Interview: Alila Hotels Middle East expansion
Alila Group’s president, CEO and regional vice president discuss the company’s first venture into the Middle East, and how this will blaze a trail for future Alila developments in Oman and beyond:
Sharing a plate of lamb biryani at sunset with the village elders in Oman’s Hajar Mountains, the Alila team celebrated the pre-opening of their first, and much anticipated Middle Eastern venture.
The dramatic Omani mountain resort of Jabal Akhdar is set to open its doors in April, and the team are confident that they can extend to guests the type of local destination experience that they enjoyed at this property — and at future openings in the region.
That said, none have been confirmed as yet, and having already turned down five Middle Eastern projects because they “weren’t in line with the brand”, and with Musandam and Dubai projects still on hold, Alila’s journey to the region has been somewhat tentative.
However, crossing the threshold for the first time this spring, the team is hoping to catch the eye of developers and gradually extend the Alila portfolio throughout Oman and beyond.
“We’ve been working on entering the Gulf region over the last seven or eight years,” explains Alila president Mark Edleson, sipping a cappuccino with colleagues Frederic Flaeat-Simon, chief executive of Alila and recently appointed regional vice president for the Middle East and India, Julian Ayers.
“A number of projects we had in the pipeline for the Middle East didn’t materialise because the global financial crisis hit Dubai quite hard.”
California-born Edleson explains that with backing from the Omani government, while construction of Jabal Akhdar slowed down considerably in 2008, once it started up again it was full throttle for two years and is now set to open in April. “We’re really excited as it’s going to be an iconic product and very much suited to our brand DNA.”
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Keeping Cool
So what makes up this “brand DNA” that has taken eight years to be replicated in the Middle East? Heralded by UK publication The Sunday Times as ‘The Coolest Chain in the World’, Alila’s portfolio of hotel resorts throughout India and Asia-Pacific promise “purpose-driven architecture with dramatic and individual style centering on holistic destination experiences”.
A major focus for the operator is adapting to suit the destination: “We see ourselves as artisans,” explains Flaeat-Simon. “It’s like working on a new painting; we use our experience as a luxury operator but we don’t come in and say ‘these are your brand standards, follow them A-Z’. We get the team to create their own canvas based on the destination.”
With this in mind, the team is aware that placing Alila in the Middle Eastern luxury market may present certain challenges. “With the rapid development of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, the preferred sort of luxury has been the glitz and the bling, but that’s not really our style,” explains Edleson. “We would have to find that unique location; whether a coastal or a desert location, it would have to be something special.”
Flaeat-Simon agrees, and suggests that in this part of the world a focal point for him is nomadic desert life, which he feels is something that could be reconnected with through the brand; however, he highlights pitfalls even with this: “The danger is that it cannot be a gimmick.
If you take a hotel and add some camels and create a story around it, guests that are well-travelled will not be interested. There has to be a real connection to a real culture. This is why we’re so excited about Jabal Akhdar — we don’t have to invent things, we just have to showcase them.”
With the brand’s focus on destinations that promise a unique culture and heritage, which Alila properties then — as Flaeat-Simon puts it — “catalyse”, it’s no wonder that the team has chosen Oman as the first Middle Eastern destination to dip its toes into.
“I think Oman is a great place for us to start because of all the gulf countries, Omani history is extremely interesting and the culture is perhaps more accessible than in other places in the gulf,” explains Edleson. “Our brand is very much focused on unique and interesting physical and cultural environments and Jabal Akhdar fits that perfectly.”
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About the Debut
The setting of Jabal Akhdar certainly complies with Edleson’s criteria of “somewhere special”. Perched on a cliff-top 2000 metres above sea level, and with 360 degree views of the Hajar Mountains, the property is set to provide a relaxing retreat or base for adventure for GCC visitors escaping the city heat as well as international travellers looking for an authentic taste of Omani culture.
At just a two-hour drive from Muscat, the eco-friendly development comprises 86 suites, including two Royal Omani Villas, and a Spa Alila specialising in ancient Asian healing techniques. The plan is to offer a gateway to this relatively untapped region of Oman.
“The area has previously been a day trip destination because there weren’t many places to stay here,” explains Ayers, who was appointed in 2013 to oversee the day-to-day operations, sales and marketing activities and future growth strategies of Alila in the region.
“There are amazing things to see and do, such explore some of the 66 abandoned villages around Jabal Akhdar.”
The team is clearly very proud of the Jabal Akhdar development, and having successfully worked on the project with Omani developer Omran, Alila is hoping to have further dealings with the company on future Middle Eastern projects.
“Omran has done an incredible job,” comments Flaeat-Simon. “So far the relationship with them has been very professional. We’ve worked well with Omran and are proud to be the operator.”
Edleson adds: “We’re talking to Omran about some future projects but we’re still competing with some other brands they are looking at. We are also speaking to some other developers.”
Revealing his ambition for the foreseeable future of creating “between five and eight hotels in the Middle East that represent what Alila really stands for”, Flaeat-Simon admits that one of the main challenges will be generating enough brand awareness to catch the eye of local developers: “We still have a long way to go to continue building our brand so it becomes well-known,” he comments.
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Future Plans
Indeed, the pressure will be on come April with the team relying on the Jabal Akhdar development to blaze a trail for the brand in the Middle East.
“The success of the opening of Jabal Akhdar will hopefully give us an inside track on future projects,” Edleson comments. “While our brand is not particularly well known in this region, we hope that our product will speak loudly.”
Flaeat-Simon agrees, adding: “I think we’re being tested to see what we can do with this property. It’s in our hands as the operator to successfully open the hotel.”
Key to this success will be delivering a guest experience that is consistent with Alila, and being smart about building the brand name, which will take time and patience, explains Flaeat-Simon: “You don’t just open a hotel in Jabal Akhdar and expect it to be 100% occupancy from day one,” he comments.
“This is a new destination for luxury and we obviously have to create awareness of what our brand stands for. I think getting people to experience the property is the best way to do that.”
With 20 projects in the pipeline, which according to the team “is a sizeable number for a small brand” — and with plans for more, including another Omani development in Salalah — Alila has its hands full.
Flaeat-Simon claims that he is in no hurry to bombard the Middle East with Alila resorts, explaining that the company’s strategy is less about quantity, and more about quality.
“For us it’s not just about the number of hotels we have,” he comments. “We want to be proud of each property and build a collection that we are emotionally attached to and that we can really bring the Alila experience to.
A lot of our brand focus is for South East Asia, China and India, but now the Middle East is coming,” Flaeat-Simon concludes, highlighting his firm belief that the brand is bound to make a name for itself here, because modern luxury travellers everywhere, including the Middle East, are looking for ‘the Alila experience’.
“What the young affluent traveller perceives as luxury is evolving,” he says. “I think what’s interesting is that the more sophisticated your clientele is, the more they want a real-life experience — something they will cherish.”
“To be frank, there are plenty of great luxury hotels in the world but if we can give guests the experience that we had of sitting with the Majlis Oman having a traditional Halwa served hot then that’s something they will remember for the rest of their lives. We’re starting with a great property and a great product so hopefully this will lead to some exciting projects”.