Westin Dubai Al Habtoor City

The Westin Dubai Al Habtoor City will be the largest Westin hotel in Europe, Africa and the Middle East when it opens, standing 41 storeys tall on Sheikh Zayed Road with 1,004 rooms. At the time of going to print, Starwood Hotels and Resorts said the property will open in August; however the website isn’t taking bookings until October 15.

Overseeing this mammoth property is general manager Khaled Ghaleb, who has more than 20 years of experience in the industry working in luxury hotels across the UAE, Egypt and France. Prior to this, he was at Starwood’s Grosvenor House, A Luxury Collection Hotel, in Dubai where he was hotel manager for four years.

This hotel marks Ghaleb’s fourth hotel opening in the UAE. Focusing on the location of the complex, which he says is an advantage, Ghaleb says: “With the vision of the chairman, you can see the magnitude of the project we are part of. Like my colleagues have explained, we will not leave any stone unturned in terms of market segments — we cater for everybody between the three brands.

“With the Westin, suites are 16% of the inventory, and the layout of the rooms makes it appealing for both leisure and business.”

Ghaleb emphasises the Eat Well pillar of the brand, a concept that is incorporated within all the restaurants’ philosophies. He says: “We have the all-day dining called Seasonal Tastes, which accommodates about 360 pax. It has seven different food stations and cuisines, and is all cooked à la minute. Then we have a New York Italian, Il Capo, along with Cook Hall, an American gastropub, and these two concepts are with our partners, Culinary Concepts. A concept that we’re developing is the pool lounge bar; based on flame so it’s all grilled items, and it’s called Firefly. We’ve got a grab-and-go corner in the lobby. It offers a variety of grab-and-go items. And Blinq, which is the main bar in the hotel, is very glitzy, glamorous and very Hollywood.”

W Dubai Al Habtoor City

The general manager of W Dubai Al Habtoor City, Peter Katusak-Huzsvar, is a W man, through and through. With over eight years’ experience overseeing the opening of W hotels across Europe, Middle East and China, his journey with the W brand began in the Middle East as director of operations for the opening of W Doha Hotel and Residences in Qatar, followed by general manager for W St. Petersburg, Russia and W Guangzhou, China. He started his career, he tells me, in the late 80s in Germany with Kempinski Hotels and Resorts.

When he saw the scale of the project in Al Habtoor City, he reveals, the decision to move to Dubai was a no-brainer.

The 33-storey property, which saw its soft opening in June 2016, offers 365 rooms and suites, where the design was led by Singapore-based firm Silverfox Studios. Its F&B includes all-day dining Level Seven, the W Lounge (which is also the check-in area), Japanese-Korean import Namu, and the Wet Deck.The general manager quietly corrects me when I call it “F&B” — he says: “At the W, as we call it B&F, as beverage makes money and beverage is the culture of the W in terms of mixology.”

Katusak-Huzsvar also echoes Pande’s comments on MICE, and says marketing the complex as a whole is a major benefit in driving business. “It will differentiate us from the competition and give us a competitive advantage, so whenever we work on bringing big groups, that will something that is a plus. Not just the brand experience, but the size and the opportunity all around the complex,” he comments.

“I’m a big believer in authenticity and consistency, and we are trying to have an insider approach and bring what’s new and what’s next to our guests and clients,” concludes Katusak-Huzsvar.

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