Assila Hotel in Jeddah, Rocco Forte’s first property in the Middle East, opened in March 2017. Initially, Frank Heller, the general manager of The Charles Hotel in Munich was the interim general manager for the Saudi property. However, Harry Fernandes took over the reins in his first stint as general manager in April this year.
Fernandes has been with the British luxury hospitality group for 13 years and says that the philosophy of the company is about maintaining individuality, authenticity, and incorporating the Rocco Forte family values. “We are a very small group, but hospitality has been in the company for four generations.”
Prior to launching Rocco Forte Hotels in 1996, Sir Rocco Forte, the founder of the hotel group, was responsible for more than 800 hotels at his father’s firm Forte Plc. And Fernandes tells us that after 20 years of operations, the group is continuing to focus on quality over quantity when launching hotels.
The Assila Hotel general manager came into this role with years of experience and qualifications behind him.
After completing his education in Bhopal University, India, Fernandes began his career in the hospitality industry as a night manager at London Hilton on Park Lane in 1999. He then moved to the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in London, following which he joined Rocco Forte’s The Balmoral in 2004 as the rooms’ division manager and has been with the operator since.
He tells Hotelier Middle East that the hospitality firm chose Saudi Arabia as its first Middle Eastern destination as the brand was very popular with the Kingdom’s tourists to Europe. He says: “We are a very Europe-centric hotel company, we do some things really well and it’s those that we brought things into the region.”
One of these elements include staff. He says: “Whenever we open a hotel we bring our own people who are immersed in the Rocco Forte way and we focus on the individuality of our staff. We don’t wear name badges, we wear a Rocco Forte pin — Rocco Forte is a person and since he cannot be at every hotel opening the door and serving guests, I am that person. We make more of an effort to bring ourselves and our culture to guests while communicating with them.”
Fernandes explains that the group shares its founder’s legacy and values in each of its hotels. Across each hotel, there are links to similar design patterns and cultural references, training of staff, and the way business is conducted. He emphasises: “What we have brought to Jeddah with Assila Hotel is European design with a blend of Arab culture and architecture.”
Although the hotel is based in Jeddah and is close to Makkah, most of its guests are business travellers rather than religious tourists. “The hotel has a resort feel, so most of our guests love spend time in the hotel,” he notes. He proudly states that the hotel has the largest offering of restaurants in the city (four), with the largest room sizes and suites.
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