Irshad Quazzafi is the General Manager of Golden Tulip, a luxurious hotel located in Westlands, Nairobi.
Quazzafi describes his steady rise up the echelons of the facility as ‘using the stairs rather than the elevator.’ He has been overseeing all the departments of the hotel and set goals to enable them get better rankings.
According to him, Golden Tulip was ranked 48 out of 367 Kenyan hotels when he assumed his current role. Through meticulous planning and setting of higher standards, they are currently ranked 8th best.
Here is the story of the general manager as told by WoK:
Brought up in India
Quazzafi was brought up in India hence his soft accent when he speaks English. Between 1997 and 2000, he studied hotel management at a local university in India. He always had a deep passion for working in the hospitality industry as one gets to meet with people of different cultures.
“Hotel is charming itself. You meet lots of different clients with diverse nationalities, culture and language. That inspired me a lot to connect with the people to understand more about them,” he told KTN.
The father of two managed a grade B and soon began his career as a receptionist at Citizen Hotel in Mumbai, India. He would then work as a front office assistant in another hotel.
Quazzafi says being a receptionist is synonymous with being the heart of the hotel because visitors will always dial the department for complaints and requests.
Moving to Dubai
The general manager would then move to Dubai in 2003 where he began working as a front office in charge for Imperial Suite Hotel, Dubai. He then moved to other hotels, this time working in the sales department.
According to him, he was always working on getting better and competing with himself. This would pay as he was getting promoted within the sales department.
“I was getting promoted in the same company because my competition was with me only. My boss should come and when I’m setting my appraisal and (signing the) contract, he should feel that I’m ready for the next position,” he says.
Joining Golden Tulip
Between 2017 and 2020, he worked as the General Manager of Golden Tulip in Dubai before he was transferred to Kenya. He takes pride with improving the ratings of the Westlands based facility.
With the hotel ranked 48th best in Kenya, he says he had to conduct a research on hotel data while noting challenges and room for improvement.
As a leader, he assigned various staff to address the challenges that they faced and they had a deadline to do so. Quazzafi also hints that they focused on guest retention and brand ethics.
With the efforts put in, the results were positive and the hotel is currently ranked among the top 10 in Kenya. Golden Tulip also won the She Travellers Award which feted them as one of the safest hotels for female travellers.
