Grand Hyatt Dubai area director John Beveridge Grand Hyatt Dubai area director John Beveridge

I first experienced the Hyatt Regency in 1982. It was already open by then and had a great reputation for its food and beverage and unique concepts. And of course at that time with the ice rink it was la huge talking point.

On my day off I went down and I met the executive chef at the Hyatt Regency and applied for a job as executive sous chef and I remember coming back from my interview going through the Al Shindhaga Tunnel and it had just opened and there was heavy rain and there must have been a problem with the drainage system because my taxi couldn’t get me back. I always remember that.

I’d been in Kuwait before coming to Dubai working in the Messilah Beach Hotel, which was owned by the same gentleman who owned the Chicago Beach Hotel.

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We were still a bit incredulous, seeing the hotels opening in Jebel Ali and Hatta and the other plans happening in the emirates — saying who would go all the way there? There’s still a bit of that around today when we hear about yet another new hotel opening.

But every time people think the industry is getting too far ahead, the market catches up with it.

If I hadn’t been exposed to Dubai back then and had a chance to see how far it came in such a remarkably short period of time, I might be saying its future vision cannot be sustained. But I’m not. History has a tendency to repeat itself. I’m confident about what’s in the pipeline for Dubai, the future looks good.

“As for why I like working as a hotelier here, I like the competition. Every major brand in the world is in this market, and each is doing their best to beat the competitor which pushes us to be better.”