Defining Hospitality

DH - Manish Puri
===

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: [00:00:00] I think the true value of regeneration is basically converting waste to wealth. And that can be mirrored in your PNL also who says the sustainability. And you have to be sharp and you have to be experienced, and you have to work along to make sure that all your wealth and how you dispose it of, and all the, even the initiatives that you have, you can convert it into wealth. so it's not a, it's not a cost center, it's an investment center.

Speaker: What I do is inconsequential. Why I do what I do is I get to shorten people's journeys every day. What I love about our hospitality industry is that it's our mission to make people feel cared for while on their journeys. Together we'll explore what hospitality means in the built environment, in business, and in our daily lives.

I'm Dan Ryan, and this is Defining Hospitality.

This podcast is sponsored by Berman Fall Hospitality Group, a design-driven furniture manufacturer who [00:01:00] specializes in custom case goods and seating for hotel guest rooms.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Today's guest is a luxury hotelier management leader and an expert at curating unique guest experiences. He has over 30 years of experience in hotel management working for luxury hotels such as Oberoi Hotels, the Burj Al Arab, Potato Head Bali and many others. He also has 14 years of experience with Six Senses Resorts. He's now the general manager at the Regent, Bali Chang, which just opened less than one year ago in December of 2024.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Manish Puri. Welcome Manish.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Evening, Dan. greetings from Bali. All of the gods.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Oh, I, it's one of my favorite places on earth. I had such a magical time up in UD a few years ago, um, back when the world was normal, although the world was never normal in 2018. And I just remember having, going to these like ritual baths up in the hills, uh, biking all [00:02:00] around those terrace, um,

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Yeah.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Farmlands and really just being transported into.

Another world, and I'm so glad that we're talking today because one of the themes that I've been exploring is how all of the major brands have split out their luxury and lifestyle components because they're out, they're contributing outsize earnings to the mothership, if you will.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Yes.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: In the case of IHG Kimpton vignette, um, Intercon.

Regents

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: reason

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: and Six Senses, right? And, and I really appreciate so much because of that. And typically I think those account for 10% or less of the total room count of the Bri big brands, but they contribute 20% of the earnings per or earnings call I heard a while ago. So to me this is just a very interesting phenomenon, [00:03:00] um, and a tremendous opportunity to reconnect and redefine.

Hospitality and, and explore luxury and all of these different things. So as we get into our conversation and kind of unpack this, what does hospitality mean to you? You've worked at, at many of the top, if not the top hospitality brands. Um, how do you define hospitality from your life experience?

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: I think to define hospitality, we have to talk about a little bit of service, right? I think service and great service is a very, uh, is, is very functional. I think hospitality adds the human elements, um, of, uh, anticipation of feeling and warmth and, uh, quality of, uh, service really comes from the heart itself. while service is a very functional, um, position, um, and is these little things, uh, it's very heartfelt. Uh, hospitality is these little, little things that go on, uh, in a very service oriented, uh, [00:04:00] uh, style that adds or as to the definition of, of hospitality, and, uh, hotels and such as ours, uh, region. Certainly a, great number of IG hotels, really trying to move up just from delivering great service, which is very, as I said, very functional into hospitality. Again, emotional, uh, service, uh, anticipation reading, uh, and understanding the guests and just going beyond and giving a wow experience every time.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Thank you for sharing that. I used to stay, I used to go to Shanghai multiple times a year for 15 or 18 years and stay at the Regent. Shanghai and I became friends with the general manager there, and I cannot remember his name right now.

Um. But what was, what I found interesting that was before Inter, I think it had joined the ranks of Intercon or Intercontinental Hotels.

Um, but I have seen the region brand [00:05:00] since the acquisition by Intercontinental. They've just opened the one yours. They just opened the one in Santa Monica in California and it's, it's such a jewel of a brand.

Like I remember the old region, Beverly Wilshire, famous from the movie Pretty Woman. Um, but it. It's, it's such a iconic brand, but hasn't really expanded as much as it could. Yes, and I, and I see it happening. I see the green shoots of region expanding globally. How do you think that region differentiates itself from the other luxury properties that you've worked at over your career?

And why do you think the region brand is such an opportunity for Intercontinental Hotels?

