GM Interview: Stefan Viard, Manzil Dubai

Manzil Downtown Dubai, the Arabian little sister of Vida Hotels & Resorts opened its doors in December, putting a Middle Eastern spin on Emaar Hospitality Group’s home-grown lifestyle concept. General manager Stefan Viard gives Hotelier Middle East the lowdown on Dubai’s latest boutique lifestyle offering

Emaar Hospitality Group opened its first hotel under Arabesque lifestyle brand Manzil on December 15, 2015, following a six-month refurbishment. The property owes its smooth turnaround to an ExCom that had already gone through the process with Vida Downtown Dubai in 2013.

Both hotels were taken over by Emaar Hospitality Group in 2012 from South African operator Tsogo Sun. The Qamardeen Hotel was transformed into home-grown lifestyle concept Vida Downtown Dubai, and its Arabian counterpart will cater to “Arabic, young trendy travellers and families,” according to Stefan Viard, general manager of the two hotels, and urban café Pavillion Downtown Dubai.

“We market Manzil as a boutique hotel, the same as we do with Vida. Both cater to the global traveller, and here we are trying to distinguish this hotel to attract the GCC clientele, whereas at Vida we are looking at corporate business and international travellers.”

At 197 keys, Manzil is slightly bigger than Vida, which has just 156 rooms. In Manzil, the same rooms were kept, and 40 connecting rooms were added to cater to families.

With the same ExCom working across both properties, and most of the staff having stayed in place during the transition, the second property conversion was an easier task, particularly since the foundations of the brand were already in place.

“It was much smoother than the first time because with Vida we had to create a brand. Now we have the foundations, we just had to create the sub-brand Manzil and it was very interesting to see it being brought under the umbrella of Vida Hotels & Resorts, but being perceived as a bit more traditional.

“Obviously you learn from your mistakes. It started with the fantastic support of our COO Philippe Zuber who has been heavily involved, then the design team from Emaar and Emaar Projects — so it was a nice synergy between the different business units of Emaar to open in such a short period.”

One of the key differences between the two brands is communication. While at Vida, “it’s all very direct and cool” according to Viard, at Manzil, “it’s a bit more sophisticated, without being stiff”.

Manzil, like Vida will have a strong F&B scene, which is something Viard claims he is “passionate” about, having risen through the ranks on the F&B side with Jumeirah Group, GHM Hotels and then Emaar, where he started out as executive assistant manager I/C F&B at The Address Hotels & Resorts in 2008.

While Vida is well-known for its trendy international style restaurants, with home-grown French concept La Serre Bistro & Boulangerie, Japanese restaurant Toko and cool brunch concept Urban Picnic, Manzil will offer a more family-friendly dining set-up.

The hotel has overhauled its much-loved signature eatery Courtyard, while Nezesausi, a casual sports grill with big TVs and food portions, is another important outlet for the hotel.

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Before the summer, Viard looks forward to welcoming another home-grown concept to Emaar Hospitality Group’s portfolio: Fümé, which has a ‘360-degree menu’ featuring dishes from around the world, mixing European flavours with those from North and South-East Asia.

The Jas Group’s Dubai-founded concept, which opened first at the Pier 7 tower in the Dubai Marina neighbourhood last May, will be spread across two floors where Boulevard Kitchen currently stands. With 200 covers, the restaurant will feature an outside terrace, unlike the Marina outlet, and the top floor will have a licensed bar.
According to Viard, the “whole space will be a little bit more sophisticated than what is on the Marina side”.

“I think it’s a good addition to our portfolio — not only running F&B by ourselves but getting good partners in. They will benefit from us and we will benefit from them.

“It’s a local brand; that’s the key. There are enough talents here in Dubai and you see more and more good home-grown concepts, so you don’t necessarily have to buy the big names from other parts of the world and hope that they work. We have seen that with La Serre, which has been very very successful,” he says.

In addition to its restaurants, Emaar Hospitality Group’s Vida food truck has been a hit so far, so much so that the company has ordered a second one, which will be slightly bigger, and mobile rather than stationary.

