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Le Méridien Al Aqah general manager Patrick Antaki talks to Hotelier Middle East about redeveloping the property, staying friendly with neighbours and Fujairah's status as a destination.

Tell us about the property's facilities.

We have 218 sea-facing rooms, the largest rooms on the east coast; we've got four restaurants, offering Thai, Indian, seafood and our all-day dining; three bars; a spa; a wellness area; and of course all our outdoor activities including the pool, beach and our children's club.

On top of all this we also offer an entertainment team, who are there to entertain the guests, whether that's by organising activities during the day, such as water-polo, volley ball, tennis or whatever.

You're developing a new spa and redoing the beach-front restaurant; how is that progressing?

We've had some delays, I'm afraid; there's so much construction going on, and it's a small project so it's difficult to get the people to do it for you.

But it's all going to happen: we started the outdoor restaurant in May and we've got the spa being designed as we speak, so hopefully by the end of this year, by September, we'll have the restaurant up and running and by the end of next year we'll have the spa up and running.

The restaurant, instead of just being an indoor outlet, will be both indoor and outdoor. It's in the same location, but we're making the kitchens a lot bigger and we're extending the seating capacity, and we'll have a bistro-style indoor section.

So when it's warm we can close the doors and put the AC on, and when it's lovely weather we can open it up and you'll be eating on a terrace. I think this is needed in such a luxury resort.

Regarding the spa, we're looking at changing the concept where we remove the gym from the basement, where it is now, and turn that area into the spa. It has a beautiful view to the outside, so the relaxation area will be right in front of the waterfalls and the whole thing will be redesigned; there's a lot of wasted space there at the moment.

We're also redeveloping the beach at the moment; we're building a Barasti bar on the beach, we're building new changing rooms, we're redoing all the umbrellas - we're re-doing the whole thing to a higher standard.

What are Fujairah's unique selling points as a destination?

Destination-wise, it's the nature; you've got the mountains and the Indian Ocean at the same time. You've got diving, you've got gorgeous reefs, natural conservation areas.

If you look on the historical side, you've got most of the historical monuments of the UAE in this area. It's also a quiet area so people who are coming here on incentives or conferences tend to book with us because they don't want people to be out and about, they want them to concentrate on the conference or the team building.

And now there are another three hotels being built, in addition to the four here already. Some people say they're competitors and we should be worried, but no - it means we can take bigger conferences now.

We've got the biggest ballroom there, but some events I wasn't able to take because we didn't have enough rooms. Whereas now I can split them with other hotels; or other hotels will get the enquiry and will split their work with us. It's a small enough place for us all to be friends.

What are the primary challenges facing the industry at the moment?

At the moment, there are no major challenges; the UAE is a favourite destination, the area has taken off tremendously. But the danger is a self-made danger, where I think people are starting to out-price themselves against competing destinations.

I'm not talking about hotels versus hotels, but destination versus destination. I think in a couple of years' time there might be an adjustment in the rates that we're offering.

What green policies do you have in place at the hotel?

Al Aqah has always taken its responsibilities, whether social or green, very seriously. For Earth Day on April 25 we twinned up with the EDA (Emirate Diving Association) and some of the other hotels in the area and we did a big clean-up that day.

We're also looking at doing a clean-up campaign and an energy saving day in the future.

So yes, we are working towards having a full green policy.

Starwood as a company is very committed to the green policy, to recycling, to only working with biodegradable chemicals, to looking at alternative power sources; in Al Aqah, for example, we're looking at wind power and possibly sun power.

We get every single associate to watch the Al Gore film An Inconvenient Truth to understand where we're coming from and why we are doing this.

What are your ambitions for the property in the future?

I think as a whole, Méridien Al Aqah will stay as a leader, the highest quality available in the area. It's been the first one, it's been the leader, and hopefully it will stay the leader.

It will keep on developing, because the minute you say you're good enough, that's when you start failing.

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