GM Interview: Jules-Henri Edouard

Adagio Aparthotel Premium West Bay Doha general manager Jules-Henri Edouard is confident of the product he’s offering to the leisure and business traveller market, and has spearheaded a project which will see the hotel attract a new kind of guest.

The building, located in the heart of Doha’s busy commercial district, initially opened in 2011 but was re-flagged by AccorHotels in October 2014 as the Adagio. Edouard says the objective was to create, on request of the owning company, a luxury aparthotel. And certainly, the property has upped its game: from the opening of a new restaurant, plans for a coffee shop, releasing 49 new units, upgrading all amenities to five-star standards and more.

Edouard adds: “Of course, with the aparthotel itself — you just come with your bags. You don’t have to worry about anything else. Our clientele are usually executives who come to stay a few months, because we don’t apply a minimum length of stay like other aparthotels. Or executives may only live here for one year or so and don’t want to invest in anything.”

While Edouard admits that there has been a change in occupancy levels since he came on-board the project, he says the aparthotel concept in Doha is a high-demand product. “It’s a good product, the demand is going to stay high if we maintain a good balance. That is, if we are careful about the development, we will be okay.” While the clientele are usually business travellers, the property also has a leisure market, especially on the weekends. He adds: “Yesterday and the day before, for example, we were over 90% occupancy. On the weekdays, we are at 70%, but every Wednesday to Friday we are over 90%.” He cites the domestic GCC market as being responsible for the high occupancy figures.

And Edouard wants to increase the leisure segment further. One of the strategies that will assist in this endeavour is adding 49 studios to its existing inventory of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.

He says: “We have a leisure market and this is where the studio will help us a lot. We had 80 apartments, and now with 49 studios, we will have 129 units.”

Explaining further, Edouard says: “This is a special product that, as far as I know, is unique here. It’s a mixture of aparthotel and hotel room ­­­— so you have more [amenities] than a hotel room and less than an aparthotel.” The rooms are located on the first and the second floor, previously unoccupied.

“When we arrived here and analysed the market, we found that Doha’s one-bedroom apartment inventory was not enough. We are very lucky because one-third of our inventory is one bedroom. The trend is that companies are now looking for single people, or married couples with no children. When you extrapolate those trends, you realise the next step is to offer single or couple accommodation, but keep it lighter than a full aparthotel [for a bigger family].”

In light of this, AccorHotels is working on several projects in the pipeline for the Doha market, with the aim of servicing all market ranges: from luxury to budget. In terms of aparthotels, an Ibis & Adagio project is currently under construction near the C-Ring Road in Doha, which will offer 300 keys in total.

Edouard says the mid-scale market is growing. “Right now, 80% of travellers are looking at mid-scale. So when you develop, you need to take this into consideration. If everyone wants to have a five-star, we cut ourselves off from 80% of the potential leisure market.”

He says there is a worrying trend in the region in general where upscale and luxury hotels are dropping rates to a mid-market range, which affects both the profitability of the five-star hotel and crowds mid-market properties out of the market. But, he concludes: “We will have an adjustment — and we really need to offer the mid-scale market the possibility to come to Doha.”

CSR

Adagio Aparthotel Premium West Bay Doha sales and marketing executive Tounes Amlaz is heavily involved in increasing the level of CSR activities the aparthotel conducts. In January 2016, the property made a donation to Qatar Charity, and soon after donated a range of items such as sheets, towels and mattresses to the Red Crescent. Throughout Ramadan, it will also donate 50 meals daily to the Red Crescent organisation.

Adagio Aparthotel Premium West Bay Doha general manager Jules-Henri Edouard says: “We are very fortunate to have Tounes joining the team three months ago. For me, a company has to be incorporated in the society and we have a duty to participate in the life of the community at all levels.”

While this was always something Edouard believed in, he says Amlaz’s arrival has signalled a more pro-active and in-depth programme when it comes to CSR. He concludes: “We have to play our part as a responsible company in the society.”