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Of all region has a very history. As you said, you talked about pretty women even, um, the Four Seasons over here in Jim Brown was, uh, designed to be a region hotel and so many others, So, uh. think it, it, it went down behind the scenes till [00:06:00] the time IG really came up and embraced it because we felt the value in, uh, traditional luxury, orthodox luxury, um, and great hospitality. I think a lot of hotels are able to offer. Great service, good service, amazing service. But what goes over beyond that is the little touches, that's where hotels like the region, like the expenses come in and position themselves. Um, I think one of the main reasons that, um, you introduced myself, I, I've gone from one hotel chain or, or one, one hotel and company to another, and what attracted me to the region is. Is, um, the, the old charm of, uh, true hospitality. The in keeping, uh, style of service that you are always out there in with the guests, engaging with the customer and the clients, anticipating, [00:07:00] with that. And that's for your, for, for, for, for the listeners. Also, as a general manager. Have to be out there. So all my staff, uh, my hosts who are serving the guests, can see me get inspired by what I do and how do I do it. And that's the give back. First of all, one has to be out of the offices, one has to be out in your functional duties and come out and meet, understand the guests. So my other 300 hosts. Are able to anticipate and, and, and, and do what I do.

Um, I'm, I won't say I'm the only person who does it. A lot of times I get inspiration from line staff that is the engagement and that is the sharing of great service and hospitality service. Service from the heart, is what makes, uh, this place great and will continue to make this place great. So I wanted to shift back. Um, [00:08:00] and come back into, into hospitality, which I love. Uh, where you serve more from the heart is more EQ in, uh, emotional caution than iq. That doesn't mean I'm low in iq, I think I'm just much more stronger in

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: I love that. Thank you. Um, I wanna speak generally about general managers and from my perspective being on the s like on the renovation side or the new build supplying furniture, I see two different, uh, a spectrum of general managers. There's the general managers who come into a fully functioning, fully operational hotel, and they.

Lead with their heart and they do a great job. But then there's those other ones, I think like you who thrive on the renovation and the opening and the chaos and creating that order into chaos. Is that a fair, uh, [00:09:00] observation by me? The, uh, like a a, I'm sure there's many different spectrums, but,

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Yeah.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: But you're, you're, I find like you, on your side of the spectrum, there's a bit of, um, I don't know, like.

Masochistic or just like cr, like I, it's just like so hard to make order out of chaos and go and then see. And then once you're handed the, the finished product to have come from the dust and the debris to order and beauty,

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Yeah.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: also get your team optimized and thrive. How do you, how do you define that spectrum between.

The different types of general managers.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: So Dan, first of all, um, I've opened about eight hotels, uh, and being part of the opening process is very, very engaging, right? Um, you come from the hard hat stages. You have a, you have owners, you have designers that you are engaging with. [00:10:00] and trying to, uh, trying to set up standards and trying to, uh, set up vision for the hotel and for the restaurants and public spaces. Um, and then you start recruiting then you have to be part of every person that you recruit. You have to train them and you have to be in the trenches. You cannot delegate the sense of training to, um, a third party. You and your core team have to be part of the training. You have to be with the boys and girls, uh, molding them, telling them stories, narrating your past experiences, and that's how you are able to build a culture of great service and hospitality. So as a personality, I love doing that. I always say that I'm not going to open another hotel because it takes so much of energy,

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: it's exhausting. Like just, just when I dip in at one small part of it, it's [00:11:00] insane everything that's going on. And then to build the teams and get everything going and, and I don't know. And, and then how do you.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: much of energy. You can't have, a very set life, your personal life also, because all your attention and the tension as you move from. you know, project stays to semi operations, to handover and distribution and get the sales engine going and trying to, um, get the news out that you're open. it is tiring. Um, but every time I try and say that it's, it's, it's so much, but I miss it I al

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Yeah,

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: get excited to go to

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: so I think you're, I think you and peers of yours who like that end of the spectrum are, are a rarity. In the world of hospitality, right? Most people want to come in and be a general manager of, okay, here's the p and l, this is what I have to do, this is how I coach and empower and nurture my teams.

And, but they want a finished product. Like to my, I guess [00:12:00] my, my question around that creation, right? The genesis of the hotel, how do you know how, at what point do you flip a switch and you're like, okay, it's done, and now let's start operating the hotel, and, and how does it, how do you. When that switch flips to done, how do you make sure in the past anyway that you leave behind a culture that endures?

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: it's never completely done.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Okay.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: When your first guest guest comes in, you're supposed to be done. You're supposed to shift on the lights and all the cameras and everything. You are open, everything, what you promise, uh, on your website and what the company promises you're supposed to deliver. But you know, you are opening such a massive, uh, space.

It's never done as such. You always have something to work on. You continue to work on and maybe at certain time, after one year of opening, you pass on this package to the next general manager, which is a second kind of a [00:13:00] general manager we talked about who loves to thrive and takes it further to newer heights. Um, once he gets a handover from the general manager, like, um, I am, um, and I, I, I thrive and specialize in what I do. I actually love it. Why? Because of the engagement. I love to, um, set up hotels, set up teams, um, create an, uh, a true culture. Now, for example, if I, when, when I opened the Six Senses in, in China. I went there without knowing the language, my first time to six senses, uh, to, to China. I guess were 98% Chinese. Um, our staff, a host, were 98%, uh, Chinese. And how do you, how do you commute? How do you, uh, talk about the culture? It is tough, but I think hospitality, uh, learning has its own language. Um, [00:14:00] which, uh, you can able, you are able to impart or share it with people who are really interested and that's why recruitment is very, very important.

