Join the club

Executive lounge and guest relations managers from some of Dubai's top hotels sat down with Hotelier Middle East to discuss services, upgrades and how best to deal with difficult guests.

Hotel executive lounges and clubs have recently become a premium item that many budget-conscious companies are reluctant to pay for.

As a result, club managers across Dubai are coming together to discuss the strategies they use to upgrade, up-sell and remain relevant - if not essential - for high-end business travellers.

Initiatives considered include capitalising on loyalty programmes; cross-promotion with F&B and spa outlets, including sponsored buffets or amenities placement in the club; complementary wireless internet access throughout the hotel; and rate restructuring.

Club InterContinental manager Eva Schwietert, the host for the first club manager get together, profiles her ideal guest as being the "typical businessman".

"He is here for two-and-a-half days on a high rate, he spends his breakfast here, his evening drinks here and maybe holds a meeting here," she says.

She explains that personalised service was still a big draw card for business travellers looking for a "home away from home".

What is not so easy to define, however, is the strategy towards club opening times, who deserves an upgrade and the protocol for sharing guest information. Here, the club managers tackle the issues head-on.

Blacklisted

Managers are prepared to adopt a hard-line approach when it comes to dealing with difficult or abusive guests.

SchwIEtert: Personally, I think it would be useful for us to share difficult guest profiles. If we have a difficult guest here, fair enough it might be a one-off event, but then there's also a chance he's done the same thing at another property like Raffles or Fairmont.

To get that kind of information from each other would be useful. We had one guest who continuously verbally abused staff and management decided that they would not offer him a room in the future. We protect our colleagues from abusive people.

Francisco: At Fairmont we have a very strict policy when it comes to harassment and discrimination. One guest was continually saying to a staff member, "this guy is an idiot". I walked up next to him, explained to him that this is not allowed and I called security.

Bhardwaj: We have clearly stated on our website that people have been blacklisted for inappropriate behaviour and these guests cannot come back to the Hyatt, anywhere in the world. We are very strict. We have incidents where they do try to check in again and we have security there to intervene.

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