The sun has yet to break through the mist on a recent morning, but the InterContinental Hotel Beijing Financial Street is already in full gear. It is a great start to a new day for Frankson Lee as the new general manager of the InterContinental Hotel Financial Street.

As the bankers enter the hotel for business breakfast, newspapers are already neatly arranged for them on the newspaper rack. The hotel's Christmas tree lighting ceremony on Dec 7 was a hit and now the "Alaskan seafood feast" - a 23-day major event in its Monsoon restaurant - has certainly got people talking. Every day at a five-star hotel is similar because, as any hotelier will quip, no day is the same.

Frankson Lee is a Singaporean hotelier with over 17 years of international experience in the hospitality industry. Various work experiences abroad in a mixture of departments has made him a rather adaptable and extroverted manager.

"As a manager, it is crucial to remain calm and patient, but alert at all times," he said. "I can't stress enough the importance of communication in terms of stimulating internal integration in a hotel like the InterContinental Hotel. No one, certainly no department, actually achieves anything on their own," he added.

The InterContinental Hotel is located at the heart of Beijing's financial street, which is well known as China's Wall Street. It is continuously gaining prominence as an internationally influential business and financial area. In fact, up to 90 percent of the five-star InterContinental hotel's guests consist of corporate and business clients.

"We are determined to create a home away from home for our clientele, our engaged employees play a critical role in this," Lee said frankly. The hotel consistently has a relatively high Customer Return Rate (CRR), which is something every hotel requires to thrive in the current economic climate. This has also been one of the major reasons the team has gone the extra mile for guests.

From the concierge welcoming guests at the door to the maître d'hôtel greeting guests at the restaurant, the habit of paying attention to details almost comes naturally for every InterContinental hotel employee. Lee emphasized the majority of the hotel's employees have been with the company for many years. Some of them even know their guests' names, preferences, even allergies, thoroughly by heart. "This does not only provide our guests with a smooth day, but it also enhances their experience and maximizes guest satisfaction," Lee said.

"There is definitely a bond between our guests and our staff, which is a unique feature of our hotel that cannot be duplicated by others," Lee stressed. "Speaking of which, one of our concierges was awarded the head of the concierge organization in Beijing. This kind of remarkable recognition is something that our team truly takes pride in."

"It's tough for every hotelier who is determined to achieve success in such a competitive industry. I have seen its ups and downs over the past decade," Lee mentioned. He witnessed how badly the industry was hit during the SARS outbreak. As he recalls, his hotel had as low as 20 percent occupancy at that time. Just when the industry had a chance to catch its breath, the recession slowly kicked in. Upscale and luxury hotels were certainly affected almost immediately, yet many hotels had various coping strategies for the situation.

"It was never tempting to me," Lee highlighted, "the idea of competing in the ‘hotel price war' if the hotel's standard of service is at stake." In fact, he firmly believes there is no time like now to show his guests exactly how far the hotel will reach out and how extensively employees will work in order to maintain the InterContinental Hotel's standard as well as its legacy.

"I have been working with the InterContinental Hotel Group for over two years now. The hotel has been generously providing me opportunities to allow me to grow as a hotelier," he expressed with gratitude.