You want people who can soak in all the energy, soak in the excitement, soak in what you're able to give from a company perspective and as a general manager.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: So.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: done, as I said, it's never done, but you. You kind of give that package, which is complete and not fully complete, and you hand it over to somebody else who can then has a sound base these newer heights.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: I feel like it's, even though it's never done, I think that handoff you're describing after you've recruited and you've built the team and you're, and you're nurturing them. I feel that once. The values of the property or the brand are absorbed and spoken and it becomes part of the lexicon of the whole team.

To me, that's a time when the handoff happens [00:15:00] because that's, those values are almost like a flywheel of, okay, everyone has, everyone is aligned on what this experience is all about. For us as a team, for the guests coming here, and then you do, and then they are all. Reinforcing those values with each other.

And to me, that's when that flywheel is spinning. That's that self corrective culture that keeps going. And to me that's probably a done thing. And as I think about culture earlier in a previous conversation, um. You mentioned that when you were at Potato Head, you explored Regener, the idea of regenerative hospitality and improving the environment around you.

And you've also worked at Six Senses, which that's a central pillar of theirs.

And now region. So how, how has your I view of sustainability? Evolve from, I was Potatohead the first time where it was, I'm sure you had sustainability in initiatives in, in your 30 year career, but it seems to me like [00:16:00] Potatohead was, uh, like almost as if a lightning rod moment for you and now you're on this path where it's become more of a central pillar to what and why you do what you do as you build your teams and your hotels.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Dan, the foundation of, uh, getting into sustainability ideals and being, making it part of my values started really from Six Senses, right? My 14 years is very, very strong pillar. Um, uh, sustainability is a very strong pillar in six Senses, and being able to do so many things for community, for environment. For all the stakeholders took 14 years within, uh, six different, uh, hotels, six sense. And then I thought I knew everything till the time I went to head. Head is not about sustainability, only is about duration. between sustainability is we are not gonna, uh, we are gonna sustain what we have right now.

We are not gonna create more mess in the world. Yeah. Simply putting [00:17:00] is to reduce. The waste, reduce the garbage, lower the emissions. how can we use, um, the waste and create wealth out of it, um, through, you know, reus usage, uh, uh, or, uh, or making it something different. A trash or a waste never really finishes our eyes. We give it. We used to give it a different form. So from plastics, we were making chairs, we were making tables, we were making so many things. So yes, it was a board of, uh, lightning for me that, hey, your journey on sustainability, continues. You're strong in those values. Here's this. One more thing of regeneration. Add on to that. And now it's part of my life. Now I come to Regent and I say the first. A few weeks that I was there. Okay, let's start now itself, let's sow the seed. [00:18:00] So once, because a brand like the region of, or any other, uh, luxury brand has to have that caring side of it. Caring for environment, caring for all stakeholders, caring for the community its. You are not a complete hotel, I would say, and you will not be able to define hospitality in that brand or in that hotel. I think for me it's an extremely. Um, important pillar, uh, and is part of my value. So it itches me. I become, uh, I react very differently if these basic ideals of sustainability or regeneration is not followed.

Now it's my responsibility, to make sure that our resort, which has started, do these initiatives, continues to do. And, um, uh, is really foremost and, uh, really high up [00:19:00] in, in both in regeneration and how we live with the community and how, uh, our food speaks, uh, to us, how the experiences that we have around the resort speak on sustainability and regeneration.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: I'm a big proponent and on the advisory board of some sustainability initiatives in the, in the us. Um, but I, it feeds out globally

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Yeah.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: In all these conversations I have within my industry with former podcast guests and just out and about in the world. There's this, I love this idea of spectrums again, because I think it's not like you are either for or against something.

There's a, there's a line or there's a, there's a spectrum and there's reasons for why sustainability initiatives haven't been adopted fully. And most of it, I think stems from the ca, from the, the perspective that sustainability initiatives in many cases can be seen as a cost center, not a value generator.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Uh,

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: But I [00:20:00] do think.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Yeah, it is,

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: But, but I do.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: leaders, and what I've learned from uh, leaders, uh, before me, that yes, it's not cost, it's investment your future.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Yeah. Well, it is investment, but what I'm seeing now with, with better technology, um, from just energy, from air quality, from building materials, from site selection, um. I'm seeing that it's more of a value gener, it's turning into more of a value generator because there's a measurable ROI, especially if you have alternative sources of energy on, on site where you can lower your energy bills, and that all just drops to the bottom line after an initial investment.

