Take it outside

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Huge burners are used to great effect around Thai restaurant Thiptara at The Palace, The Old Town.

“Our all-day dining outlet Ewaan serves inside and outside overlooking the pool and our Thai restaurant Thiptara, which means ‘magic on the water’, is set slightly apart from the hotel and has a balcony area running round the whole restaurant, over the water. It’s very atmospheric,” he adds.

But despite the obvious benefits of having a new hotel development into which you can incorporate carefully-planned outdoor spaces, attractive al fresco settings are not limited to hotels.

Kho Khorsandian, owner and manager of Sushi Suhsi and Sarband located at Dubai Aviation Club’s Century Village complex, explains that grouping independent outlets together in a non-hotel environment has it advantages too.

“Here, one restaurant’s style is completely different to another, so you have that variation like you get in other countries, where you walk down the street and actually have a choice of different places to eat,” he explains.

Country Hill International general manager Dariush Rakhshanim, owner of Century Village’s St Tropez restaurant, adds: “People know that here they can get a wide choice of dining options in a small, community-like area. They can go to the Lebanese restaurant Mazaj, smoke a shisha and have a truly authentic experience, or you can just as easily enjoy an al fresco dinner at our French restaurant St Tropez.

“And if a group wants to sit in one restaurant, but some of them want food from another outlet, then we can accommodate that as well,” he continues. “All the Century Village outlets are individual, independent places, but they’re gathered in the same place and all work together to provide the best possible experience, which is really ideal for the customer.”

In other areas, outlets can take advantage of natural attractions to create a truly memorable dining experience, as Anantara Desert Islands Resort and Spa F&B manager Benjamin Sigg reveals.

“Sir Bani Yas Island has the perfect setting for a dining experience away from the resort,” he comments. “Visitors can enjoy one of the hotel’s ‘Dine by Design’ concepts, a dining experience which is tailored to their preference with a choice of locations: a private barbeque with the Arabian Oryx; sitting by the breathtaking wadis having a candlelit dinner for two; or enjoying an outdoor breakfast overlooking the mangrove bay and the Arabian sea.

“We can also provide sunset cocktails onboard a private boat or in a traditional majlis,” he adds.

The great outdoors

Outlet operators in the region tend to agree that outdoor spaces can generate up to 50% of total F&B revenue during pleasant weather.

Of course it’s not just the sunny climes that visitors can enjoy outdoors, points out The Address’ Cuypers: “Smoking isn’t an issue outside, so an al fresco area gives guests that option.”

The Palace’s Grosmangin adds that external venues allow for a wider variety of entertaining effects. “We do a lot of outdoor functions and Thiptara’s location allows us to make the most of fire and water effects, with the big burners we have set around the balcony areas and the surrounding lake,” he comments. “At events we often have entertainers doing fire tricks such as poi, and that seems to be very popular with guests.

“And with the area around the pool, we can also accommodate large parties,” Grosmangin continues. “Last month we actually held a fashion show where the catwalk was set up on top of the pool. It lends a real beach-party vibe.”

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