel agents whom he had befriended through the years. He devised packages that would entice visitors again.

In 1990, Sheraton Fiji Resort was voted Hotel of the Year for the Sheraton Hotels in Asia Pacific.

Dramatic turnaround

At some point, Boyles needed a break from sales and wanted to return to operations.  It turned out that his former boss in Sheraton had moved to Westin.

The boss asked Boyles to fix the depressed market of Westin Surabaya in Indonesia. Boyles moved his way up from director of sales and marketing to general manager.

During his stint there from 1997 to 2002, he reversed the losses and helped increase the sales to 9,000 percent.

Boyles pointed out sluggish sales are the common problem in hotels worldwide.

What’s the secret of his success in sales?

“Liking people,” Boyles replies. “All these customers that you do business with eventually become friends.”

He adds, “When dealing with people, they want to make sure that whatever you say, you can deliver. Do not make commitments that you’re not going to be able to make. I tell all my sales people: These people that you work with will always be your customers, no matter where you go. If you treat them honestly and well, they will remember you, and they will do business with you.”

A top executive from Marriott later told Boyles that one of its properties, Renaissance Sapporo in Japan, needed a boost in sales.  Boyles’ fluency in Japanese enabled him to run Renaissance Sapporo more efficiently. As general manager, he improved the ranking of the hotel and moved it to the top spot in 2004.

After two years, Boyles returned to the former Westin Surabaya, which became JW Marriott Surabaya. Again, he improved its ranking by making it one of the city’s top three hotels.

In 2006, Boyles was lured to run the then 2,000-room Jakarta Hilton. He convinced the owners to invest their earnings by building a new swimming pool.

When he advised them to renovate the lobby, the owners built a fence around it instead.

Seeing that his advice was unheeded, Boyles sought opportunities elsewhere and found work in Meliá Bali Villas Spa & Resort, which was part of a Spanish chain. From 2007 to 2013, he enjoyed Bali the most. The owners then transferred Boyles to Gran Meliá in Jakarta.

More fun in Manila

When Boyles’ contract with the chain ended, he called an old friend, Arthur Lopez, chair of the Waterfront Hotel and Casino Group.  Boyles, already 65, asked, “Do you think somebody might be interested in an old GM?”

Since February, the hotelier has been finding his way through the metropolis by riding the jeepney and mass railway transit system. He raves about how the jeep makes Divisoria easily accessible from the hotel.

His agenda is to revitalize the Waterfront Pavilion Hotel and Casino. As in most hotels worldwide, the biggest challenge is sales. He had to address the constant turnover in that department.

“You can’t develop any base if you have sales people coming and going all the time. You can’t develop any credibility with the customer if they see a new sales person every other month. You usually lose good sales people because they are in demand. If you’re not keeping the good ones, you are keeping the sales people that necessarily may not be able to find a job anywhere else, and may not necessarily be the best,” he says.

“The first thing is to work on the sales people, stabilize them, make them happy; give them direction; give the tools they need in order to talk to customers; hold them accountable. Then you need to focus on the service aspect of the operation,” he explains.

Boyles points out that it is important for the sales people to be creative and not be dictated upon by the operations department.

Although the hotel has undergone major renovations, specifically in the rooms and lobby, many facets still need to be addressed. Slots have to be built in the cabinet of mini bars to maintain cool room temperatures. Shower mechanisms need to be simplified—and Asian customers still prefer the bath tub.

Boyles says the hotel will strive for consistent quality service and customer satisfaction.

Asked what is the advantage of being a man at the right age, Boyles replies, “When you say something, people listen.”