New opening: St Regis Abu Dhabi
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.
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.
Article continues on next page ...
STANDING OUT
At the helm of The St. Regis Abu Dhabi since May 2011 is general manager Oliver Key, no stranger to pre-openings having launched The Address Dubai Marina and Armani Dubai.
At St. Regis, while he has the powerful backing of Starwood’s corporate team, not to mention distribution and sales, to support him, Key faces the challenge of establishing yet another luxury hotel in a crowded market, not to mention following in the footsteps of The St. Regis Saadiyat Island and The St. Regis Doha.
Key says that while the design encapsulates the Art Deco luxury of St. Regis past, with elements harking back to the 1930s/40s, there are many distinguishing features that set the hotel apart.
Designed by Hirsch Bedner Associates together with local designers, the interiors were inspired by the colours of the desert sands, traditional cuisine and souks.
Bespoke murals and paintings commissioned by Al Arjun Gallery in the public areas depict desert scapes and scenes, with artwork reflecting the local heritage being a St. Regis standard says Key.
“This is the second St. Regis to open in Abu Dhabi, the third given we have Doha as well in the region, and the focus on this hotel was to make it different from the other two but also encapsulate everything that St. Regis is about — from the grand staircases that we have [in the lobby] to the signature elements, the diamond patterns in the interiors that you see, the use of marble and rich materials I think really comes through here,” he says, describing the hotel as a “throwback to New York, London class”.
“The owners have spent serious money in areas that will make a difference,” continues Key.
Owner International Capital Trading has developed The St. Regis as part of the Nation Towers complex on Abu Dhabi Corniche, two skyscrapers comprising loft apartments, office space, a 60-unit boutique retail area and recreational facilities, and built with sustainability at the core.
Tower 1 comprises 360 residential units, while Tower 2 features offices between floors three and 33, with the 283-room hotel on the lower levels and the top 17 floors. The highlight of the development, visible from the Corniche, is the Abu Dhabi Suite — a 1085m² presidential bridge suite linking the two towers, in the centre of which is a grand majlis with a soaring ceiling suspended 200 metres above ground.
If, like me, you’re not a fan of heights, it’s a very strange feeling to overlook Abu Dhabi from such a lofty position knowing there is nothing underneath the floor you are standing on!
“The Abu Dhabi Suite is going to be a real talking point for the property given it is the highest suspended suite anywhere in the world,” says Key. “It will take some head of state business, royals [business] from Emirates Palace — I think we will get rack rate.”
Article continues on next page ...
It’s not the only feature of the hotel worthy of special mention, however; a tunnel takes guests right onto the seafront, where a beach club, Nation Riveria, is still under development.
This will include two restaurants — one to be operated by Asia de Cuba, a brand currently in operation at Morgans Hotel Group properties in Miami, LA and London and the other an as yet-undisclosed seafood eatery from an international operator — as well as a beach bar and children’s club managed by St. Regis, and event lawns.
In the hotel itself, F&B also dominates, with Rhodes 44 becoming the first restaurant in Abu Dhabi by the famed Michelin-star chef Gary Rhodes, himself in the kitchen for the pre-opening and first month or so of business, with regular active visits to follow. His partnership with St. Regis is actually Rhodes’ largest operation worldwide, as he is also in charge of The Tea Lounge and aspects of the room service menu.
“[What makes the hotel special is] firstly the partnership with Gary Rhodes, having him on site, he’s here on site now training his team for the next six weeks, he’s very hands on, this is his first operation that will be his biggest operation in a single unit with the three-meal-a-day Rhodes 44, he will offer the food for the tea lounge, the St. Regis Bar and room service.
The room service menu will feature food from our other outlets as well, obviously there will be an Arabic section of the room service menu, so it’s not just Rhodes 44 but I think that’s fairly unique,” says Key.
The hotel also features a signature Italian, Villa Toscana, St. Regis Bar and Crystal Lounge and Key reveals an additional Japanese restaurant is on the cards, too.
When it comes to leisure, there’s the Remede Spa for ladies and the UAE’s first Hommage Gentleman’s Grooming Atelier, while business is taken care of with five meeting rooms and the ballroom, which is elegantly decorated and really rather pleasing to the eye.
The 283 rooms, including 55 suites, all feature panoramic views and certainly a glimpse of an Abu Dhabi I’d not seen before. They all benefit from signature St. Regis 24-hour butler service, with pantries located on every floor to enable fast delivery of hot beverages.
“You’ll have the beverage service on arrival, the pressing facility available to you straight away, when you order room service, we toast your bread upstairs so it comes piping hot, we bring your teas and coffees upstairs piping hot, so we’ve got facilities that mean we’ll really be able to offer a very bespoke level of service and not just what you would expect to find in every other hotel,” asserts Key.
Article continues on next page ...
LUCRATIVE LOCATION
A choice of facilities and luxury of service are important to the hotel, but with 70-80% of business expected to be corporate, what is really significant to the success potential of the property is its location.
“For us, location is key,” says the GM. “The Corniche location is obviously primary for Abu Dhabi and given that we’re in the heart of the business district, proximity to the main oil and gas companies, the embassies, the main corporate accounts that we would have as a potential customer base, I think location-wise it’s terrific from all host of business fronts.
“We also have, given the elegance of the ballroom, prominence of the restaurants with the likes of Gary Rhodes etc., the opportunity to be a sort of focal point for the city’s F&B experiences as well, given also when we open up the three restaurants that will come later with the beach club, for us the location is second to none,” says Key.