I also am seeing one of the initiatives of this idea of group travel. Many universities, many companies. Many other organizations insist that their teams travel at a hotel that [00:21:00] is rated on some sort of sustainability chart. And I find that the, from a, from a top line perspective, one of the first glimmers that I'm seeing is on this idea of group travel and, and drawing more group travel.

To a hotel because many of the other things are more bottom line driven from a revenue generation. Are I'm seeing green shoots of this? Do you agree with that or do you have a different perspective on from a, as far as revenue generation where sustainability can be seen as stronger? Because I think we need to pay more attention to that.

So more people are prone to adopt it in the things that they see, which is top line, not necessarily bottom line, which investors see at the end of the year, but

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: I

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: top line.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: I think the true. Value of regeneration is basically converting waste to wealth. And that can be mirrored in your PNL also who says the sustainability. And you have to be sharp and you have to be experienced, and you have to work along to make sure that all your wealth and [00:22:00] how you dispose it of, and how do you, how do you, uh, put it in that, um. Circular business cycle, uh, how do you take waste and convert it into wealth? And all the, even the initiatives that you have, you can convert it into wealth. so it's not a, it's not a cost center, it's an investment center. Um, a lot of hotels have been able to do it. And you, you, you were giving great examples of, uh, when people are deciding where to go, whether to go to that or stay in that hotel, uh, or stay in that space because of its, um, uh, sustainability credentials. sure in the next two or three years it'll be like TripAdvisor, right? You have guest feedback, you're gonna have feedback and of what are the initiatives that they've done for. Sustainability and regeneration. Does the hotel have a heart? Do they support the local [00:23:00] community? These aspects will be highly chosen, will be paramount in deciding whether to go, uh, in for sustainability and all when the owners, and you have to. Appraise all these instances to the owners. You have to give examples. Then it makes sense. I'll give you another example. I had gone to Singapore and I went to a company, they said, I'm sorry, we will for this year. Our company is not traveling because we have a limit on carbon emissions. Can we, we can uh, you know, carbon, uh, footprints. So that is why we are not able to do it in a. In a city or a hotel like yours because it's too far away. Now, either one thing is just to say that, okay, you built up carbon footprints, you know, sorry, we cannot do anything about it. Or you say that have some experiences. You build up [00:24:00] carbon footprints, you come and stay in the resort. We will have some initiatives, we'll have some workshops. We'll engage with the community and we'll try and get your carbon footprints down and then it

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Out in the community.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Yes,

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Oh, wow. Okay. So that's. The, like the baseline understanding of regenerative hospitality, right? Because if it's not just your property, you're actually casting a wider footprint

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Yes.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: With the community around. Okay. Wow. That's pretty cool. So how do you, how do you do that?

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: We, we used to have, we used to be in a remote island and, uh, we, we send messages to doctors that, Hey, if you want to reduce your carbon footprints or help the local community or get a discount in your other thing, why don't you come and stay with us? And, um, out of the seven days, uh, we'll give you, let's say, I'm just giving an example, uh, um, we'll give you two free nights, [00:25:00] help the local hospital. We were in remote places, right? Uh, or as an English teacher, spent two days teaching English or in language. It could be Spanish, it could be, uh, some other language. And that way, uh, we participate in giving you a discount. You get your carbon footprints and you feel a feel good factor because you, you know, coming in, you know, boats and yachts and helicopters and planes, you are able to reduce your carbon footprints and have an impression on the community. we used to have, so companies and resorts can have programs like this. Make sure that travel is not only about. Carbon emissions and negative, you can also gain and get some points to make it lesser,

what a beautiful thing that you come in, you have an amazing time, and

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: yeah.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: a program workshop where you are engaging with the local, uh, [00:26:00] community, the people around the schools, or something that you do, workshop that you do, where you add value, to

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Yeah.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Value to the stakeholders over here maybe value to the EN environment.

Speaker 2: Hey, everybody. We've been doing this podcast for over three years now, and one of the themes that consistently comes up is sustainability, and I'm just really proud to announce that our sponsor, Berman Fall Hospitality Group is the first within our hospitality industry to switch to sustainable and recyclable packaging, eliminating the use of styrofoam.

Please check out their impact page in the show notes for more info.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: What I appreciate about that is really you're giving this guest a 30% discount, plus or minus, but the returns to the community are outsized. And again, it's that it's like an asymmetric return for the community around which must only. I don't know, generate [00:27:00] goodwill and educate and health and all of these other things that's, I haven't heard that before.

Hmm. That's pretty cool. And what, what was, was that part of the regenerative hospitality program or is that something different?

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: yeah. Um, so that was way back in a different company, but it had, people started thinking, I mean,

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Huh?

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: People have been talking about sustainability and no plastic for years and years. 20, 25 years initiatives, that's why it irks me Sometimes you go to certain restaurants and you still have plastics over there.

