Park Hyatt retains its integrity

Before this job I was GM at the Hyatt Regency in Warsaw, Russia, for four years, and before that, I was in New Delhi where I was GM at the Grand Hyatt for two-and-a-half years. I’ve been with the Hyatt group for 23 years now and was also GM at the Hyatt Regency, Hua Hin, in Thailand.

What attracted you to the position at Park Hyatt Dubai?

What attracted me at first was that it was an opening. I like doing openings because I guess it allows some of the creative side of me to be active and get involved. I am always very much engaged with interior designers to create an out-of-ordinary experience. I enjoy that and I enjoy the control that you have building up your own team.

With this property, I was involved with some of the softer touches of the interior, rather than the overall concept, mainly because I came I rather late in the day (February 2005). I was more involved in the graphics, uniforms, packaging, amenities and, of course, the standards. The phraseology and the service sequences are important to us.

What are the main challenges involved in managing this property?

The biggest challenge is to establish the Park Hyatt brand because it is not known in this part of the world. Some feeder markets in Europe are aware of Park Hyatt and immediately request it, but there are some countries that have no concept of what a Park Hyatt is. At least in Dubai there is the advantage that people know the Hyatt brand, because the Hyatt Regency has been here for 25 years.

There are two main challenges with this property; the first is the location. You can’t see the property from any of the main arteries in the city and when we first opened, people wondered where we were.

The other challenge is to make people understand the difference between a Regency, a Grand, and a Park. I think the Grand people understand it is superior to the Regency in that it’s a more theatrical hotel, but they can’t quite fit the Park Hyatt, which is a more luxurious brand, but subtle and residential. It’s not a place for people to be seen.

This is a place where people come to indulge. They are not interested in being seen. It’s not a place for show-offs. Rather, it’s a place where people appreciate the product, the service and the privacy.

The service levels to which you aspire have been questioned during the hotel’s first year. Have they improved now?

I think every hotel tries to be prepared from a product point of view and to ensure the hotel is sufficiently completed before opening, completely equipped with what you require and that its staff are properly trained before opening. What we try to achieve is to put our best foot forward. Hotels go through a little bit of adaptation in terms of service because you go through a high level of activity before you open and then when you open, business may be slow and it brings down the level of training. Then, when things pick up and you get busy with guests, that’s the part when hotels experience growing pains, which we immediately address and rectify.

To attain very high levels of service you need to ensure that your staff work well as a team and support one other. Initially, we had 44 nationalities coming together here and it has taken them time to understand each other.

What impact have the property’s location and Dubai’s notoriously bad traffic, particularly in the area where you are situated, had on business?

The traffic is a deterrent and people don’t want to come over the bridge. We hope this situation will be alleviated over the next nine months. However, we are 10 minutes from the airport and for business travellers, this is a definite plus.

What’s your customer profile?

Around 55% business, 45% leisure, and around 30% of all business is regional. We now need to fill the gaps with MICE business. We maintain a good mix of business, because we are not as totally relaxed as a resort, but not a stiff as a business hotel. We achieve casual elegance.

What about occupancy? Are they as low as the industry has speculated?

When you are talking about a luxury hotel and you have strong brand equity in the market place, you will grow your business slowly.

It won’t come as quickly as it does for a mainstream five-star hotel because you are not out there giving a strong financial deal. You don’t give the same price as the Fairmont or that type of hotels.

Your pricing is higher so you will not attract people looking for bargains. That’s not something we want to be known for.

Unless you have been through many openings, you don’t understand why a hotel is not fruitful from day one.

There are many factors influencing this. First of all, most wholesalers and travel agents will not feature you until you are totally open and they have tried your product. You will not appear in brochures until eight to 10 months after opening.

From now until May we hope [occupancy] to be in the upper 80s to 90, with a very healthy [room] rate. We have achieved our penetration and market share and we are now looking at consistently good business.

What’s your future vision for the Park Hyatt Dubai?

I believe that this hotel is very unique. The location is incredible and we already have an incredible repeat clientele factor.

There are days when 40% of clients have stayed here before. This gives us a lot of confidence that when a lot of competing hotels open around us such as the Four Seasons and The W, we will still achieve high levels of business.

We are confident this hotel will be the top deluxe hotel in the city. I have never seen anything like it.

Of course, there will also be other Park Hyatts opening in the region: in Jeddah later this year and also in Beirut, I believe.