Site visit: Dunes Hotel Apartments

Digital marketing is a key area of operations at Dunes Oud Metha, where its “tailor-made” philosophy comes to life. Dunes Hotel Apartments general manager Faisal Abdul Rahman aims to create a bespoke experience for his guests, starting from the moment they open their web browser, all the way through to post-vacation review feedback.

“Social media is now playing a big role in the hospitality sector; if you are on social media and actively engaging with your guests, it can only be good for business. We have a great number of conversions from such online platforms, I believe 100% it can tip a potential customer into becoming a confirmed booking.”

Taking care of the social media accounts is a personal experience at Dunes. “Overall, I take care of the entire social media and online strategy at this hotel – it’s entirely under me, but we do have an external team to support our
objectives, though I am overseeing all of this too.

“We have a digital agency working from India – they are good at advising and consulting, and they are also posting our approved content. Dunes hotel general managers are tasked with sourcing and providing content according to our monthly media plan – they then supply the files to the agent in India.”

Social media success is both a combination of spontaneous and long-term planning, says Rahman. “We have yearly, monthly, weekly and even daily targets. In the hospitality sector there is instant activity happening that we want to capture – especially surrounding special holidays and celebrations. Hotel general managers have ultimate freedom to think outside the box and capture the activity in each hotel.”

Rahman knows first-hand the importance of tailor-made experiences, having dedicated 11 years to growing Dunes in Dubai: “I think personalised service and quality service are two sides of the same coin, and we have achieved a lot by focusing on this in our operations.”

The story of Dunes Hotel Apartments began in 2007 with its first property – Dunes Hotel Apartments, Muhaisnah, before expanding to include two additional hotel apartments in Al Barsha (2008) and Oud Metha (2011). Dunes Oud
Metha is located close to the historic Dubai creek with easy access to the city’s centre, major shopping districts and entertainment hot-spots.

On the topic of online reviews, Rahman speaks of the importance he places on trusted channels, like TripAdvisor, and the powerful impact they have on hotel bookings. “People read reviews before booking, every time, this is the new reality we live in. At Dunes we focus on proving excellent customer service, and this extends to acknowledging and responding to customers comments online. We draft our personalised replies, and our agency posts and monitors the subsequent activity,” he says.

“If you don’t have a dedicated employee looking after your social media activity, I recommend sourcing a dedicated agency to work with you. You simply can’t ignore social media anymore; we have got a good number of constant repeat bookings now – especially due to our communication skills through our digital marketing strategies,” he adds.

The competitive hospitality market in Dubai has led Rahman to fine tune his strategy for overcoming the challenges Dunes faces in an increasingly crowded mid-market sector. “How keep costs low, that is a challenge; yes we need to see new ways to mute our expenses, but not at the sacrifice of high quality service.”

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Rahman notes that continual employee training is necessary for both junior and senior employees in pursuit of this goal. “Leadership skills and customer service training are at the heart of our training sessions. We use external training suppliers, bringing them here to train our people; we tell them what packages we require, we develop a schedule together and they provide their services, says Rahman.

“This method of investing into our employees has shown good results; so much so that every six months at a minimum we will conduct new training in different areas of service,” he adds.

Rahman acknowledges this level of commitment to his employees can be challenging, both from a financial and organisational perspective, but he adds that it is vital to the hotels ongoing success. “We try different providers, however we do use the same ones occasionally – but we are open to trying new and interesting packages; some a very specific, others are tailored to the mid-market and to our needs and our guests needs,” he says.

“We offer guests a bespoke and tailor-made experience, this is at the core of our philosophy – we concentrate on every aspect of the trip; from visa applications and airport transfers, to dinner cruises and desert safaris. We believe it is important to provide the whole experience – and we can arrange it all well in advance,” says Rahman. “Once we send the confirmation booking, we then develop a personal conversation about tailoring their experience; so we ensure the best possible experience for our guests.”

The influx of mid-market properties in the region has led Rahman to strengthen his commitment to quality.

“The budget and mid-market is really coming up now in the MENA region; you will see a price war here in the near future.

But Dubai is really becoming progressive with the economy hotel sector; especially in terms of attractions like world-leading theme parks. Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) is very much focused and doing their best to bring people to the emirate. The quality of attractions will definitely be here – quality accommodation should match.” Speaking of the guest perception of the economy sector, Rahman said: “Mid-market perceptions in Dubai are not that low in terms of guest expectations, there is very high standards in this emirate, and DTCM also has these expectations of hoteliers.”

Rahman says Dunes meets expectations because it delivers exactly what it offers. “Everyone can have high occupancy here, guests are diverse and they all have unique needs; we can all offer something special.”

He adds that Dunes does not lower rates during slow periods, prefering to offer higher standards over reduced rates to attract people during quiet times. “Big chains are coming here, that create big challenges for small independent hotels; but with extraordinary service and the right digital marketing – it is possible to thrive – we are proof of that.”