Executive suite: Things looking up for LI hotelier

Krishna K. Mehta remembers admiring the tall buildings in midtown Manhattan several years ago and telling his family he wanted to have his own someday.

"I just said it casually," recalls Mehta, who has a family hotel business as an owner and developer in New York City and Tyler, Texas. But a few years ago his elder son, Sanjeev, encouraged him to pursue the idea. And Mehta plans to open a luxury Staybridge Suites in Times Square next month.

Mehta, 57, known as KK, tends to the hotel business from an office inside a Garden City accounting firm that bears his name. A certified public accountant, he started the firm about 30 years ago.

Mehta is married -- his wife, Chandra, is involved with the hotel project -- and he also has another son.

He is a founding member of the Rajasthan Association of North America, a community group for Indians from the state of Rajasthan.

What do you look for when hiring?
Mehta quips that he wants to hear an enthusiastic response to the question, "Are you prepared to work 25 hours a day? Yes, you have to create one hour." 

Talk about how you communicate with your workers.
"They have free access to me directly, whether it's key people or whether it's my receptionist or secretary. Anybody can freely come and talk to me. Open-door policy.

"As far as learning is concerned, I instilled the culture in everybody's mind to share the knowledge and to teach. Without boasting, I can tell you that I think they learn the fastest in our firm. I would say in one or two years they are experts. Because right from [the] first day, we give them heavy work. Those people who want to learn have ample opportunities. They feel great about it. They feel so satisfied." 

How do you motivate workers?
"I am very close and personal with all of my employees. You provide them an environment where they can grow, where they can learn and financially they'll be rewarded."

Citing the current tax season, he adds, "People will work here until 10 o'clock. I never have told them, in the last 30 years, when to go and when to come. They're doing beautiful, wonderful work." 

What is your strategy for dealing with competition?
For the accounting firm and the hotels, he says the same priority is key: "Service culture."

At the accounting firm: "We have to satisfy our clients. We have grown at a very good rate -- and only by reference, word-of-mouth. We do not advertise. Even . . . in these economic times right now, growth is about 20 to 25 percent."

And in the hotel industry: "Guests may forget . . . what was the color of the wallpaper or what was the color of the bedspread or chair. But they will never forget the front-desk agent when they checked in, and what was the conversation and what was the personal rapport.

"I'm not worried about competition. If you have a good product and you have good service -- we're going to compete very well."