Coombs comments: “With our very aligned views we were able to reach agreements fairly quickly. I think we were both very keen to conclude as soon as possible, basically because of the project dynamics as well. What I love about Range is they are very direct and very to the point and I hope that I am also. We are fairly straightforward in terms of our commercial interests”.
The Shaza concept
So, what exactly is the philosophy behind Shaza and why is it so suited to the religious market?
The word itself means fragrance and the brand is billing itself as “a contemporary, luxury, lifestyle brand which displays the values and cultures of the Middle East and North Africa”.
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It is not, as some media reports have conveyed, a sharia compliant hotel brand and Coombs is eager to rectify the misconception.
“Wherever we are, whether it’s Geneva or Karbala, we won’t be serving alcohol. We have sharia funding behind the group but they don’t insist upon total segregation on floors, and many other elements,” he says, adding that actually, there has not to date been a set-in-stone sharia hotel standard.
“There isn’t actually one definition of what is a sharia compliant hotel and I don’t think there is a lot of legitimacy attached to brand marketing yourself in that respect,” asserts Coombs.
“We are sensitive culturally, we understand in each location some of the cultural values, but we try to express that through our service and our attitude and expression to guests, in addition to what you would call typical sharia compliancy, but I think you’ll find that a completely sharia compliant hotel has quite stringent design elements attached to it,” he adds.
He refers to Shaza as a design-led brand, but explains that it is challenging to find the right interior designers because major international names may not understand the sentiment of the brand.
For example, Shaza has recently opened its first ever hotel — a owner/operator hotel in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. This was created by Morten Hansen of LWD Dubai, in association with calligrapher Mounir Al Sharaani, Egyptian lighting designer Randa Fahmy and with photographic installations by the acclaimed Peter Sanders.
“In places such as Karbala or Madinah, there may be colours that people are familiar with from the actual mosque itself and you will see subtle elements come through in the interior design of the hotel so there is continuity of experience,” says Coombs.
“You don’t have this experience in the mosque then come into something that is very glitzy. The quality has to be there, you have to know that you are in an international luxury hotel but there are also tones in there from the local experience, whether it’s a religious experience or a different location, these tones are very important.”
For Ali, it was the attention to detail in Shaza’s cultural awareness that helped clinch the deal.
“The eye for detail that we saw in Shaza, from the products which were available in the room, there’s no alcohol-based products at all, whether it’s the scent of the shampoo or the cologne or the scent that’s given to the room, all these things have been taken into consideration,” observes Ali.
“We’ve had a lot of experience with the hotel in Madinah, any products you are bringing in have to be SASO-certified so it was very natural for us to be able to deliver those products without any concerns in a location like Karbala or indeed Madinah,” adds Coombs.
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