Earlier this year, Todd Cilano was appointed regional vice president and general manager of Four Seasons Hotel Doha. With this role, Cilano is not only responsible for the Qatar hotel, but also has regional responsibilities supervising Four Seasons properties in Mauritius, Seychelles, Johannesburg and the Serengeti Lodge in Tanzania.
He moved to Doha from Four Seasons Resort Mauritius, where he served in a similar role as regional vice president and general manager.
Cilano joined Four Seasons in 1995, and has worked across eight different countries at 11 Four Seasons properties: Four Seasons Hotel Alexandria; Four Seasons Resort Chiang Mai and Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle in Thailand; Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok (formerly a Four Seasons hotel); Four Seasons Hotel London; Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh; Four Seasons Resort Nevis in the West Indies; Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara; and Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC, and most recently Four Seasons Resort Mauritius.
Hotelier Qatar visited the general manager and RVP soon after his move to Doha, and he says with respect to his longevity with the company: “The way we operate as a company is just the way you operate as a human being. It’s not work — it’s being with individuals that have a view on life that’s the same as yours. It’s your extended family, if you will.”
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The Four Seasons Hotel Doha and its family have been in the city for 11 years, and Cilano claims the property has a great reputation with the Qatari capital’s residents. And after a decade, Cilano is now spearheading a refurbishment process.
“We started last year with the addition of new F&B outlets: Nobu, Sheesha Terrace, and Elements restaurant. As with most hotels in Doha, the food & beverage component is a very serious contribution to your revenue stream,” he says.
Indeed, F&B contributes nearly 58% of the total hotel revenue, and the revitalisation of the property’s outlets is set to continue with soft refurbishment in the tea lounge and cigar bar on the lobby level, along with the remaining F&B outlets.
Cilano also reveals the hotel is in the process of adding a second ballroom to the hotel. “It provides us the opportunity to grow the social component, to have multiple events at the same time. It also gives us the opportunity to go after larger corporate groups, to be able to take a corporate group and a social group.
He added: “Once these projects come to completion, which we expect by end of 2016, beginning of 2017, we would then begin a rooms renovation: a complete rooms and suites renovation that would have us positioned by 2018 to basically be a brand new hotel again.”
Four Seasons Hotel Doha’s guests are predominantly corporate, and while Cilano admits the city is going through a slight downturn, the hotel is maintaining its market share. He also cautions against hoteliers lowering rates. “I am convinced that as markets soften, that is not the time to lower your prices. The experiences we offer today are the same as they were in the high times. I’m not a believer that lowering prices is going to generate more interest. As a matter of fact, it’s an even better time to ensure that you’re investing in your people, in your guest experience, that they are getting the same, if not better, attention and service than they were in a buoyant business cycle.”
As a regional VP and general manager, Cilano is also very much involved in developing the future leaders of the company. He laughs and says: “Pay it forward — the best thing you can do is train your replacement. It’s really been the success of our brand is that general managers are organically grown. Times will change and we will change with it, but up to this point, there are only three general managers that I can think of were hired from outside, and only one of those three is still with the company.”
Cilano stresses on the people-focused culture at the operator, and it was seen in the results of the Hotelier Middle East Salary Survey 2016, where Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts topped the list of the company hoteliers would like to work for the most in this region. This year 46.2% of the respondents said that taking into consideration salary, security, reputation and career development, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts was the company people would like to work for the most.
When I point this out to Cilano, he says: “And this is why 21 years feels like nothing: because we actually care about people. I do take that time to recognise my team as individuals. It goes back to how you can impact their lives.”
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