THE new general manager of the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain has big plans for the property and the staff.
Mark Neukomm, who moved to the island in May coming from Osaka, Japan, in a direct swap with former Bahrain boss Bernard Viola, said: “There are so many things that you always look at ranging over small, medium and large.
“There are little improvements that can be done in a few months, others will take around six months and others are projects that can take years.
“We are starting by closing the Mediterranean restaurant in the summer and will be making a completely new concept – cool, open and vibrant with an open kitchen – which will reopen at the end of the year.
“That’s a very exciting project, it has been planned for around two years and it’s my job to carry it through.
“We’re also looking to improve the guest rooms and we are working on a design for the refurbishment of the suites.”
The long-established backbone of the Ritz-Carlton philosophy is the ‘credo’ card which speaks of ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen and Neukomm is particularly keen on the empowerment of staff who he says enthusiastically take ownership of the property and projects within it.
“The credo card is a tool which we all feel attached to,” he said. “We are trying to bring to life the philosophy since the Ritz-Carlton has been very successful with it.
“The biggest part of a good hotel is the people. Empowerment and looking after the staff means they come up with initiatives by themselves – they want to make the guests happy in their own way.
“For example some of our ladies and gentlemen have come up with a dance performance to go along with one of our promotions.
“We’re also working on our community footprint, we have about 20 activities through which we do something for the community, for example every week we have the RIA (a local special needs centre) children coming to use the swimming pool supervised by Claudia Hart, the director of PR and communications, whose initiative this was.”
Neukomm is finding the Bahrain resort property very different to the Ritz-Carlton Osaka, but said he is looking forward to the challenge of getting to know the region and is enjoying working with staff of 47 different nationalities.
• Abu Dhabi National Hotels Company has signed an MoU to appoint The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company as the operator of the new upscale property located at the entrance to the emirate.
The development will consist of 532 rooms, suites and villas. The hotel will have a variety of food and beverage outlets overlooking the main pool and out across the beach providing a perfect dining environment. Set amidst landscaped gardens on a white sandy beach, the project is expected to reach completion during 2011.