Beverage experts call for bar industry shake-down

Professionals highlight need for improved service and staff appreciation

The Middle East bar industry is in need of a shake-down to improve service standards and offer more consistent quality and value to customers, according to industry professionals.

Nick Hancock, bar development manager — licensed division for Emirates Leisure Retail (ELR), said he’d like to see “better service all over Dubai”.

“We have some great bars, but there are still too many places you go in and the service is atrocious,” Hancock asserted. “And effecting an improvement would be great for the whole industry — the impression we give to the rest of the world would improve dramatically.”

Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates beverage manager Sasha Milovanovic added: “I agree entirely — we need an improvement in service and more honesty and transparency in what we do.

“It has been mentioned that in the past, bars here were perhaps charging too much. Of course I’m not against selling things for the price they’re worth — after all, most of the bars here are in five-star hotels and accordingly they are expected to deliver a top-end experience — but the value-for-money factor definitely needs to be there.”

Fairmont Dubai’s Exchange Floor manager, Simone Hopman, agreed that “Dubai has overcharged for a lot of things in the past; everyone is guilty of that”.

“But now there is more supply and less demand, we’ve had a kind of reality check,” she noted.

“The prices were hitting the same level as New York or any of the other major destinations that already have that name and energy. Now we need to re-assess that and offer more value for money.”

Felix Hartmann, formerly manager of the Skyview Bar at Burj Al Arab and now managing the property’s Al Iwan Restaurant and Sahn Eddar Lounge, revealed that in recent months the outlet had lowered its minimum spend. “But the prices are still the same, because I expect my colleagues to make exactly the same quality drink as before — the same top quality that our customers have come to expect,” he reasoned.

“For me, the changes I’d like to see are a better quality for the customers, a better community for bartenders and also higher commission for bar staff, who should really start getting the same recognition as the chefs here do.

“Only then can we really see that enthusiasm start to come through and consequently reduce turnover and increase interest in this industry.”

This view was supported by MMI bar development and training manager Rebecca Sturt, who noted that she would like to see “staff being trained and paid properly for their hard work”.

Sturt also called for more bartender organisations and competitions to be established for the region, to challenge and enhance the industry.