MARRIOTT DOHA GM: Good things come in threes

Joining in January 2012, multi-property GM John Northen missed the hectic preopening of the three-brand Marriott Doha complex the previous October, leaving him free to focus on longer-term objectives of attracting business and fine-tuning each hotel product.

There are still a few opening niggles at the West Bay two-tower property attached to the City Centre Mall, housing three brands new to Doha: Renaissance, Courtyard by Marriott and Marriott Executive Apartments.

“We haven’t got all of our signage yet. We want to open all our facilities too; the last outlet to open will be the Aqua Chill lounge on the seventh floor,” says Northen.

“We opened our Brazilian restaurant [Ipanema] about six weeks ago as well as our French brasserie. We have nine F&B outlets all together, so we’ve fed them in one by one and have been very pleased with the results,” he says.

In terms of hotel performance, Northen discusses occupancy, but is reluctant to reveal room rates. Online, room rates start from QAR 880 (US $242) per night at Renaissance, QAR 950 (US $261) at Courtyard by Marriott and QAR 2100 (US $577) for a two-bedroom unit at Marriott Executive Apartments – with the varying levels reflecting varying demand for each brand to date.

Marriott Executive Apartments
“The executive apartments are very much in demand in Qatar as we’ve seen already. [They] are basically fully booked right through until the end of the year and we see that [trend] continuing,” says Northen.

He expects around 60%-70% of the 120 Marriott Executive Apartment bookings to be long-stay contracts of around a year. “The serviced apartment concept is popular with people relocating to Qatar; coming here for project work for short- and long-term assignments because there are a lot of developments happening.

“We only have around 21 Marriott Executive Apartments around the world, but they’ve already been recognised as one of the leading brands of serviced apartments, even compared with other competitors in that field,” explains Northen.

“So we’ll see them expanding more in the region. They’re already doing very well in the Asia Pacific and there are more coming in other markets including South America.”

There are currently four Marriott Executive Apartment-branded properties in the Middle East and Africa region comprising 633 apartments. Outside of Doha, there are two properties in Dubai and one in Bahrain.

For those who get it right, the serviced apartment concept is a very profitable business model.

“Serviced apartments are a model that makes sense for the operator and the client. Even though prices on a daily basis are comparable to five-star rates, we don’t do daily housekeeping because it’s the same person [staying there] and in your own home you’d probably change your bedding once a week. We provide full housekeeping twice a week and light cleaning three times a week.

“We also have people staying here for six months, but only using it on week days,” adds Northen.

Courtyard by Marriott
Occupancies at the 204-key Courtyard by Marriott are also relatively high at around 60%-70%. Northen expects the average occupancy for 2012 to come out slightly higher than this at between 70% and 75%, with an average stay of two to three nights.

“Business has ramped up pretty quickly. Courtyard is our largest brand by far and it has been clearly defined. It’s very popular with the business traveller and has a broad base. When we first introduced it, we went out to business travellers and asked them what they were looking for and we’ve stayed true to that,” explains Northen.

However, in the Middle East and Africa area, Marriott only has three Courtyard hotels, including the new Doha property. The other two are located in Dubai and Kuwait.

“The brand varies slightly from continent to continent, but here it’s a four to five-star category hotel, and the price point is as well,” he adds.

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Renaissance
The largest and most luxurious brand in the complex is the 234-room, 23-suite Renaissance, but this is taking a little longer to ‘take off’.

“Renaissance is one of our newest brands and its positioning has been reestablished by Marriott as a luxury-lifestyle brand. The group acquired Renaissance in the mid-90s and it has undergone a huge transformation which is only just being completed.

“We’re trying to appeal to a broad base of travellers with an interest linked to the local community rather than guests just coming in for business and leaving,” explains Northen.

“In terms of performance, we see it ramping up a little slower than the Courtyard component. There are around 160 Renaissance-branded hotels around the world, very well spread, but it will take longer.”

Marriott has three Renaissance hotels in MEA totalling 845 rooms; in Doha, Sharm El Sheikh and Algeria.

The Doha hotel is already running at around 40%-50%. “We’re pleased so far, but we’ve got a way to go,” comments Northen.

Back to business
Around 80-85% of guests at the complex are business travellers; mostly from the GCC, with others from the US, UK and other parts of Europe.

He says many people come from Dubai for business and this will be spurred on by the recent opening of the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC). “QNCC is going to be a great partner for us,” he says. “We’ve already noticed a difference in business since the opening,” he explains.

“Then we have the exhibition centre under construction next door covering a space of around 45,000m² and due to open by the end of the year. This will complement the convention centre by offering a different type of product more for exhibitions and we’re the closest hotel to it,” he adds.

He also expects investments in infrastructure to continue positively impacting business among Doha’s hotels, alongside the launch of a new international airport later this year.

Standing out
But the Marriott Doha City Centre isn’t the only newcomer that will be competing for a slice of the conventions pie. Other newcomers include the St. Regis Doha, InterContinental Doha The City,and the Hilton Doha which opened on May 1.

In fact, according to TRI Hospitality Consulting, 2012 will see the largest increase in hotel rooms supply of 20%, with an additional 2100 rooms or more. But Northen hopes Marriott’s three-in-one offering will set it apart from competition.

“We’re the only multi-use property with serviced apartments, a four-star hotel, a five-star hotel and a mall attached – that is a unique facility and something we want to capitalise on,” he concludes.