New Opening: Movenpick Al Aziziyah, Qatar

The Grand Heritage was officially re-flagged as the Mövenpick Al Aziziyah in May this year, becoming the company’s third operational property in Doha, Qatar. For everyone at the property involved in the rebranding, the experience has been described as a “smooth transition” from old to new.

The hotel’s general manager, Peter Beat, says: “Since its inception, the property was popular amongst Qataris and GCC guests; and it was not anyone’s intention to come in and change too much. We want to build on the success of what the hotel has done.”

The ExCom team describes the hotel’s exterior structure and interior décor similar to that of “a century-old English castle” and Beat adds to the sentiments of his colleagues. “It’s a beautiful product; it’s quite unique for that sort of a building structure in the middle of so much greenery, something you would never expect in Doha.”

Mövenpick Al Aziziyah is located in the Aspire Zone, a 250-hectare dedicated sports city in Doha’s Al Waab district, which was constructed for the 2006 Asian Games. The complex features sporting facilities, mainly geared towards football, and also houses a speciality sports medicine facility — Aspitar. The complex is also the site of one of the FIFA World Cup stadiums, that’s set to be held in Qatar in 2022.

The hotel, hence, serves as a crucial cog in the complex’s offerings and is frequented by sports teams throughout the year. Director of business development Musa Al Nammari tells Hotelier Qatar: “During the winter months, we have a good reputation with the European sports clubs such as Bayern Munich, Paris St. German and Zenit St. Petersburg, to name a few, that stay here.”

He adds: “We have Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli Football Club staying with us in October, in addition to local teams that come to use the training facilities. Every week we have an average of two to three football teams [staying with us]. We are talking about only one sport — football. Then there are other sports teams and individual athletes who stay here as well.”

“Being part of Aspire, we are in close coordination with them, since we are facilitating their plan and represent the government. We are doing great in terms of rooms and occupancy,” he adds.

Beat says: “In terms of sport groups, it’s two-fold — one way is to collaborate with Aspire Zone. We work closely with them and they help us to get some teams to stay with us. The second layer is where we directly approach teams and managements with marketing and sales efforts, sometimes through our regional sales office. For instance, our office in Saudi Arabia is approaching various football teams within the Kingdom. As we speak, we have two teams from Saudi Arabia staying with us. Similarly, we use our offices in London [to attract business] from Europe.”

Most of the ExCom team was retained from the previous management, with the exception of Beat who joined the property mid-May this year.

Executive chef Michel Soulet joined the property almost two years ago, after spending close to five years working for the Marco Polo Group in China. Soulet shares his assessment of the rebranding: “We have four F&B outlets at the hotel — Flavours, Blue, Agora and Victoria Tea Lounge. And, we have not changed the restaurants, they are the same. The owning company has not changed; you just change the operator, and you cannot change a restaurant at the flick of a finger. It takes a bit of time to decide what we really want to do.”

Rawad Mahassen works as the outlets manager and says that the hotel is preferred by sports teams for the flexibility offered with its F&B services. “We have packages in place for sports teams as most of our business comes from them. They like the hotel, the restaurants and the quality of the food. We are now also implementing Mövenpick’s healthy menus for the teams, as well as other guests.

Al Nammari says: Clubs have very specific menus and requirements, which includes the local and GCC clubs. Normally, they ask to meet with the chef and F&B director [prior to their stay at the hotel]. Mostly, our chef anticipates their requirement in advance, even though every coach has a different programme.”

Soulet tells Hotelier Qatar that most teams travel along with their dieticians and doctors. “We tailor the menu as per their needs.” He also says that no two teams have the same diet and requirements. “It’s down to juggling different items, perspectives and we are flexible enough to accommodate these,” he adds.

Sometimes, sports teams travel with their own chef, and Beat says that there are provisions made to give them a separate space to operate in. “We are very flexible in that matter,” says Beat.

Along with sports teams, the hotel’s sales team’s efforts are being directed to attract an added number of leisure and corporate guests. Al Nammari explains: “Qatar is under huge construction and development projects, which you will start to notice and feel by 2017. Part of it is the rail project — our hotel will be just 10 minutes away from downtown Doha. A number of the guests that stay at the hotel are from companies who represent the construction and development companies. The corporate sector used to make up just 3% of the guests before. Now it is, however, a lot more because of the various expansion projects [in the city].

Beat adds: “For the corporate segment we pose a different sort of offering; although we are in Doha we are located away from the city. Hence, corporates and groups like to stay with us, since it’s relaxing, quiet and calm.”

Meanwhile, Al Nammari hopes that sport medical tourism becomes an avenue to attract tourists as a growing number of people are reportedly visiting the facility for treatment. Beat says: “Aspitar has quite a few facilities [to treat injuries] and instead of going to Europe to have treatments and surgeries you can come to Qatar. In fact, quite a few high profile athletes are coming to Aspitar to get treated and even to undergo surgery.”

Meanwhile, the opening of the F-Ring Road a few months ago has significantly cut travel times from the airport to the hotel. Al Nammari says that it has also resulted in better connectivity to other major hubs in the country such as Al Wakrah and the new industrial area, which is not far from the Mövenpick Al Aziziyah.

On the leisure front, Al Nammari gives an insight into the major source market for the property. “We are the first hotel when you drive down from the Saudi-Qatar border check-post, and hence, we serve as the first choice for Saudi guests, which as per the QTA witnessed a 25% increase last year. Especially during the summer and holiday periods. Bahrain, for that matter, is just a three hour drive away.”

Soulet adds: “Since we are a dry hotel, we are a major destination for not only Saudi but GCC travellers in general.”

Mövenpick has a strong presence in Saudi Arabia with 11 operational properties and Beat feels that it is one of the reasons that prompted the owning company to choose the Swiss operator to take over the property. “We already had two existing hotels in Doha and they [the owners] had seen the job we were doing there, to go along with our global standards. Our owners spoke to the other hotel owners, for sure.”

Apart from minor tweaks, Beat says all aspects of the hotel are in good condition and not much needs to be changed. “We are upgrading the in-room technology because a few areas needed a bit of an update.

In terms of F&B, it’s more about the right sort of marketing; we are hence implementing promotions, specials and themed nights; and we are also looking at entertainment options on the Blue restaurant terrace.”

Beat also says that the overall sporting infrastructure is second to none. “This has always been the case from the outset,” Beat says. “If you take the indoor football stadium within Aspire, or even the open football stadiums that have air conditioning [they have got all the right facilities]. The equestrian, swimming and cycling facilities, for example, are world-class,” he says indicating it’s not just football but other sporting events that the country hosts that ensures the city remains abuzz.

Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has stepped up its efforts in a bid to attract new source markets and Beat says the authorities are approachable and have a clear vision to develop tourism in the country. “I have already met them thrice since coming to the property in May. Not to forget the efforts of Qatar Airways, who will by the end of this year, open new routes to 15-20 destinations and that will be great for us. We appreciate the joint efforts of QTA and Qatar Airways as they strive to improve inbound tourism.”

The FIFA World Cup 2022 is nearly five years away and Beat remains conscious about the efforts both prior and after the sporting extravaganza. “It will be amazing, and you can feel the vibe already; even though it’s five years away people are still talking about it every day. But, we also need to remember that the World Cup will last just four to six weeks and it’s how we plan for the years leading up to the event. And following the event, the authorities are looking at making the stadiums sustainable, which in my view is very important.”