A memorable stay in Dubai
While he may soon be coming up against them as a competitor, Els still had plenty of praise for the level of service at hotels in Dubai.
The event to launch the operator coincided with his visit to the emirate for the Omega Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament, and the former world number one stayed at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai.
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It was a previous stay at this hotel in December, again coinciding with another important tournament, which left a particularly strong and lasting impression on Els.
“It was Thanksgiving in the US, and my daughter [Samantha] wanted to go to Key West and I wasn’t in the mood for that. So I said to her: ‘Why don’t you fly over here?’
“She flew over here to Dubai, [we] stayed another week and when we left everybody was in tears; the staff and us. It’s one of the best stays we’ve had, ever. Ben [his son, who has autism] was with us and the guys there are not trained for special needs stuff, but they just had this absolutely natural feeling for Ben, and Ben was very calm with them.
“It was the best holiday of his life, I believe. They took him down a slide and he just kept them busy all the time. On the beach, everywhere. These guys were basically running around. When I booked in this time, they asked ‘Where’s Ben? Where’s Samantha?’ That’s special.”
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