Owens has fallen in love with Dubai and sees himself spending at least another 10 to 15 years there Owens has fallen in love with Dubai and sees himself spending at least another 10 to 15 years there

New developments
Owens is currently overseeing refurbishments at the hotel, starting with its presidential and royal floors located on levels 39 and 40.

“We are seeing a lot of our VIPs are from royal families from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait. Due to the fact we are a non-alcoholic hotel, we do get a majority of these people in our hotel — because of their religion and their status, they prefer this. We have the demand of high profile people and we feel we need to do something more special for them.”

Owens has decided to open three new restaurants at the hotel. The first will be a Lebanese restaurant, followed by a South African steakhouse and an Asian restaurant. “When I took over, we only had one outlet and for us to have 650 to 900 in-house guests with only one restaurant, we lost a lot of business. We needed to give them a good choice of cuisine.”

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Not long after this will be complete, in Q1 2013, Owens will open the Emirates Grand Hotel Apartments across Sheikh Zayed Road. They are currently being converted from residences.

He says: “We feel that there is a demand, due to our occupancy being so high in the hotel, to have an overflow. It makes no sense not to open up another property.”
There is also talk of a 376-room property, again on the road which cuts through the emirate — something Owens will be sticking around for.

“I’m working with a group that is planning to grow, so I will be able to grow,” he explains. “I have plans to stay in Dubai for at least another 10 to 15 years. Once you are here, you fall in love with the place, so I’m not going anywhere at all.”