These five finalists will compete for the Concierge of the Year 2012 title in the Hotelier Middle East Awards to be held on October 31 at The Ritz-Carlton DIFC.
Below you will find extracts and testimonials from the shortlisted nominations for each of the five candidates...
Gerardo Gabat, Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates
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About Gerardo
Gerardo, a member of the Les Clefs d’Or UAE Chapter, joined Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates in the position of Assistant Chief Concierge in January 2008 and was promoted to Chief Concierge in October 2009. Reporting to the Front Office Manager, Gerardo currently leads a team of 23 across the functions of door service, bell service and the concierge desk. In 2008 Gerardo managed the preparation for his team’s participation in the Concierge Awards that year, which resulted in the team’s win of the Judges Team Award. He was nominated three times for ‘Employee of the Quarter’ in February 2008, August 2008 and February 2009 at Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates and was awarded ‘Team Leader of the Quarter’ in September 2009. Prior to joining Kempinski Gerardo worked with a number of prestigious hotels including the Ritz Carlton Dubai, Cebu City Marriott, the Plantation Bay Resort and Spa and the Shangri-La Mactan Island Resort in the Philippines. Gerardo was the Secretary General of the UAE Chapter of Les Clefs d’Or from 2010-2012 and attended the 58th (2011) and 59th (2012) Union International of Hotel Concierge (UICH) Congress in Canada and London respectively.
Above and beyond…
Gerardo has been the Secretary General of the UAE Chapter of Les Clefs d’Or since January 2012 and believes his involvement with the association is critical in helping to raise and maintain the standard of Concierge services within the UAE. He is also very involved with the Concierge Training Program at the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and was part of the first executive committee that spearheaded the training program for Concierges in Dubai. The Concierge department often acts as the first point of contact for guests and as a team they’re often faced with challenging and/or unusual requests. Here are a few examples of what Gerardo was personally asked to manage for his guests: A lady called to ask the name of a song she heard when she and her husband checked-in at the hotel, which Gerardo found out later, was her honeymoon. The lady wanted to play the same music on their first wedding anniversary. Not having a lot of detail about the song, Gerardo was determined to get it for her and liaised with the hotel’s IT team to see if they were able to find it. Lots of attempts later, Gerardo managed to find the song she was looking for, bought the CD and sent it to the guest who was able to surprise her husband when she played the song for him. Another example of Gerardo going out of his way to assist a guest was when a business man was attending a meeting at the hotel and discovered that he parked his car in the mall parking rather then the hotel parking and that his parking ticket was about to run out. He only had a ten-minute coffee break and didn’t know how to get back to his car. Gerardo decided to go with the guest to the mall parking to look for the car and drove it back to the hotel and parked it for him. Not only did the guest avoid a parking ticket, he found his car and was back in time for the start of his next session. Thirdly, an outside guest came to the hotel concierge desk and was in urgent need of business cards. The person was about to start a conference at the Dubai World Trade Centre and was looking to design and print a card within the next hour. Gerardo explained to the guest where in Mall of the Emirates he may be able to get this done, but in doing so realized that the guest was under a lot of stress and offered to do this for him instead. Gerardo went to the shop himself and got the cards printed and they were delivered to the guest, who was not even staying at the hotel, within the hour.
