The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company global officer worldwide operations Bob Kharazmi in the lobby of the new Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi.
The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal, an AED 1.5 billion property owned by Abu Dhabi National Hotels, is opening its doors to the first guests today, March 12, 2013.
The hotel, which was scheduled to open in October 2012, has just completed its 10-day countdown, led by The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company global officer worldwide operations Bob Kharazmi.
The company brought in 122 trainers, all senior management from Ritz-Carlton hotels across the world, to engage and train the 480-strong workforce at the new 532-key property during the launch period.
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Speaking to Hotelier Middle East at the hotel during the countdown, Kharazmi explained that the process aimed to build confidence and create behavioural changes in staff, many of whom were new to the company.It also provided the opportunity for senior management to celebrate the achievements of the hotel team during pre-opening, with a full-scale fashion show displaying the uniforms one of the highlights.
Kharazmi said: “Our 10-day countdown starts with an introduction to the company and the culture of the company — basically defining who we are as a company so our employees know who they are joining and they also get very clear explanation of the expectation that we have from them.
“If any company focuses on the value and culture that they have and they know that the vision that the company has is known by every single employee, even the new employees, that company will have the right focus. And that’s what we try to create, by myself, by the president and by a lot of senior leaders here,” he continued.
“So once they understand the expectation, once they understand the culture of the company, we teach them the emotional part of the service. The emotional part of the service is touch and feel, is smiling, is complying with needs of the guests, it is the soft side of the interaction, it is the personal side of the interaction, and then they get trained on the technical side.”
Kharazmi explained that technical aspects included the ‘food show’, during which all the restaurants cooked and presented every single dish on their menus to enable the entire team “to get to know what the hotel is preparing, what the hotel is selling, so every single employee can be a good sales person”.
The hotel features a total of 10 F&B outlets, including three signature restaurants designed by Super Potato.
Other facilities at the Venetian style property include a 1500m² ballroom with capacity for 1000 guests, a 57-metre long, 1600m² swimming pool and a 350m² private beach.
There are 447 rooms within the main hotel plus 85 private one- and two-bedroom villas.
The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi is the 81st Ritz-Carlton hotel worldwide, the ninth in the Middle East and the third largest hotel by built area in the company’s portfolio.
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