Ashish Modak: dedicated advocate of luxury hospitality

The General Manager of LUX* Belle Mare comes back on his fulfilling career in the hotel industry which started some 20 years ago. One of his major concerns is the preservation of the five-star status of the island in order to meet the expectations of luxury travellers.

Meeting Ashish Modak, General Manager of LUX* Belle Mare, luxury hotel situated on the Eastern coast of the island, gives one a glimpse of what hospitality should be at its best. Smiling, kind-hearted and easy-going, it is with humility that he reveals having been in the hotel business for over 20 years.

Since his younger days, Ashish Modak was determined to work in hotels and studying hospitality management hence came as a logical choice. His first job experience, he recalls, was at the iconic Taj Mahal Palace and Tower in Mumbai. “I chose to specialize in the Food & Beverage department after having undergone management training in various departments, and I had the opportunity to open and manage The Zodiac Grill, a fine dining restaurant.” From then on, The Zodiac Grill has been one of the most renowned European restaurants in India.

After working seven years with the Taj Group in India, Ashish Modak was selected to join the pre-opening team of Taj Exotica Resort and Spa in Maldives as the Food & Beverage Manager. He remained there for four years. While he was in the Maldives, he was sent on another short mission to Mauritius in order to prepare the opening of the Taj Exotica in 2004, now Maradiva. The Indian hospitality group also offered Ashish Modak the opportunity to undergo professional development and to work at the Taj in London. “To further broaden my operations outlook, I was selected to undergo a Rooms Management Program at the Cornell University in New York.”

In 2006, it was 11 years since Ashish Modak had joined the Taj Group and he decided to move to Six Senses Resort, a high-end resort operator well known as the hospitality industry’s pioneer of sustainable practices, creative concept development customized by location and a very unique service culture. “I opened their first resort in Oman called the Six Senses Hideaway, Zighy Bay, as Resort Manager.”

Three years later, in 2009, Ashish Modak joined LUX* Resorts & Hotels (then called Naïade) by becoming the Resort Manager of Diva Maldives (now LUX* Maldives). After a successful two years, in 2011, time had come for him to move to Mauritius, to Beau Rivage Hotel, which would later on be named LUX* Belle Mare. “I moved to Mauritius at an opportune time and naturally became an integral part of our entire rebranding journey from Naïade to LUX*.”

Ashish Modak further describes this rebranding operation, in which he was personally involved “under the guidance of well-known experts like Paul Jones, Piers Schmidt and Ron Kaufman”, as an “exceptional transformation”. “We moved from just being a hospitality company with no unifying thread amongst its various properties to developing successfully our own unique hospitality concept. We were among the first on the island to have taken a bold step forward in doing away with our 14-year identity as Naïade and moved forward confidently to redefine ourselves to the travel world as LUX* Resorts & Hotels.” Even if in his career Ashish Modak had mastered the art of opening or reopening properties, with LUX*, he had probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to “experience fully what it is to rebrand a company over a year-long process that involves, among several other tasks, changing the mindset of more than 3,000 people. This learning is unparalleled.”

As the General Manager of LUX* Belle Mare, the responsibility of Ashish Modak is threefold. First of all, it consists in giving every guest a wonderful holiday experience. “My mission is to meet every single guest who visits my resort and develop a bonding with them which goes beyond just business – one of trust – while making them a part of our larger family called LUX* Belle Mare.” This seems to be a winning formula as the repeat clientele of the luxury hotel continues to grow every year.

Ashish Modak’s second priority is the LUX* Belle Mare team. “They make LUX* Belle Mare what it is and it is my responsibility to ensure their well-being. Along with my colleagues, here at the resort, we run a lot of programs aimed towards our team members.”

His last but not least priority is to ensure that he is delivering the best results according to business objectives. “Here, we have many items that must be carefully managed.” The reputation of LUX* Belle Mare is of utmost importance to the General Manager. “I am constantly reading reviews posted by guests on the various social media platforms which feature LUX* Belle Mare.” Of these platforms, TripAdvisor is the most influential and Ashish Modak takes the time to respond personally to guests who post reviews. “In 2011, when I joined the erstwhile Beau Rivage, we were 35th on TripAdvisor for Mauritius. We have managed to come up now being 4th out of 176 establishments in Mauritius, which has been possible owing to the relentless efforts of the team in ensuring every guest is happy.”

Ensuring consistent returns for their key stakeholders is essential for the team of LUX* Belle Mare. “And LUX* Belle Mare is currently doing very well. We practically had no low period this year with average occupancy of 75 % YTD. I am also responsible to ensure brand standards are consistently maintained in all areas so that guests get a seamless experience.”

For Ashish Modak, the strengths of the hotel industry in Mauritius are our environment, balanced ecology, the effervescent and hospitable attitude of the Mauritian people. As regards our weaknesses, he mentions a tendency towards an excessive commercialization, in the first place. “When people think of Mauritius, it connotes simplicity, but too much commercialization will mask our simplicity”, he explains. He also considers that we need to think of sustainable development within the hospitality sector to maintain the ecological balance and incite more young people to work in the hotel industry. “Planned growth is needed as we will ‘overclutter’ the market by increasing the inventory. Skilled manpower is in short supply as cruise lines poach young talent. So we need to have a steady supply of skilled manpower by encouraging the younger gene-rations to join the hospitality sector.” Besides, Ashish Modak truly thinks that the Mauritian destination should preserve its five-star status, as there is a strong resurgent demand for luxury travel. “The economies look like coming out of the dark and luxury focus for an island like Mauritius should be maintained.”

When he is not busy managing LUX* Belle Mare, Ashish Modak is a simple man who likes to contribute to the happiness of people around him. He cherishes his son and wife and has a lot of gratitude for the latter. “I am fortunate to have a very understanding partner in my wife who is my pillar of support and a bouncing board for ideas at times. One could say, I am a family person.”

About the dreams he nourishes, Ashish Modak confesses he gets “restless when their realization is taking time.” He is also fond of reading, from fiction to research journalists. “I believe reading expands one’s horizons and one ought to read a lot.” One of the books he read recently, he shares, is “The One Thing” by Gary Keller that talks about the need to focus on a single thing without any lapses in concentration to achieve success.