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.
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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.”
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