Group business will be strong because of the number of rooms, he continues, while 10 weddings were already booked in for 2013 alone at the time of Hotelier’s visit.
“As the weather cools, we get into the winter period, with the beach club opening as well, we also feel that we’ll do a good amount of leisure business; we’ll offer a nice weekend break,” says Key. “From a location standpoint we feel we’ve got a lot of bases covered. We’re encouraged by the business.”
Naturally, Key expects to compete with nearby Jumeirah at Etihad Towers and Emirates Palace for corporate, government and royal accounts — but is confident in the backing of Starwood’s sales force.
“One of the nice things that Starwood does is they reward the bookers, so we have a booking programme for bookers so they can earn points to use here for leisure stays in any of the Starwood properties worldwide,” says Key.
“We’ve got a sales specialist in every area, we’ve got a GCC specialist… [and Starwood] has a massive sales network across the globe, so we’ve got people in China, Europe, India, US, who all now have this hotel on their radar screens. If you are one of the big corporate accounts in Europe and you’re planning a meeting in Abu Dhabi we have the sales person that’s going to speak to you.
“We have a great back-up and network that will assist us to get off the ground, unlike some of the independents. We’re not so worried about the Emirates Palace or Etihad Towers or anyone else so we feel with the team that we have and the support network that we have, that we can generate a lot of business for the property,” he continues.
“Our owners are representatives of the royal family so when it comes to the royal family business, when it comes to visiting dignitaries, the Emirates Palace will always be the Emirates Palace but we will offer a great luxury alternative — it will be up to the client to decide.”
Article continues on next page ...
DESTINATION UPDATE
Having previously managed hotels in Dubai, Key has had two years to get used to the Abu Dhabi dynamic ahead of opening — and he says that in 2013, positive changes are afoot.
“We’re probably opening at a good time, the business is coming back, the early signs from the opening two quarters of the year are fairly healthy, fairly positive,” reports Key.
“Certainly the Starwood hotels that I see the numbers on are all doing better occupancy than they did last year. Average rate is up.”
According to Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi), there was a 12% rise in the number of guests staying in the UAE capital’s hotels the first half of this year compared to 2012.
Year-to-date hotel revenues rose 16% to AED 2.7bn ($734m) despite a slight fall-off of 3% in average room rate to $122. During the first half of this year, 1,333,339 guests checked into Abu Dhabi accommodation delivering 4,226,604 guest nights — a rise of 25% on the same period in 2012.
On average the guest stayed 3.17 nights — which was up 12% on last year, which translates into an occupancy rate of 71%, up 8% on the first half of 2012.
“The city is becoming a little more segmented,” observes Key. “If you’re talking about Abu Dhabi now you’re talking about the customer being able to choose where he wants to stay versus in the past it was just where has available rooms.
“I think if you are purely operating in the leisure world then you obviously have to wait for Abu Dhabi to get more global awareness, whereas for us it’s always been a business hub — oil and gas is based here, the government is based here, we are less concerned about our ability to drive business into the hotel because we cover a lot of bases. We are not just going for that leisure traveller.”
He observed potential competition between hotels going for the convention business, as a result of new hotels in the ADNEC area as well.
“I don’t necessarily see this as a hotel that is going to be reliant on the convention business, we’re a little bit further away from the convention centre, but there are a lot of new hotels around the convention centre and there’s obviously a need to generate business for those hotels because it is a total hotel room supply issue — if other hotels are cutting their rates throughout the city then it tends to be that the pricing throughout the city will have a negative push downwards.
We’ll not get involved in that. I don’t think we need to, I think given our location and the service levels that we’re providing, we will not get into a rate war with other hotels.”
Performance data for Abu Dhabi will be interesting to watch, but Key’s eye will be on delivering a training plan that will ensure service matches the product he has been “blessed with”. “We’ve got to really deliver on the service level. The level of service at the St. Regis is expected to be at the very top of the hotel spectrum and we intend to deliver on that,” he concludes.
Article continues on next page ...
F&B FOCUS:
In addition to Gary Rhodes’ debut in the capital with Rhodes 44 and the Q4 launch of two internationally branded outlets, there are a variety of other F&B options at the hotel, which fall under the responsibility of executive chef Prakash Seetul.
He describes these concepts below:
Villa Toscana: Home style Tuscan cuisine. Italian territorial cuisine is much in demand and appreciated. The restaurant draws on the old traditions of Italian cuisine to elaborate simple dishes reflecting primarily regional cuisine from Tuscany, Umbria and Emilia-Romagna.
Azura: A blend of French and Arabic cuisines aimed to satisfy the palates of local and bistro preferences.
Spa Café: Our guests’ wellbeing is a consideration at The St. Regis Abu Dhabi. Guests are offered a refreshing selection of revitalising juices and tonics, herbal elixirs, hot beverages, a health focused menu with a Japanese twist.
Crystal Lounge: Elegant, sophisticated yet cozy setting in the mezzanine where guests can take delight in a canapé style menu complemented by our St. Regis signature champagne trolley.
Banquet: Customisable, international menus with bespoke service to satisfy the most discerning clientele.
Still to come: A second signature outlet is expected to be developed in a space on the mezzanine, near the Crystal Lounge, which GM Oliver Key says is likely to offer Japanese cuisine.
Stat Attack
283 rooms
1120m2 Size of the Abu Dhabi Suite
350+ On the team
31 St. Regis Hotels now open
200m Height the Abu Dhabi suite is suspended above ground
60 Italian wines featured at Villa Toscana
3200m2 Size of Remede Spa