FRASER Suites Dubai, the 45-storey deluxe hotel apartment and commercial office complex, opened its doors eight months ago at a prime location on Sheikh Zayed Road in Media City, and has established itself as the ideal choice of serviced residences for business executives, families and leisure travellers.
According to general manager David Brown, occupancy levels are at an all time high and he is extremely confident of reaching the property’s targets as it completes its first year of operation.
“We are still in what you would consider the peak season and business levels are definitely looking up,” said Brown.
“We have always been very strongly supported by the GCC countries with their business. In February, we saw 90 per cent occupancies and March is performing just as strongly – and this is all for a property that is only eight months old. So yes, we are very pleased with the way business is progressing for us.
“We see very strong support from Saudi Arabia and the GCC in general, but also form the UK and Southeast Asia, since our company is headquartered in Singapore. This is very encouraging as it means our brand presence is being recognised globally.”
He added that the property is now gearing up for the summer months, which are traditionally known to be a slower period.
Fraser Suites Dubai offers 158 one-, two- and three-bedroom serviced apartments and penthouses, with open plan living and dining areas, fully equipped kitchens, laundry facilities, marble bathrooms, state-of-the-art entertainment systems, wireless internet throughout, luxurious bedding and designer amenities.
Residents can take advantage of hotel-style services including 24 hour reception, daily housekeeping service and in-suite dining and the hotel also features a fully-equipped gym, outdoor lap pool, tennis court, squash court, meeting rooms, a business centre and guest lounge.
“At the Awazen Spa, we offer a range of therapeutic treatments as well as programmes to assist our guests with diet, weight loss or skin enhancements.
“We also have an in-house nutritionist who works with clients on a case-by-case basis and thus gives us the opportunity to attract more resident guests,” said Brown.
With a second property in Bahrain, he added that it is time to be resourceful and creative in reaching out to their audience. “We do a lot of direct sales and communicate with our guests online. At this time, our agents have clients asking for us by name, rather than booking by location and for us that is very encouraging feedback.”
This year will see several new additions to the property beginning with plans to launch a retail section in the boulevard area which will provide additional facilities to guests at the hotel as well as those living in the adjacent residential Sidra Tower. “We will also open a hair salon for ladies and a gourmet convenience store. We hope to see them open by mid 2011 and will continue to look at ways to evolve our offerings, he added. “We will also be creating more conference and meeting rooms by mid-year, allowing us to further tap into the Mice market.”
And Fraser Suites has big ambitions for the region, the next property to open doors will be in Doha followed by two more in Aqaba and Jeddah.
“We are quite selective in where we go and choose properties that represent our brand values. A little further field, we will open a property in Istanbul,” said Brown.