Dubai’s Habtoor Grand Beach Resort and Spa recently joined Marriott International’s Autograph Collection, a group of independently run and operated hotels. Hotelier meets the team to discuss the strategy and how the new flag will drive operations.
Habtoor Grand Beach Resort & Spa became the first Middle Eastern property to join Marriott International’s Autograph Collection, a portfolio of independent hotels launched in January 2010, and comprised of 60 hotels worldwide.
With the property officially flagged under the collection in February, Hotelier Middle East caught up with Al Habtoor Group director of operations and development Sundaresh Iyer, and Habtoor Grand Beach Resort & Spa consulting general manager Rick Zeolla to find out how the new flag changes things at the independently owned and operated hotel.
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Commenting on the group’s decision to join the Autograph Collection, Iyer says: “The obvious answer is to enhance our global reach. Habtoor is a well-known brand in the region and within the UAE. Being part of the Autograph Collection gives us the global reach that we as a standalone weren’t able to achieve.”
The global reach Iyer refers to includes Marriott International’s global sales teams and the group’s 48 million Marriott Rewards members.
“Marriott has 48 million members, which is already a huge reach; there’s a global sales office, there’s a cluster sales office over here, so we get the brand support and it also lets us retain our identity,” he reiterates.
“We are able to expose this property to a much broader range of potential customers. If someone’s looking for an independent experience, they can trust that it’s in Marriott’s system and because of that, there is a certain level of quality that we are expected to meet.
“Our target customer is that person looking for something a little bit off the beaten trail. They are confident that because it’s under Marriott, there’s a certain quality level.
“They are also looking for something more unique to the destination, and that’s where this property really stands out. It’s got great heritage, it’s been here for a long time, it’s got great bones.”
Zeolla says the hotel has already noticed a favourable response from Marriott Rewards members as a result.
“We’ve been in contact with all our global sales organisations around the world and the response has been great because we offer something we haven’t had in this market before, a beachfront resort,” he says.
“Guests have been wanting this, so I think we will fill a very specific niche in Marriott’s portfolio and that’s going to bring benefits to us.”
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