Shaza sets record straight

Shaza Hotels CEO Chris Hartley talks frankly to Arabian Travel News about the Shariah debate and why it's as confusing as his next-door neighbour's job.

Where does Shaza Hotels stand on the Shariah compliance issue?

I think the most important thing to start with is that Shariah is a broader concept than just relating to hotel facilities. It can apply to many other things like financing and it's also down to how Shariah law is interpreted by practicing Muslims.

 

We've never at any stage wanted to be seen or in any way articulated what those Islamic principles should be, we just set about creating a product in the luxury market based on Arab culture and tradition.

So Shaza isn't trying to be Shariah?

"We try to be sensitive to Islamic considerations, but we're not going to reach down and tick every box off some imaginary list."

What we have tried to accomplish is a respectful facilitation of what the most important principles are - Halal food, no casinos, no alcohol, and so on and then packaged them as uniquely as we can for our guests to enjoy.



You must be bored of continually having to address this issue by now?

Ha ha ha. No, it's important to try and achieve some clarity on this issue. It seems to be one of those topics that just rumbles on and on no matter what you say.

There is a particle accelerator in Geneva where I live and one of the scientists who works there is my neighbour and every time I see him I ask him how it works and he tries to explain it; three years later I still don't understand - talking about Shariah seems to be a bit like that.

Okay, so you'd classify your hotel offering as an 'Arabic experience' instead of a Shariah compliant one?

We've really done our homework to try and be different to other hotels and integrate ourselves into the culture of the region.
 

I think in the industry now clients don't want to be in a hotel that has the same format worldwide; they want the hotel to reflect the destination.

We've gone to extensive lengths to represent Arab culture. We have a fund reserved exclusively for acquiring Arabian art and our service delivery concept is based entirely on Arab culture.

And you think this will be popular?

Of course, not just to the locals but to international travellers as well. With the internet being so widely used the world is becoming smaller and people will write about their experiences and exchange their views.

Our properties will be places that people want to come to and that we hope locals can be proud of.

Shaza recently signed an agreement with MSpa to be in all your Middle East properties. How did that come about?

MSpa is the market leader in the Asian spa concept and has pioneered many of the latest advancements.



We knew about the company because of its joint-venture with Kempinski and we felt it had the knowledge and creativity to help invent a new spa concept for us.

We researched the Hamman experience, qualified what we wanted and MSpa helped us to define it and put it into a context that was operational.

How many Shaza properties will open in the near future?

There are three confirmed hotels with more to follow. The properties in Jeddah and Doha are very close to conclusion and there is one in Bahrain that is in the design phase.

Bahrain went from being low on good hotels to suddenly becoming a business hub, so we are very happy with all three locations.

 

RELATED LINK: Shariah by any other name