General manager of Meli? Dubai, Gilles Longuet. General manager of Meli? Dubai, Gilles Longuet.

The general manager of the newly-opened Meliá Dubai, Gilles Longuet, explains how the Spanish hotel brand will make its mark on Bur Dubai’s hospitality scene

Establishing a new hotel in Dubai’s competitive market is challenging without a doubt; as it stands today, there are 64 five-star hotels alone, plus another 304 hotels in the four-star and below brackets and 193 hotel apartments.

Performance metrics reveal a strong market, with hotels recording 86.8% occupancy, $267.48 average daily rate and $232.32 RevPAR in March (according to STR Global), reflecting a healthy demand —but not to the extent that a new operation could ever be complacent.

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The situation is exacerbated when the new hotel represents the launch of a foreign brand, unfamiliar in the Dubai market, and tasked with setting itself up against a host of international giants. Plus, in a city where the mantra ‘location, location, location’ runs high, for many, if a new property is not in the entertainment districts of Downtown, Marina and Palm Jumeirah, it’s a risky venture.

This is the challenge that faces Meliá Dubai, a new five-star hotel from Spanish chain Meliá Hotels International located on Kuwait Street in Bur Dubai, which opened on April 29. But according to general manager Gilles Longuet, formerly GM at Sofitel Dubai Jumeirah Beach, the risk has been carefully calculated.

“It’s a boutique hotel and the risk is measured quite intelligently; I would say we are 10, 15 minutes from the airport; 10, 15 minutes from the exhibition centre, located in the historical centre of Dubai, near all the souks, so we can attract a lot of businessman as well as a lot of families and leisure people that want to come from Abu Dhabi over the weekend for example. There are a lot of possibilities,” says Longuet.

In fact, it is the different location, away from congested Sheikh Zayed Road and Downtown, and the fact it is a brand debut — making it the first Spanish five-star hotel in Dubai — that affords Meliá Dubai so many opportunities, continues the general manager.

Firstly, Meliá Hotels International is no small chain; the portfolio consists of 362 hotels in 35+ countries on four continents, making it the sixth largest hotel chain in Europe and 17th largest worldwide.

The company’s roots go back to 1956 when, aged 21, chairman and founder Gabriel Escarrer Julia opened his first hotel in Palma de Majorca, Spain. Today, the firm comprises eight brands and employs 37,000 staff, but it is still a family-owned and managed company — and it is the Spanish passion for service and hospitality that filters from the top down that Longuet believes will stand the hotel apart.

“This is a unique hotel located in Bur Dubai classified as a five-star; we have already received classification from Dubai Tourism & Commerce Marketing,” says Longuet.

“This will be the only five-star boutique hotel with personalised service in the historical part of Dubai. It’s only 164 room and suites, which is fully dedicated to the best service possible.

“The hotel has been beautifully designed by Marco Mangili, an Italian designer. You can feel the moment you walk in that it is different and unique in the whole of Dubai. It is elegant. Each design [of a Meliá hotel] is different, but it is a typical kind of service that is offered by Meliá — passionate service,” says Longuet.

One of Meliá’s key service concepts is ‘The Level’, its executive club offering private check-in and check-out, rooms in areas separated from the rest of the hotel, private meeting rooms, superior quality amenities and a private lounge with an open bar and snacks throughout the day.

For every guest, there is also the Meliá Connects service, promising to resolve in-room inconveniences within 15 minutes.

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