‘To inspire staff to make Hyatt guests happy’

Hyatt Regency Saipan general manager Nick Nishikawa said that looking after his staff is the driving force behind the journey to renewing Hyatt’s lease. (Bea Cabrera)

For someone who has been in the hospitality business for 37 years and has been at the helm of Hyatt Regency Saipan for almost 12 years, Nick Nishikawa seems to carry those years of experiences lightly.

Even his management style as general manager of Hyatt Regency Saipan is never heavy-handed. “Hyatt Saipan is not a one-man company; we work together as a team,” he said.

It helps that Nishikawa has his priorities straight: To lead, inspire, and engage his team.

According to Nishikawa, doing all he can to inspire and engage the Hyatt Saipan team are his priorities so they can share the same with their guests and this passion has fueled him over the years.

“To put it simply, I love my job because I love Saipan. Work and environment have helped me bring out this passion from myself and from every staff in the hotel,” he said.

Nishikawa respects and trusts his staff and “I know they can do their responsibilities the best way they know how. If there are problems that is brought to my attention, I listen and ultimately make a decision with the team,” he added.

That drive to take care of his staff is also the driving force behind the journey to renewing Hyatt Regency Saipan’s lease in the CNMI.

Hyatt, which is still the only international brand hotel in the Northern Marianas in the last 39 years, has a public land lease that’s expiring in December 2021. Yet with only a little over two years to go, its lease renewal remains up in the air.

The hotel currently has 260 employees, 90% of which are local hires who are on the brink of losing their jobs in the event Hyatt’s lease is not renewed. According to Nishikawa, including these employees’ families, the number of affected people could go up to 1,000.

“Early this month, we have submitted two appraisals of land and building, which is required by the Department of Public Lands in line with [Hyatt’s] request for [lease] extension,” he said.

There has been no response yet from DPL but Nishikawa said they know that the appraisals are still undergoing review and study before DPL comes up with new regulations.

Right now, Hyatt is in a wait-and-see situation but he said the company is glad that negotiations are moving and that they have the support of the Hotel Association of Northern Mariana Islands and the Saipan Chamber of Commerce.

He acknowledges that Hyatt’s buildings and design are old and not at par with the expectation of frequent travelers and guests but the Hyatt Regency Saipan owner is willing to renovate the hotel facilities to meet guests’ expectations.

“DPL wants to see our future plans and, although we want to do that, coming up with a proposal will cost a lot of money. …If we get the lease extension, we can ask the Hyatt design team to make a proposal in accordance with Hyatt’s current standards,” he said.

That and the jobs of all Hyatt employees that are at stake are why it is so important for Hyatt to get the green light on the lease extension, Nishikawa added.

As for the critical comments of guests about the hotel and room designs of Hyatt, Nishikawa understands where they are coming from.

“We remain calm, positive and, when they mention that the ‘service is good,’ ‘the staff is friendly,’ those make us the happiest. We cannot change overnight—yes, the building is old, the design is old—but we make up for it in cleanliness, facilities, restaurants, and garden because we pay attention to the details, which is important,” he said.

In the weeks to come, Hyatt will be housing guests from Japan flown in via Skymark Airlines Inc. “Once the Saipan-Narita flight is successful, they are planning to expand to other cities like Nagoya, Kansai, and other secondary cities and I am sure they can do it,” Nishikawa said.

He said that Hyatt has many repeat customers from Japan but they don’t want to take the connecting flight that will take them on a three-hour flight to Saipan, so Skymark servicing this route will be really good for the CNMI’s tourism industry.

Nishikawa said that Hyatt is a worldwide international company and is growing day by day. “With that, our big responsibility is to offer comfort to our guests when they come to stay at Hyatt.”