2. Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Senior VP Regional Director Middle East, Guido de Wilde
The mid-market brand Aloft by Starwood Hotels & Resorts takes second place in the 2016 power list.
Aloft was launched in 2009 with Aloft Abu Dhabi, and recently was introduced in Saudi Arabia with the opening of Aloft Riyadh, soon to be followed by Aloft Dhahran also in Saudi Arabia. At present it has 12 hotels operational in the region, with a further five in the pipeline.
Scheduled to open in 2018, Aloft Dubai City Centre Deira will feature 304 rooms, including 29 suites. This property will also feature an outdoor rooftop Vox Cinema. Additionally, Aloft aims to bring the latest technology into this hotel; to this end, Aloft Riyadh will feature a keyless entry system that allows guests to use a smart phone as a key.
Today the company operates 54 hotels and more than 16,000 rooms across eight brands and has a team over 20,000 associates in the Middle East. The company is also on track to reach its milestone of 100 hotels in the region by 2020.
Wilde looks after the operations of 53 hotels, this includes 55 colleagues in the regional office, 14 general managers/area managers who directly report to him. “Guests are at the centre of what we do and we need to have an obsession for guest service excellence.” he says.
Marriott International completed its acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts in September of this year, while the Starwood name will now come under Marriott, it has been included in this power list as the nomination timeline preceded this announcement.
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