The new-look Westin brand will make its regional debut with the upcoming Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa. General manager Klaus Niefer tells Louise Oakley why the refreshed emphasis on wellness will differentiate the Westin from competition in the capital
When Starwood launched its upscale Westin brand in Dubai in May 2008, the hype surrounding the opening was considerable and three years on, the hotel still dominates the Jumeirah beachfront.
The company is now set to open its second Westin in the Middle East, this time in the capital of Abu Dhabi on the site of the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. The new hotel will be the first new hotel in the chain to implement the recently redefined brand positioning and brand identity — which revolves around six pillars of wellness.
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Briefly speaking, the brand is positioning itself as the hotel of choice for those seeking a wellness experience, whether that is in their food, rooms, business meetings or leisure escapades.
Keen to understand more about the new way of life at the Westin, Hotelier paid a visit to Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa to get a sneak peek at the property during the final stages of construction. It’s already shaping up to be quite a treat, as general manager Klaus Niefer explains on our behind-the-scenes tour…
Why has Westin created and launched new brand differentiators?
The Westin has recently redefined its brand positioning with more focus on preserving wellness in travel by bringing the brand core values to life. The new initiatives aim to enhance the Westin brand personality and the Westin associates’ behaviour to better serve our guests.
In our hotel, we’ve already initiated an extensive training programme to educate our pre-opening and opening associates about the new branding campaign.
One of the purposes of this new positioning is to differentiate The Westin as a brand from the competition; as we all know, several other hotels will be opening their doors around the same time, and I truly believe it’s much easier to copy hardware than software.
In addition to this, the Westin has introduced a new brand identity using new fonts, new colours, new iconic imagery and new lifestyle photography.
In my opinion, these brand elements will be very strong selling points for our resort and will certainly play a major role in positioning our resort among the new comers and the even the very well established hotels.
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