Testimonials:
I’ve worked with Gerardo for almost 3 years now and not only being very innovative, kind and considerate, he just seems to have what it takes to launch forward any idea in the most creative way. He is a good listener and generous in sharing information and ideas. He is an amazing gift and talent in the field of Concierge always going beyond his call of duty to assist guests whenever and wherever he can. He makes it a point that every guest in the hotel walks back with a memory or an experience that they would never forget all their lives. The best quality I admire about Gerardo is his “People Oriented” skills. Assisting guests being his first priority, he also makes sure that his team and his fellow employees are assisted at all times and he would just do anything to make things happen for them. For eg. Last year, we had colleagues from the other Kempinski Hotels joining us on a regional training conference and everyone was eager to get to the 124th floor of the tallest building in the world – Burj Khalifa. Having no time and due to a busy schedule, I couldn’t get the tickets done in advance. This was when I happened to call Gerardo to seek for help on booking the tickets. Gerardo, very patiently listened to me and after I was done telling him my story, he straightforwardly told me “Relax Cletus, Let me see what I can do for you” 3 hours later and the tickets were booked. Not only that, Gerardo personally drove all the way and booked the tickets himself. We were all happy simply because of Gerardo who went an extra mile and made the impossible, possible. A true “Concierge” as he is, Gerardo always has that smile on his face making it so comfortable for people to approach him. His dedication and passion towards his job will definitely make him achieve lots more success in future. Gerardo’s positive and never say no attitude has made a huge difference to the lives of guests and employees and this purely justifies why he should win the title of “Concierge of the Year”
Cletus Mascarenhas- Training Coordinator - Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates
This letter is my personal recommendation for Gerardo Gabat of Kempinski Mall of the Emirates. I have been Gerardo’s immediate leader for couple years. I found him to be consistently pleasant, tackling all assignments with dedication and smile. Besides being friendly and energetic, Gerardo is a take-charge person who is able to present creative ideas and communicate the benefits. He has successfully developed several marketing plans & in close contact with DTCM Training Solutions for concierge enhancement training as affiliated with Les Clefs d’Or, UAE and these have resulted in increased awareness. During his tenure as Secretary General of the Executive Committee, He was instrumental in driving new concierge to take the challenge with passion and dedication in the concierge profession. Though he was an asset in achieving our goals, Gerardo was also extraordinarily helpful in other areas of the organization. I highly recommend Gerardo to be Hotelier Concierge of the Year. He is a great team player and possesses an impeccable attitude that makes the world of concierge proud of him.
In service through friendship, Charles Ferrer - National President - Les Clefs d’Or, United Arab Emirates Union Internationale des Concierges d’Hotels
Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates enjoys one of the best locations a hotel could ask for. Its situated on Sheikh Zayed Road attached to the Mall of the Emirates. Like any other Kempinski Hotel, Kemp Dubai or Kempiski MOE as they call it, has very neatly done rooms, nothing over the top, subtle with every detail paid attention. The reception desk with the water flowing behind it is very welcoming. The rooms very very wekll appointed and carefully done up. The concierge is amazing, you name it and they did it. They had amazing suggestions in terms of sight seeing and shopping. They suggested some of the best places to enjoy local food, whilst suggesting all the MUST GO places in Dubai. The only let down at KEmpinski MOE is the f&b outlets. Nothing spectacular in terms of food and beverages offerings here. the bar1897 is nice with good selections but not a happening place, similarly the restaurant and the coffee shop are just mediocre. Nothing to match with what some other hotels have to offer in Dubai. Although the breakfast and coffee at the coffee shop and the sea bass at the restaurant was real good. The gist: Superb Hotel for rooms & location, since Dubai has unlimited offerings for food, the lack of very good dining options will go unnoticed. destinationBLOG Review TripAdvisor on the 12th June 2012
• We recently stayed at the Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates and had a great time. The staff are extremely friendly, work tirelessly to meet every expectation and the hotel itself is in a great location and very well appointed. I had contacted the General Manager, Mr. Alejandro Bernabe, before I arrived and he immediately responded and ensured that my wife and I had the best possible experience. Very personalized service. The Chief Concierge, Mr. Gerardo Gabat, helped us create a custom itinerary of all of the best sight seeing locations and arranged everything. This is the type of service you look for and I was not disappointed. The hotel itself is directly connected to the Mall of the Emirates and Sky Dubai is right next door so lots to do and see. Overall we are exceptionally happy with our stay and look forward to our next visit. Review on TripAdvisor 24th April 2012 – by ‘’911192’’
• Last week I stayed at the Kempinski with my wife and two kids for four days - it really was an amazing experience. Other then the lavish room, quality of food and facilities, the most impressing thing was the staff courtesy and personalized service i received, especially the concierge was very friendly and helpful. I will definitely return soon Review on TripAdvisor by ‘’Bihlal H’’– 27th August 2012
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