I mean, plastic is something which is very small. you have to go into deeper things of how to reduce, uh, food waste. How do you, um, have less imports? How do you work with the communities, um, and the farmers and the farming or help their farming to get better, uh, better crops and, and build it up? Into a workshop, a great hotel experiences in a, in a six sensor resort.

We opened an egg farm, um, um, just as [00:28:00] part of the hotel. Um, all the kitchen waste going to the eggs, um, going to the, going to the chicken, the eating, a lot of kitchen waste. They are, um, giving the eggs the whole experience of little boys and girls before the breakfast. They're going into the little hand house collecting eggs going to. Going for breakfast, um, and telling the chef that I want my sunny side up. I am my want, my omelet. And there are, but there are so many other experiences around it, which makes it so popular and beneficial for all. Right.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: You've worked at some of the marquee brands in hospitality internationally. So  Oberoi, the Burj Al Arab, that the famous tallest building in the world where Tom Cruise climbed up the side of it. The SI six senses at for 14 years.

Potatohead are now at Regent.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: adding

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: were educate.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Grand Hyatt and add in a Kempinski palace here and there.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Oh yeah. Oh my God. Kempinski. Okay, so top, top, top brands. Also. [00:29:00] Top, top, top education, going to Oxford and Cornell. And I'm sure as you started off on your career, you had this idea of what hospitality is or should be, and you, and earlier in the conversation, you said service is.

Service is more technical. Hospitality is really true, truly from the heart. Right. Functional, um,

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Yeah.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Across your tenure at all of these incredible top brands, what's something, or many thing, or a couple of things that you unlearned about hospitality in the sense that you had this idea of what hospitality was because you went to the best schools to study management and hospitality.

But is there anything in any of these experiences across your career that you. Unlearned something about hospitality.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Uh, what I've unlearned is when people say hospitality always is top down, uh, the managers and the leaders teach you. Uh, it is important. Uh, yes, so ho hospitalities cannot be taught that much. It is [00:30:00] inbound. You have to

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Mm-hmm.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Driven. I've learned a lot from my, my, my servers, my, my, uh, my, uh, bellboys and girls waiters, waitresses, and just the line staff, how they react at an instant and just the heart goes out first and not those questions of. Anything do with monetary, uh, issues. It's just the heart of, uh, how they smile, how they welcome continuously, I think that gets me going. Um, hospitality has nothing to do with wealth. as I said that, uh, great, uh, service and leadership is, is difference between, uh, management and leadership.

Management is normally associated with. You know, top brass of the hierarchy, but leadership can be done through uh, by anybody. same thing with hospitality. Um, I think hospitality is just a skill [00:31:00] which you get from the environment that you are working with. it becomes a habit. It becomes part of you.

And once it becomes part of you, you are able to inspire others and hopefully. It takes one smile, one genuine smile at a time, and then you are able to excite somebody else, and then they smile somebody else with the same warmth, same happiness. And that's where it, you know, it, goes running. It is like a snowball effect. So add these hospitality points instead of one just smiling. Add these. Multiply it by thousand or 2000, uh, things that you do, um, where it is not functional, it's not service driven. It's just from the heart, how you smile, how you anticipate, how you actually genuinely how you see a plate coming back to, [00:32:00] uh, let's say the dishwasher. And it's not, it's not fully eaten. Um, you know, this. Service standards doesn't show that you go back to gas and really say that, Hey, I saw that you hadn't finished your meal. What is something wrong? Can we do something else? And and still, if he says, no, I didn't like it, still not charge him for it because something went wrong in that dish. And that's the hospitality which comes in

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: I don't know if this is exactly correct, but Regent. Hotels is known. They're known for serenity and craftsmanship. Right. And with that in mind, and shifting gears to the built environment of where you're sitting right now, how do you differentiate the regent experience in Bali from just being another luxury hotel on a beach?

Like walk us, walk us through the built environment.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Okay, so of the first features that people see that is

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: I.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: and they like it [00:33:00] is, uh, Bali is, uh, um, you know, a lot of tourists come over there. It may, feel full of life. A lot of people, a lot of enjoy. And as you come in, it becomes absolutely serene. It's like a yin and yang difference. what we kind of offer, we have, uh, palm trees, we have, uh, rolling lawns. We have great landscape. So you have the excitement tempo, the energy of partying, um, of, of going out, or, uh, food, beverage action, uh, outside, uh, the gates of the hotel. But as you come in. It goes down, it resets into a position where you can then decide that you wanna be part of, um, that luxury sense where there's a lot of privacy, a lot of stillness, relaxation, um, certain parts and certain areas where you can [00:34:00] have, uh, your private time together. if you want to just go, uh, out to, uh, just out of the gates of the hotel, you have a very exciting and very, uh, enchanting, atmosphere. So that is the first thing. One feels that, you know, so in such a charged up environment and space, we have a region. Which has this sense of serenity, uh, privacy, your place to choose whether you wanna be part of that for a longer time or you want to go out and, uh, you know, be part of, uh, the neighborhood.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Thank you. And then I, I have a question as far as this is me coming at hospitality as a fan, more of a fan than an expert. Okay. Um, many of the brands have these loyalty point reward systems. So IHG has IHG one rewards. You [00:35:00] as a general manager, you're accountable for the p and l of a hotel, the operations of the hotel profit loss, but I'm sure somewhere like Bali are where all a lot of loyal IHG guests can rack up points other places and come stay at the region.

