Global Traveler: What are the highlights of your career in the hotel industry?
Sudheer Raghavan: Prior to joining Millennium Hotels and Resorts in August 2005, I worked for Singapore Airlines for 25 years. I don’t look at my experience in the hotel industry as being a short one. I look at it as 26 years’ experience in a service culture with attributes that are almost the same in both industries. The passengers and the hotel guests require the same standard of quality service. You touch their heart and in return they come back to your product.

GT: What can the North American traveler expect from Millennium Hotels in terms of quality and service domestically and abroad?
SR: For the business traveler the quality of service and amenities provided should be a given. Internet and communications tools should be at their fingertips. Travel in the past was a tiresome affair. The focus now should be to keep the guest healthy for peak performance. Elements at our properties that help enhance peak performance include guestrooms outfitted to ensure a good night’s sleep; fitness spa; and good food. The traveler does not always have to eat gourmet foods, but healthy foods are essential. In the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York, our Premier tower is non-smoking. We are also taking advantage of technology and working to provide allergy-free rooms to make for a more pleasant experience. When I worked for the airlines I would ask myself, what makes for a good ground experience? In our hotels, I ask the same question in order to provide our consumer with a greater experience.

GT: How do you distinguish your brands internationally?
SR: We have the know-how to infuse the famed standards of Asian service with the modern and sophisticated style of Western service and technology. The Orchard Hotel in Singapore is a good example. We are refurbishing four floors under the direction of French designer Pierre-Yves Rochon. The design incorporates a great Oriental flair with a distinctly Western feel, creating a unique fusion of two styles in one room. Service is a strong point for us — as well as an opportunity. In Singapore, we recently launched the Outstanding Service Experience, a service training program for employees from the front office to the bell boys to the restaurant staff. We have 19 properties in the United States, 14 of which we manage ourselves under the Millennium name. If the U.S. business traveler has a positive experience with us domestically, he will think of us when he travels internationally or with his family.

GT: What developments should our readers look out for in the near future?
SR: We are currently upgrading key properties. Seventy-five percent of the rooms at The Millennium Broadway have been refurbished. Renovations in the remaining 126 rooms began in late June. We are in the design stage for Millennium Bostonian Hotel Boston with room renovations expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2007. Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel Chicago is another great property in a great location with unique charms. We are investing in renovations of the public places and rooms beginning in January 2007. Another focus of ours is on Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles — a phenomenal property with unique history. We want to be remembered by our patrons as the people who go the extra mile. It’s our job to commit to you, or get out of the business.