With just one month to go until the Hotelier Middle East Awards are held at the world’s tallest hotel, JW Marriott Marquis Dubai on October 30, it is time to unveil the shortlist. In total, 90 hoteliers across 18 individual awards categories have been shortlisted, along with five hotel teams for the coveted Team of the Year Award.
Here we unveil the finalists for Hotel Engineer of the Year Award, which was won last year by George Fares, director of engineering at Jumeirah Zabeel Saray. This year the award is sponsored by Diversey, part of the Sealed Air Group and a leading brand of sustainable cleaning, sanitation and hygiene solutions.
Paul Aychouh, director of engineering, Al Bustan Rotana Dubai
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ABOUT PAUL
Paul Aychouh first joined Rotana in 2000 as part of the pre-opening team of the Gefinor Rotana Hotel in Beirut, having previously worked for various engineering companies across Lebanon. In 2002, Aychouh was promoted by the hotel to assistant chief engineer before being transferred to the Al Bustan Rotana in 2004. In 2006, he became the property’s chief engineer, working his way to his current role in 2008. Since joining the Al Bustan Rotana Dubai, Aychouh has spearheaded a laundry water recycling project which reduced the hotel’s water consumption by 7% in 2012.
WHY WAS HE NOMINATED?
As part of his water conservation initiative, Aychouh installed water aerators in all guest rooms, with water sensors installed across the hotel’s public areas and staff lockers. The hotel’s laundry water usage was also drastically reduced by reclaiming and treating 100% of the hotel’s wastewater. Aychouh also led the hotel’s “Electricity Consumption Reduction”, conducting a full energy use audit across the hotel and installed motion sensors in back of the house areas and inside mechanical rooms to save energy.
WHAT DID HIS TEAM SAY?
“Paul Aychouh is a true blooded hotelier – he is an expert in his field and he has the commitment to deliver only the best at all times. He always looks for opportunities to make things better and his quest for continuous learning and development with the goal to provide and execute brilliant ideas is admirable. I sincerely hope he wins this award as this will serve as an inspiring acknowledgement for his commitment not only at Al Bustan Rotana but in the hotel industry in general.” Hussein Hachem, cluster general manager, Al Bustan Rotana Dubai and Al Murooj Rotana Dubai.
Please click through to next page to find out who else has been shortlisted…
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