Bali. How does a general manager reconcile or balance those books from converting those into, into dollars? Like is it, are they the same as dollars? I have no idea how that works. And I would love for you to explain that to me.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: It is cash for us That's how the whole reward system works, right? You earn rewards, the

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: It.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: for free, uh, or complimentary, but the IG reward system pays the hotel. There's a

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Um,

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: permeation pays of hotel for it. Um, it's not the full rate of course, but um, this is the benefit that, uh, the guest gets. So he's not paying his redeem his points, he's not paying for it, but we are getting it from the IG [00:36:00] reward system. Uh, so the hotel doesn't, uh, uh, is, is getting catchy. The hotel is

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: From IHG.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: cash for it from IG Hotel.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Okay. Now I want to, I want to tie this back to the idea of sustainable luxury or sustainable hospitality. So you have this IHG one rewards and you and, and it may attract people to in the IHG family to stay at your hotel in Bali. And then they get there and they see this serenity.

They maybe experience your idea of sustainable luxury. Um, is there a hope that you have that somehow you can change the worldview of those guests so that they go on and make different choices in their own life to be more sustainable?

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Oh, yeah, yeah, absolutely. I, I think every, um, uh, every hotel, um, in, in our group has a different character. So if they come to the region and they get, ena by. The service that we provide, [00:37:00] uh,

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Hmm.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Something on sustainability or something on, uh, um, on, on, on wellness, um, or the kind of, uh, food and beverage outlets that we have. They may just become a fan of Regent. Um, they may just become a fan of the region Bali, and the next next, um, uh, holiday that they plan, um, they said, okay, well, they say go to region Bali, because of the experiences that I have now. Gordon to know, which I didn't know earlier, and I could manage only because of the points. I stayed in an amazing hotel, uh, luxury space, and it has great ideals on service, uh, heartford, hospitality and sustainable luxury.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: thank you for sharing that. 'cause I think it is an opportunity to get, if people build up this bank of points. They want to spend those points and usually they'll build them up for business travel, and then there's an opportunity to really change someone's worldview by when they [00:38:00] say, oh, let's go to Bali and have this experience or somewhere else within the IHG ecosystem.

It could be six senses, anything. I think there's a real opportunity for sustainability to kind of build a halo effect with. Guests when they go back home, and I, I hear anecdotal stories about it, but I, I don't know how there's a way to really share those anecdotal stories or convert those anecdotal stories into something more mathematical so that it's like it's a win-win, win for everyone.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Yeah, but it's not only on sustainability. I think we are able to change people's perceptions and minds through the other experiences. Uh, we, we, we, we offer, sustainability is a big part of it. Wellness is a big part of it. The food and beverage experiences and workshops that we offer. again, a big part of it. And the main thing is the overall experience that you take back. We are here in the business of creating great memories. Bali also is in the, [00:39:00] uh, business of creating amazing memories, and we want those memory memories to stay with them for a lifetime. It is just not, uh, I, I think the impact that we are. propagating or trying to do is that the impact is lifelong and it's just not as you, as you finish your vacation or you finish your stay with us, the memories dies of that.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Hmm.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Has to be for a much longer time.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Hmm.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: why you get to know that you made an impact on people's lives. and plus those guests who stay with us, hopefully. Um, they're able to share the experiences with their neighbors and, uh, their colleagues all around, and that's why we have word of mouth, uh, which is a

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Hmm,

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: of people coming back because of references from their neighbors or their colleagues.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: earlier you and I love this conversation and channel around impact. Right? And earlier you said you like to inspire. Young leaders in [00:40:00] hospitality, whether it's your team or people listening to this podcast or other people that you've come across in your, in your life experience.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Yeah.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: If you think about impact from your perspective, what's a lesson you wish you learned when you were just starting out?

What could have shortened your journey to the path of who you are now?

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: I think, um, I had great leaders that I worked with. I, I, I, got inspired. Um, the only is I should have opened my mind a little but more my heart much, much more. To get, um, the knowledge which was going around at that time was very limited because you were just limited to the bosses you work with or colleagues you work with.

