Brand Values
Rolling out the hotel’s social concept has taken more time than expected admits De Groot. A membership scheme, however, is due to roll out soon.
“I would like to think that we are currently in an information age where we have enough data that we can make relevant introductions between members and members, members and guests, guests and guests.
Very few hotels are actually doing this because they are afraid they will overstep this thin line and as a hotel we have to be very careful that we don’t breech that privacy that a guest expects. However, there are plenty of opportunities where, without disclosing one another’s contact details, you can still create a social space,” he states.
The concept works by creating a platform similar to Facebook, called The Conversation, where members and guests can ‘Domain’ one another to connect and have private conversations. Domain managers at the hotel can also facilitate networking by making introductions for guests.
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Other benefits that members can look forward to include preferential treatment when making restaurant and lounge bookings, and invitations to social events.
By embracing a social concept in a business district location, De Groot believes the hotel will appeal to both business and leisure travellers in the luxury segment.
“Since we are a social club as well as a business hotel, I’d like to think that ultimately our members are not just going to be Bahrain-based but also Saudi-based, Kuwait-based, and they are going to use this place as a base to meet up with their friends and family and spend quality social time here.
We deliberately chose not to have a big karaoke band or a sports bar — we wanted to be a bit more upmarket and have a bit more refinement and elegance and class in our social spaces,” explains De Groot.
“I think our segmentation is such that there is a corporate base, but that same corporate base may travel as an FIT three days later on the weekend. I think the social membership adds to that as well,” he says.
While the hotel is working hard to promote itself as a social club, almost four months in, De Groot admits occupancy is not where he hoped it would be, with the hotel only 35% full when Hotelier visited.
“It’s not where I want to be, but at least we are heading in the right direction,” he says. “But the reception has been good... the hotel is liked immensely well by our customer base. Whenever I see my guests in the restaurants or those who stay in the hotel, they have been unanimously raving about their experience and that I think is in large part due to the team.”
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