The Westin Soma Bay Golf Resort & Spa became the second Starwood property after the Sheraton to open in Soma Bay, and the first Westin to operate across Egypt. Starwood re-flagged the La Residence Des Cascades Golf Resort & Thalasso Center, and began operations in November 2015. The hotel joins four other properties in the Soma Bay area, which is a 10 million m2 peninsula located roughly 50 kilometres away from the Hurghada International Airport.
“We underwent a conversion since it was an existing property, which was in operation since 2004. So, we did not have a typical pre-opening phase,” says Westin Soma Bay Golf Resort & Spa general manager Sherif Darwish. “The conversion began in February 2015, and was completed in November 2015. I joined the property in January 2015,” he adds.
The 166-room resort features a few tourist attractions up its sleeve, the biggest of those being the 18-hole championship golf course designed by former world number one golfer Gary Player. The resort is spread across a four-storey structure, which recently completed its first phase of conversion.
“In the first phase (of conversion) we introduced Westin’s heavenly beds, together with new LED TVs, coffee machines and ironing boards et cetera,” says Darwish. When Hotelier asked whether that would reflect in the room rates, he responds: “Of course it will, you are paying for a higher level of service and we will be further upgrading the rooms to meet Westin standards.”
Plans for the second phase of renovation will see the introduction of “new upholstery, curtains, backdrop for beds, wallpapers are going to change and we will introduce new contemporary designed carpets”. “The facelift of rooms will be offset in phases. We will start with 50 rooms first; we will be considering the rest thereafter,” Darwish tells Hotelier Middle East.
However, Starwood did not carry out major refurbishments in the kitchen and back-of-house. Westin Soma Bay’s F&B director Martin Kirchgasser says: “Since it was built as a five-star hotel, the kitchen layout was as per a chef’s requirements. However, certain aspects need to be modernised, which includes the latest gadgets and kitchen equipment. We have identified these areas and will be looking into them shortly.”
While refurbishments and improvements are a welcome change, Darwish is adamant that he does not want to upset the loyal fan base the hotel has built over the years. The general manager says: “50% of bookings we receive at the property are from repeat guests, and by introducing Starwood’s SPG programme along with other booking channels, our repeat guests will increase further.”
Darwish explains that the management reached out to the hotel’s existing customers: “We shared our progress during the first phase of conversion which included the lobby, fitness studio and even shared the first phase renovation mock-ups.” The move allowed us to connect with the hotel’s loyal guests.
He adds: “Regular guests love the property, they come two to three times a year, and love using the spa facilities and the 18-hole golf course. Guests book with a specific room number, sometimes in April for a stay that they are planning in November. So the loyalty, whatever brand name above the door, is very high. And the single asset responsible for this is the staff working at the property, all of whom we retained when taking over.”
He continues: “We do have a lot of internal marketing campaigns, and we also have contracts signed with OTAs and tour operators who are marketing the destination, and ensuring tourists know about our proposition.”
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