“Vida food truck is a great concept; I’m very proud of having it now and it took a long time for us to get it. Feedback has been extremely good so we have been asked to keep it positioned there for the moment [in front of Vida Downtown Dubai]” Viard explains.

The original idea for the food truck was to provide a mobile catering service with Vida Catering Division for clients looking to entertain up to 100 people at their own venue.

With the second truck, Viard says: “we definitely want to be at polo events, product launches etc. We can go anywhere we want. It’s a good addition to the brand because Vida Hotels & Resorts is a quirky lifestyle brand and this is just the perfect fit.”

In addition to a rather unconventional F&B offering, Viard is proud of the features that set the hotels apart from the crowd. With a strong focus on technology across both properties — from one of the fastest WiFi networks in Dubai, to Apple computers in the lobbies, iPad check-in and media hubs in guest rooms — the hotels are staying ahead of the game.

Other in-room differentiators include self-stock minibars, and a complete absence of collateral, with everything controlled through the media hub, including room service, since there is no department allocated to this.

Another unusual offering is the “mood menu”. The guest selects an emoticon on the TV screen that best reflects their mood, and a food selection reflecting this is suggested. If a guest presses the sad face, a member of staff will call to find out what the issue is. If on the other hand, they press the happy face, a ‘happy cookie’ is delivered to their door.

One major advantage the company has over its global counterparts is the ability to skip lengthy approval processes when introducing these new ideas. “You don’t have to go through corporate office in Chicago; the corporate IT manager doesn’t do a big survey. Is it on brand? Yes, it’s on brand. That’s what we do,” Viard explains, admitting that “the creative minds behind the success are really the team”.

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While most of the staff stayed with Vida and Manzil from their time with Tsogo Sun, the new employees were hired through an X-Factor recruitment process, which required them to show off their best talents in front of other potential employees and the management team.

“It was great fun. We were looking for individuals who can entertain rather than people with a degree from a hospitality school. That we can train on site but the positive vibe is something you can’t learn from a book. We wanted people with a story to tell.”

However, hiring staff with attitude came with its challenges and management had to think of new ways to train and motivate them.

“They had completely different issues from the normal employee. You had to explain to them ‘yes I know there’s nobody in the swimming pool but that doesn’t mean you can swim, you’re here to work!’ The challenge is you want people with attitude, but also common sense, so it was a balance.”

Consequently, the staff engagement activities are rather energetic too, with the 480 team members spread across the properties offered four fitness classes per week, which double as team-building exercises. There are also line staff vs management football games, which Viard admits tend to end in his team losing.

Other motivational tools include the usual employee of the month accolades, and a scheme whereby the ExCom signs a well done card for staff when they are named in positive customer feedback.

Viard also believes that himself and the ExCom have found a simple way to reduce turnover and increase employee satisfaction.

“We’ve managed to find a good way to communicate with the teams; we really see ourselves as being part of the day-to-day business. If you’re fair to people, they will be fair to you. We’ve reduced staff turnover drastically and we’ve increased employee satisfaction by another 5%.”

Ensuring there is room for staff to grow is also a priority for Viard, who admits he would like to progress within the company and “is not fixed” to his chair.

“I want to make sure that the next row is ready to take over immediately if one day I might move to something else. That’s why everyone is involved; it’s important my team get opportunities too.”

Future plans for Vida at least, have already been drawn out with the launch of Emaar’s Vida Residence, The Hills, which will feature 136 serviced apartments, and Vida Residence Downtown Dubai, a 57-storey property featuring 320 units. However, for Viard’s two properties, the focus is now on “fine-tuning” Manzil and continuing to innovate at Vida Downtown Dubai.

With international brands venturing forth with their lifestyle offerings, such as Canopy by Hilton and Radisson Red, Viard is please that Emaar, a local brand, has pipped them to the post.

“I’m quite confident we have the right resources and it’s the people you need to drive this. I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t compete; we have a successful sales team.

“We developed in a short period of time and it was a huge risk doing something completely different. We had all those companies coming through the door to Vida to try it out and ask ‘How are they doing it?’

“They realise there’s a market and it’s great to have competition; we’ll benefit each other. We have an advantage because we are a home-grown brand; we really know Arabic hospitality,” Viard concludes.