From left to right: Kiran Kumar, director of PR and marketing; Mahmoud Abulwafa, area director of human resources; Christina Bowen, director of food and beverage; Justin Galea, executive chef; Shaun Parsons, general manager; Matt Griffis, director of rooms; Arjun Dsouza, director of revenue; Mai Nassar, area director of sales and marketing; Osman Abdelrasek, director of finance; Raghuraj Sawhney, director of engineering.
Le Royal Méridien Abu Dhabi has just been refreshed with a brand new look, incorporating Le Méridien’s global brand standards and setting the stage for the next era of this 18-year-old capital city hotel
One of the oldest hotels in the UAE capital, Le Royal Méridien Abu Dhabi was desperately in need of a makeover. So when the 18-year old hotel closed for renovation in March 2013, the industry couldn’t wait for the big reveal.
When you walk into the hotel now, the transformation really does stop you in your tracks. Words such as “night and day” and “unrecognisable” were used by guests and associates Hotelier spoke with when describing the new look.
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Gone are the muted beige and dull brown decor and marble columns, replaced instead by clean white lines, floor to ceiling windows with light streaming in and an open lobby, called the Le Méridien Hub, which encompasses the check-in desks and what can be called a business centre.
“It’s a completely different product to what it was 12 months ago. The transformation included the public areas, the restaurants, and the guest rooms, which we just finished about a month ago,” says Le Royal Méridien Abu Dhabi general manager Shaun Parsons, who joined the property in July 2011.
A New Look
Over the past year, the hotel has had all 200 guest rooms in the tower, its lobby cafe and all day-dining restaurant, as well as the main lobby area renovated. While a big chunk of the make over was completed as part of phase one — with the hotel having re-opened on October 1 — at least four new F&B outlets are due to open in Q1 of 2014 during phase two.
The renovation is also part of Le Méridien’s new brand strategy, explains Parsons, saying: “Le Méridien as a brand is about unlocking the destination for our guests.
Everything we do in terms of public and communal space is centred around coordinates, culture and cuisine and unlocking the destination is driven by who we partner with, creating spaces that allow for creative thought and inspiring discussions.”
The renovation was also part of a strategic business decision, given the pace of growth in the capital. “In Abu Dhabi, there’s so much happening in the city and it changes from month to month so if you don’t do certain things to keep up with the market, you lose out, and that’s largely where this renovation came from,” admits Parsons.
Key among those changes was the introduction of The Hub, which now serves as the hotel’s lobby, business centre, and check-in area.
“As part of the design, we’ve done away with the traditional business centre since it is no longer part of our concept. We brought the business centre into the Hub itself and the Latitude bar [when it opens]. There will be a communal table in there where you can sit at computers that we’ll provide and this is all moving towards becoming more aligned with our digitally creative guests,” explains Parsons.
Rooms division manager Matt Griffis believes that eliminating traditional check-in desks has also helped streamlined the front of house area. “With the front desk before we used to have sit down desks, which in a corporate hotel is very time consuming. It’s not very productive. So we now have these front desks in The Hub where we stand up and it’s much more efficient, much more user friendly for the guests and also for the associates as well,” he says.
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