BORN TO FLY

Michael Helling’s career has taken him from sea to shore. Now he’s looking skyward, piloting the astonishing Aviator Farnborough.

You can tell by the design of Aviator that ours is no mere airport hotel. As the Learjets, Cessnas and Gulfstreams glide into TAG Farnborough Airport, pilots and passengers alike can be forgiven for thinking they’re landing next to a colossal propeller, all sleek, fluid and curvaceous. This is entirely intentional, because Aviator wants to evoke for guests the breathtaking beauty of flight. It’s in the attention to detail in all of our rooms and in all of our services. The sky is the limit.

An airport’s hotel

What we are is an airport’s hotel, a truly international destination hotel in an entirely unique situation.

The Aviator is owned by TAG Aviation, a global conglomerate that also owns TAG Farnborough Airport, one of the most prestigious and highly esteemed business airports in Europe. It isn’t surprising that people fly into Farnborough to go to London, a brief 30-minute journey by train or car. The airport is far enough from London to escape the traffic and noise but close enough to enjoy an evening out in the capital.

TAG Farnborough Airport has a rich history dating back to World War II when it was the home of the Royal Aircraft Establishment. Aviator is built on the site of what was once the RAF Officers Mess. It is simply fascinating how the largest airplane in the world, an Airbus 8380, can actually land on the airstrip behind us.

A path to future growth

Shareholders of TAG Aviation viewed the future growth of the airport very much in terms of providing ancillary services to it, and so Aviator is, for all intents and purposes, an extension of the airport.

What you have today is a thoroughly 21st century, aeronautically-inspired hotel that’s been called ‘an architectural marvel’. Our 169 bedrooms and suites, including ‘Sky Studios’ facing the runway, our exclusive Sky Lounge (perfect for viewing the air shows our clients love), Sky Bar, Brasserie, Deli and meeting rooms all bear the hallmark of interior designer Amanda Rosa, who has done a magnificent job.

All rooms, including public areas, are handsome yet soft and soothing, comfortably contemporary classic but with an intriguing touch of the avant garde, bright colours bursting forth here and there. The first thing that grabs you upon entering Aviator is the hush surrounding our stunning atrium stairwell leading up to the reception and a spiral of floors and rooms. The roundness and lack of corners is deliberate and embracing. The smell of green tea adds to the impression of calm throughout. This is how flying your own private plane is meant to feel.

No turbulence

The opening of the hotel, achieved at quite short notice, coincided with the Farnborough Air Show in summer 2008, which attracts aficionados and aviation executives the world over. I’ve been closely and intimately involved in many openings during my hospitality career, but this ranked among my biggest challenges ever.

Coming on board a mere month before the opening may have added to it, but until then I was still managing the Hong Kong Club for The Peninsula Hotel group. Being halfway around the world, all the operational and logistical aspects of preparing the hotel for opening had already been quite ably handled by Nicholas Rettie, the Project Director.

During opening week, which was reserved for people from TAG, no less than 200-300 people roamed the hotel. On the second day, we had 100% occupancy. We then opened to the public immediately after the air show ended. Everybody knows that from day one, a hotel has to deliver an exceptional product and service. Opening when you’re supposed to open is down to determination and teamwork, and Aviator spread its wings with all public rooms fully operational and functioning as they should, with a smiling cabin crew.

Providing value

The Aviator is a fantastic product and being barely a year old it is not surprising that we expect some growing pains as we continue to establish ourselves. The economy has made an impact, but it has affected every single business. The trick has been to approach it not from a doom and gloom perspective but to say ‘we have a huge opportunity here to achieve something special and meet our guests’ expectations’ in tough times. Now is the time people want to be accommodated, see friendly faces, and have a good time.

This economic downturn will separate the wheat from the chaff. Hoteliers can only expect current and future guests to be much more demanding, much more knowledgeable of the hotels or restaurants they visit. Guests have less money than they used to two years ago, when they could afford to be a bit more lavish and less demanding. Times were good, whereas now everyone is more critical.

The Aviator’s philosophy, vision and strategy from day one has always been to provide a service that offers extremely good value for money, regardless of whether or not we’re in the midst of an economic downturn.

A free hand

It helps that we’re an independently owned hotel and therefore unconstrained by large headquarters or large corporate rules. That obviously gives us an opportunity to have a different approach.