You didn't have, uh, internet, you didn't have, um, social media. So I think the amount of knowledge that you can get right now is extremely. Much easier than I did at that [00:41:00] time.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Don't date your, don't date yourself. We're old. Remember a li, as you said that I was like, oh, a life before social media. God, what a novel idea. I feel so lucky to have experienced that.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Yeah. Um, I did also. Um, but um, now that I look back and I've learned so much, and as you said it is now it's time. I, I know fundamentally I think I'm in, in, in that the position and, and that age that I wanna give back may maybe comes in from the number of hotels that I've opened. And then you are always molding people there.

You are always recruiting, you are always, um, inspiring. You are always teaching, always training. and that continues that value systems, at least in myself and other GMs. I'm sure that continues, but there's a time where you, we are looking at, inspiring and Taking any opportunity like this podcast, [00:42:00] um, telling people your story, what you learned, and what you read well, and what you regret in life. Um, regret in life, as I said right now is I wish I had more, would've been more open at that younger age. Um. Uh, to get more of the good stuff, which was there in hospitality at that time and hotels to soak it up in, in a faster way. did not, but that's why I tell that whatever opportunities you get through social media, through going out to different restaurants or staying in a different hotels, be inquisitive, soak it all in um. Um, you, you need a lot of knowledge and experience to do, to open hotels, and I've been able to do it semis successfully. Um, that is for others to judge, but I think I've learned a lot and, and it's time to give back and that's why I keep on telling stories and narratives about[00:43:00]

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Mm.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: and, and, and the good that I've. Able to do for the community and the teams that I work with, and how we work as team and how what we learned what we, um, were able to, m make in in a hotel. The kind of experiences in hotels.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: I think that also hearkens back to your definition of hospitality, where it's really heartfelt. So as, as you talk about impacting. Uh, rising leaders. So it's a two-way street. It's not just you impacting them. Those leaders also need to have an open heart and open mind. I think the heart actually open-heartedness is probably more important than open-mindedness.

'cause if you lead with your heart, you're mu you're much, it's much easier to impact others and, and have it be more reciprocal. Um. As we look at Bali, Bali is compared to the North America or or Europe. It's a, it's a relatively young country. [00:44:00] I I'm sure the average age is 30 or under. How do you find those open-hearted young managers working on your teams, and how do you inspire them?

How do, how do you, how do you connect with them so that you can help steepen their career path?

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: just to be around most of the time. As I said, just not, it's, it's, it's, you know, is not a function. You need to be out. It's much more engaging. Um, the younger generation is not into. Um, know, policies and processes, which are written down and big books and standards, which are there, uh, and to read. Um, they like to follow through inspiration, through sing. if you're a leader, if you're a great manager, you need to be around and they are always watching you. So you gotta be very careful of how you talk, how you walk. Um. Do the right thing, even when there's nobody watching. [00:45:00] Even there's, when there's nobody watching, there's somebody watching you, right? Um, inner conscience, which is watching you, if not Google, uh, cameras or satellite cameras, but you, your, your, uh, inner con or CC TVs, but inner conscious is, is, uh, watching you do the right thing, um, at the right time, be. Oh God. you know, you don't have to try, if it's part of your personality, if it becomes part of your, daily movement, you don't have to try.

It just comes out naturally

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: that, that confirms what you said earlier about. Finding people with a higher eq. Right? That's where EQ becomes really important. And I also think EQ is something that, okay, many people are born with a high eq, but EQ is also something that can be learned and taught and strengthened and o and by opening your heart more, right?

Is there, you mentioned having come up under certain great leaders in our industry. Can you name one and, and [00:46:00] maybe something that that leader. Said to you or acted towards you, that helped you open your heart a little bit more and how have you, you used the word pay it forward a lot. How have you taken that and paid it?

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: there have been leaders. I can't, I don't wanna take names, uh, right now, but there have been many examples where I've, uh, I've learned, uh, to do the right things, as I said, do the right thing with, I mean, this is not, this is not my coach. This is my, one of my leader's coach, do the right thing when. watching you

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Hmm. Hmm.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: That that is so strong that you normally do certain things where, because you've been, you know, because there's somebody watching you, you are being observed. But if there's nobody around in the room, nobody in in the area, and you're still doing the right things. That is, that is true greatness and leadership and great hospitality. [00:47:00] So I've been, I've been lucky to move around and, um, get inspired by small actions, greatness again, great hotels are not made with one big action or one big, uh. Asset, uh, or, or, or structure or great views is made by these little, little thousands of little things. And during your, your hospitality life, you have to pick up these small little details, of, of service, um, of, of hospitality, of, of giving, of recognizing certain things, um, of doing the right things as per standards, and even beyond. That's what makes a complete hotel, or that's what makes a hotel iconic.

