Clockwise from back: Prakash Seetul, executive chef; Ruben Gabino, director of F&B; Richard Thackrey, director of HR; Carmen Ortiz, director of marketing; Wira Slingerland, director of revenue; Oliver Key, general manager; Moustafa Sakr, deputy GM; Nuvianto Widyatmoko, director of engineering; and Ihab Garawani, director of finance.
The St. Regis Abu Dhabi achieved the almost unheard of on August 15; it opened on time on a date announced back in March by brand operator Starwood Hotels & Resorts CEO Frits van Paaschen.
Hotelier Middle East actually visited the hotel for a sneak peek a month previous and even then, the physical product was almost complete, the FF&E all in place and the team arriving by the bus-load.
Strategically, the group chose to open the hotel after Ramadan, allowing themselves a couple of months to get the hotel up and running ahead of the busy period in Abu Dhabi, heralded by the F1 Grand Prix at the start of November.
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With rooms, residences, a beach club and an interesting mix of home-grown and branded F&B, Hotelier finds out what this hotel, the third St. Regis in the Middle East and second in the capital, will bring to the market.
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