We’re very much about independence and about empowering staff to make decisions. Our 139 staff are 139 salespeople. Each and every one of them has the potential to make a direct impact on the guest stay regardless of where they work in the hotel.

We live by guidelines and not necessarily rules. Obviously, certain aspects such as accounts and corporate governance require rules but generally at Aviator we live by guidelines, which are flexible and can be interpreted. Paradoxically, this means that discipline and training are all the more important to make sure that despite or because of this freedom, everyone sings off the same hymn sheet.

Hiring local

Our hotel is still small enough to have an intimate relationship with everyone. We all have a name, not a number.

This is an attractive proposition for anyone working at Aviator, and the majority of my managers are from the London area. The moment they walk through the door, new recruits are intrigued by its beauty and newness, and it captures their interest in terms of how they want to progress their career, especially those who want to be part of a hotel opening. These are all positives that encourage candidates to come on board.
Some of our managers have had international experience, although international experience is not a must and in my view never a prerequisite for opening a hotel, even an internationally-led one. In excess of 90% of our staff are local.

At the end of the day, everyone who works at Aviator is considered part of the TAG Aviation family. The company walks the talk about family values, which is all about respect, treating people fairly and being polite, a philosophy reflected in the manner in which we conduct all our business. The red carpet belongs outside the building, not just inside, I always say.

To hospitality born

Being General Manager of Aviator is just the latest stage of a lifetime spent in hospitality. I wouldn’t have known what else to do, with a family running a restaurant and bistro and exposure at a very early age. But my attitudes and appreciation of Aviator and what a terrific hotel stands for have been shaped by my experiences in various sectors of the industry: cruise ships, restaurants, a private members’ club and yes, another hotel.

I could never see myself being pigeon-holed into one area of the industry. It was more a matter of being an individual pigeon, doing many different things. But note that whenever you work with the best in the business, the principles and expectations are the same. You must offer the best, and aim to fly high.

Worlds of opportunity

My first real professional opportunity involved working in food and beverage for a company that provided catering on cruise ships in the United States. Despite having a hotel management degree from The Hague, in typical American fashion I was made to start as a bus boy and work my way up. By the time I was twenty-three, I was F&B Manager on board a cruise ship with 2,500 passengers.

The next management step was shore side, more logistical and operational, looking after staff, the food ordering, menus and the like. I flew to wherever my ships were, in the Amazon River or Alaska or anywhere in between. It provided the best lessons in planning; when a ship sets sail on a 4-week cruise, all the menus have already been printed, so you have to guarantee that you have on board all four weeks’ worth of provisions.

In defence of the best

Since then my career has brought me into contact with headstrong, passionate, creative and successful people, none of whom have been afraid to challenge or be challenging. The legendary Sir Terence Conran, who I think has made the most impact on my attitude to this industry, Mourad Mazouz and the Levy Brothers with whom I worked at Conran Restaurants, Sketch and The Grove, respectively, would never have achieved what they have achieved by settling for mediocrity.

These leaders have always demanded the very best of the people working with them, and for this reason I am drawn to quality establishments. The people who run these businesses don’t settle for mediocrity, to the extent that today I have the confidence to want the very best, no matter at what level and what resources are available.

Sense of travel

Now anybody who works in the hospitality business knows that the opportunity to go out to Hong Kong or to get overseas experience anywhere in Asia is a lifetime opportunity. When I was approached by The Peninsula Hotel group, my children were still of an age where I could uproot them from school. Today, they speak Mandarin, and Hong Kong proved a magnificent experience for all of us. It’s a metropolis, a vast place filled with different cultures and a sense of hospitality that is absolutely phenomenal.

Travelling appeals to my Dutch sense of curiosity. Throughout the centuries, the Dutch have been great travellers. Quite a few of us work in hospitality throughout the world; there’s always a Dutch connection somewhere regardless of where you go. It’s in our DNA to want to understand the culture that we’re in and to adapt to it. This gives us our great sense of belonging, no matter where we go.

For now I am just happy to pilot Aviator, a hotel for those who, like me, want to touch the sky.

To learn more about the Aviator Farnborough, visit www.aviatorfarnborough.co.uk. You can contact Michael Helling, General Manager of Aviator, on mh@aviatorfarnborough.co.uk