Otherwise, hotel asset-wise is great. Um,

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: I, I.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: all around.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: I thank you for sharing the image of you walking around and noticing [00:48:00] things right, and all the details and, and it made me want to ask you, when you're walking through the hotel, whether it's the built environment or the people, what gives you the most pride when you're walking property or the natural environment?

property?

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: really if I, uh, it's very clear the, generally smiling hosts and guests. Staff if just generally smile and excited and still passionate. You can see the passion in the, uh, in, in how they stand and how, how, how they work. If they're proud of what they do, if they're passionate, if they're smiling, if they're excited to be there. And same in, uh, in, in, in the same way if your guest, if you really look at the guest and every time. They are with, with, obviously happy and satisfied and, um, they confront you and they engage with you because they want to either give feedback, um, constructive or um, [00:49:00] or great feedback just because they are so excited and they want to share one thing, uh, something else excites me is when I see my hosts or my employees names. when, uh, when you get feedback, so imagine a guest is giving feedback, um, or a review of a hotel experience after 2, 3, 4, 5 days of staying. If he is able to remember each action of a host, of a staff, remember the name. That's a job well done.

That means,

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Yeah. more and more names, and more and more instances that you get back. if the guest is able to remember the name of the host and act actually where it was and what they had, that means it was very, very special. That goes beyond just service, that is hospitality

Yeah. Well, thank you. Thank you for sharing that. It, when you, you've been [00:50:00] living all over the world over the past 30 years and when you're not working, where do you feel most at home?

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Uh, with, uh, with books,

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: I.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: And, and all kind of books. It's not only on hospitality and hotels and restaurants on great people, uh. You are, you are, you're, you're just learning from whatever you read. It could

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Mm-hmm.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: It could be spy novels. Um, uh, Jean LA is my, one of my favorites, and you are always learning. but, but the thing is, you are always, somehow you are. It always winds up, uh, into how do I put it into hospitality and how do I put it into my workspace? Or how do I enrich somebody's, or if, you know, you can, can learn about leadership from spiritual books to novels, uh, novels to fiction and nonfiction, anything.

So it's, it's that openness, which I told you [00:51:00] about, which I was closed much earlier. Now I'm open to everything that I read. here and how is it gonna affect my work? How do I make somebody life a little more enjoyable, a little more happier, uh, with what I'm learning through reading or listening? you know, family is home and I, I think, uh, uh, just fatherhood and, uh, you know, just being, being a husband teaches you a lot on leadership. a huge amount. Um, and, and, and managing, um, managing issues and managing, uh, Instances. Um, so e everything you are, you're trying to learn from all these things around you and try and put it back into, into your workspace in your professional life. Um, yeah, do I have a balance? Uh, you know, a personal and uh, uh. Uh, work, uh, life balance? No, because I, it's, it's work is part of me and, uh, it's part of my family [00:52:00] because hospitality is so dear to me. It is part of my, my system. I cannot switch off and

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Yeah.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: It's just part of my value system. Um, and the value system is that if you can make, uh. Your family happy and excited, and every time you can, you should be able to make your professional family happy. Uh, with the same, uh, value system.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: I find as I get older and straddled with more responsibilities, I find the ultimate luxury because I'm doing it less and less as I get older. But I do love reading. But when I can really focus on reading a book and teleporting somewhere else, that to me is like the ultimate luxury. And I read, I, I'm noticing how important it is to me.

Um, and I'm trying to do more and more of it. I've. It's very important and, and incredible. And someday, maybe I'll be lying on the beach in Bali reading a book. So I wanna say thank you for coming on. If people wanted to learn more about you or the [00:53:00] region, Bali, um, Monish, what's a good way for them to do that?

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Um, email me directly, uh, manish.puri@ig.com. And, uh, my handle for Instagram is, uh, man puri. Um, and, uh, you'll be able to engage with me, as I said, my, you know, I, I, I love to share my experiences with you. Uh, all anything I can do to make enrich your lives, that's what I'm here for.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: Wonderful. Well, I wanna give you a heartfelt thank you for coming on and sharing your story and talking about your incredible new hotel. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Manishh.

manish-puri_1_09-23-2025_192939: Oh, most welcome, Dan. you

so much.

dan-ryan--he-him-_3_09-23-2025_072814: you're very welcome. And I also really want to thank our listeners. 'cause without you, we wouldn't be talking to people halfway around the world at these new, incredible resorts where they're really making a lasting impact. So thank you all to the listeners, and if this has changed your mind on hospitality, please forward it to someone else [00:54:00] and I'd love to pay it forward that way because I think everything that Monish had shared here.

Is worthy of being shared to others because I think that there is a tremendous impact that we can all learn from his journey in hospitality. So thank you all and we'll catch next time.