The CEO of the developer behind the upcoming Anjum Hotel in Makkah has criticised the poor level of service being offered by international hotel groups in the city and set out his own company’s ambitious expansion plans.
Set to open next month after a number of delays, the hotel will have 1,743 rooms and suites and has private, direct access to the Grand Mosque.
Abdul Lateef Jamil Real Estate Investment Company (ALJREIC) is the developer behind the project and CEO Claude Chesnais spoke to HotelierMiddleEast.com about how the company wanted to focus on growth in Saudi Arabia rather than expanding abroad.
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“We want to be known as a very high quality, Saudi company. And I think if we manage this, there will be pride in that,” he said.
“If you take the international companies, the quality of service they have in Makkah is not as good as in Dubai, for example. They don’t have as much supervision over there. They are living off the name.
“Most of the vice presidents can’t visit, so you have a GM there on his own and owners of the hotel are probably very involved too. We are everything: we are the owners, we have a very strong management team and we control everything.”
Over the next five years, ALJREIC will look to expand Anjum Hotel, adding another 7,000 rooms in two more phases over the next seven years.
Meanwhile, it will build a 10,500 property around 1.5 kilometres away from the Grand Mosque over the next five years and another 4,500-room hotel over the next seven years.
Chesnais also said the company is likely to pursue management opportunities with other hotel owners, but again only within the Saudi market.
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