Interviews with the excom team...
Mariana Rietmann, chief concierge
Simon Casson emphasises people and service standards all throughout. And the first point of contact for the guests is the front office and concierge team. Rietmann says it’s very important that the team understand what the expectations are from the guests. She reveals: “It’s an exercise I do on a daily basis, that I tell them: who are our guests and what are they expecting.” She explains that the company takes care of its employees. “They have to be happy in order to make the guests happy. How can I take care of you from my heart if I’m not having a good day?” Rietmann keeps an eye on her team, and even practises coaching on the spot if she thinks the interaction between front office and guests isn’t up to standard.
The hotel’s chief concierge has been with the property since pre-opening, training with the teams six months prior to the doors opening. She admits that mistakes happen sometimes, but the method of dealing with them is what makes all the difference. “The good thing is that we look at the big picture and think, what can we do better?” Rietmann, who has 40 people in her team, says her constant aim has been to personalise the service.
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Gilles Arzur, executive chef
The executive chef, who has 84 chefs across his team, not only has to worry about competition in the general Dubai market, but also within the hotel premises, with the Restaurant Village housing brands like Jean-Georges, Coya, Nusret, and Provocateur.
Arzur says the response to the restaurants in the last year has been positive, with good feedback from hotel guests as well as the residential community. “The Restaurant Village is competition without being competition,” he says. It offers, he says, choice to the hotel guests. “It’s up to us to demonstrate to the guest that we are as good as the big names, and we’re not shy on our culinary skills.”
He is quick to carry out changes when it requires. For example, Suq still offers all-day dining, but has switched to a la carte menus from buffets for lunch and dinner, which has also helped with food waste at the property.
Admitting a buffet three times a day cost him a lot of money, Arzur adds that it’s important for him as a chef to have top quality ingredients. “We shouldn’t see that going to waste or not used the way it should be used, it’s a shame. By removing buffets, we had some great response on some of the areas like the Indian counter.” He hints at planning something new for the hotel’s seafood restaurant on the beach, Sea Fu. “We will still be serving a lot of fish and seafood but we may work on a different style of cuisine. When I look at the Restaurant Village and what we have to offer in our area, I think we have a niche spot to create something new.”
Hayley Bluett, director of spa
With 10 therapists, eight receptionists and six health club attendants, Hayley Bluett is a busy woman. She says the hotel’s signature facials and treatments are the most popular, and has worked on creating an authentic and local experience for the clientele.
Bluett says: “During our signature massage, we use our signature oil which Sodashi blended for us. We also use oud scent which really speaks to the local culture here. For our signature facial, we use our signature pearl serum which Dr Burgener created for our spa, which was quite nice. We actually pride ourselves that we’re the only ones in the region that house Dr Burgener.”
The ratio of in-house to external guests currently stands at 80:20, with all efforts being made through strategic marketing to create a loyal following among residents in the area.
“Especially with Four Seasons, every single spa is very different and what we’re trying to create is a local, authentic experience and that’s quite easy for the spa to do than any other department. We’ve introduced a date night, where guests will come in and experience different date treatments, and also a camel milk body wrap. That is a trend at the moment anyway,” she explains.
The spa also makes up quite a large component of the revenue that is generated from the hotel as a whole. The department’s operating revenue is generated from spa and salon services, with a significant amount of income derived from spa product sales and other retail sold in the spa and wellness boutique.
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