Out with the old…

Harry's Place at the Renaissance Hotel, Deira opened in the late 1990s and in its day was "one of the trendiest hotspots in Dubai", according to manager Jude Kleinman.

The hotel is now preparing to completely overhaul the bar, replacing the American sports bar look with what Kleinman describes as more of an "upscale lounge" feel.

The glory days

When it first opened, Harry's Place was known as an "American-Italian bar-cum-restaurant", Kleinman explains, and several well-known local radio DJs and bands launched their careers from the venue.

"There weren't many bars around Dubai back then, so it was very different," says Kleinman.

"The whole Jumeirah strip came up in due time, so a lot of the crowd moved - that's the trend in Dubai, the crowd moves with new bars and restaurants. They're easily swayed."

Sports tournaments, such as pool competitions and the Dubai Darts League, have always been popular events for Harry's Place, and the resident DJ and bands still draw a crowd, says Kleinman.

"We've had a South African band, and a band from Canada, and recently we got a band that is based in Dubai and perform in a couple of five-star hotels," he says. "The music is very entertaining and the customers enjoy it."

The bar also features a dance floor area, restaurant area and a cigar lounge.

"We've held cigar rolling sessions and an event known as Smoke Signals, which were very popular, and we also had cigar rollers and connoisseurs that came in from Cuba to give lessons to our guests and our staff," continues Kleinman.

"We've always maintained the quality of our food, and that of our service. We also get a lot of positive feedback on the drinks we serve here, and the friendliness of the staff," he says. "We've maintained a good ambience, and we've got people who have been coming here since the bar opened."

In good company

The clientele at Harry's Place are mainly residents of Dubai, while approximately 40% of the business comes from in-house guests. This will be changing following the refurbishment, however, says Kleinman.

"We will be having a shift of clientele. We'll be targeting a young and trendy crowd. We will be establishing this place as one of the hottest nightspots in Deira," he says. "According to the market research Steven Moine, [the bar supervisor] and I have done, Deira is dying out in the sense of entertainment. I've been to a lot of places and I don't think anything much is happening, so I think if we change now, it will be the right time to do it," he explains.

"Everybody seems to be going across the creek to the Sheikh Zayed Road area and so forth. Everyone seems to be leaving Deira and the outskirts to go and enjoy themselves in that area," confirms Moine.

"We'd like to see people who are living on Sheikh Zayed Road and in that area come back to Deira, because we'd like to offer something that's worth the trip. We can definitely deliver a similar experience," he says.

Creating a buzz

The Renaissance will be supporting the relaunch of the new-look Harry's Place via a new food and beverage website.

"It will be a website that's dedicated to food and beverage and entertainment. It will definitely be a very structured, targeted site and Harry's Place will definitely be a major part of the website," says Rashmi Chittal, the property's PR and marketing communications manager.

"The site will mainly be targeting Dubai residents. We can't really do anything to market to in-house guests until they get here, but we can definitely get the word around to our regular guests by posting press releases on Marriott.com and on the hotel's own website," she explains.

"We'll probably step up the photography that we have on the site, add some variety, and maybe do 360-degree Flash animation to make it interesting for the customers."

There will also be targeted e-mail shots to regular Renaissance customers, she adds. "They'll only go to people that we know are interested in F&B or nightlife, so that we definitely target the right audience."

New look

While the exact time frame for the refurb still remains to be confirmed, the project is likely to take place in early 2008, ready to reopen next summer.

The overhaul will "cost a substantial amount of money", although the exact figure cannot be revealed, according to Kleinman.

"What we're looking at when we renovate the place is to make it an upscale bar. We will be looking at improved F&B menus and an improved entertainment set-up," he says.

"There'll be an extension of Harry's Place - the courtyard will no longer be there and the entire front wall will be broken down. The cigar room will become a dining area. The game room's going to go as well - it's not going to be so much of a sports bar.

"The entire set-up will be broken down and taken away. The bar will be reduced to half its size, but taken back further, and the bar set-up will have frosted glass and appropriate ambient lighting. We'll have specific branding focussing on specific products. You won't see so many bottles standing around."

A great deal of research has gone into the planning of the new look, according to Moine.

"We've been talking to a lot of our regular guests and taking their input into consideration. We've been asking people what they're looking for in a bar," he says.

"Everyone wants something different - some want to relax, some want to go wild - and we now have ideas for packages we can put together to attract not just one specific type of client, but to get everyone involved."

New flavours

A new food and beverage menu will accompany the new look.

"A fusion menu would be appropriate, because of the type of clientele we currently have and [the clients] we are going to be targeting as well," says Kleinman.

"We're looking at upgrading our selection of beverages as well, bringing in some new beers. We will definitely be doing the classic cocktail list, too.

"We won't be going into very fancy cocktails, just the classics - all the martinis, the margaritas, cosmopolitans, manhattans and so on."

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