SINCE the opening on the first day of Eid al Fitr in August this year, The Domain Bahrain has been welcoming a steady stream of visitors to its social spaces, rooms and suites.
The property has been attracting a very positive and witnessing a steady growth of the number of return guests.
Most renowned for its unique social club-hotel concept, the hotel is looking forward to the introduction of its second phase offering plenty more services and excitement.
General manager Patrick de Groot speaks to TTN on the exciting times the hotel has been experiencing and discloses current and future plans...
With its unique hotel-club concept, what kind of responses has the property received?
Overall, the comments have been very positive. We do things different and in general our guests enjoy our novel approach to hospitality. They enjoy exploring new places to meet, mingle and dine.
Our team of colleagues intends to provide a ‘grown-up’ style of service, knowledgeable, highly personalised, and less pandering than experienced elsewhere. We accept that we are not for everyone, and that’s okay. The Domain Bahrain is a place for grown-ups, and just the other day we started our Friday Brunch – a very grown-up affair indeed!
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de Groot ... The Domain Bahrain offers a novel approach to hospitality |
What has been the most favourable feature of the hotel?
That would have to be – without a doubt – the extraordinary views. The Domain has panoramic views over the island and overlooks Bahrain Bay, Muharraq, Old Manama and the business district with its iconic buildings such as the World Trade Centre and Financial Harbour.
Our rooms and suites start from level 17 and therefore all guarantee amazing views. Most of The Domain’s social spaces are located on the top of the 36-storey building. Another feature – of a more personal nature – would have to be our team of Domain Managers and Domain Butlers, who work together tirelessly to ensure that every aspect of our guests’ stay is taken care of, regardless of whether they stay in a room or a suite.
What can guests look forward to in the coming months?
We have quite a few exciting features coming online. We have just opened Imari, our contemporary Japanese restaurant, bar and lounge as well as the Italo-Lebanese duet eatery “Figs & Olives” on level 16 and The Cigar Lounge. The Deli is also opening up, with a great selection of sandwiches, wraps, baguettes and freshly baked breads, muffins and cakes from our Bakery.
Furthermore, The Domain Bahrain is about to launch the Domain App, which allows guests and members to access information on all of our facilities and services, and make table reservations in any one of our outlets.
The same app allows resident guests to order room service from any place in The Domain. Another ground-breaking feature of the app will be “The Conversation”, a proprietary social communication platform allowing guests and members reaching out to one another; a place where you can meet like-minded people.
The Domain is all about real-time social engagement, and we are constantly looking for ways in which we can incentivise our guests and members to network and socialise in real-time. We developed a wide variety of social spaces, food sharing concepts, lounges and other reasons for our guests to engage in conversation. We even employ a dedicated social director, whose sole focus is on making interesting introductions.
Any further developments or expansions planned?
The Domain brand and concept was developed for expansion. The Domain Bahrain is our pilot project, but we are already looking for opportunities in cities like Dubai and London.
What are the hotel’s key source markets? What new markets are you hoping to attract?
The Saudi Arabian market is right at our doorstep and Bahrain is easy to reach by road and air, hence it is definitely our biggest potential market. But Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE also visit the island kingdom often, whether it is for social or business meetings.
Once Vie LifestyleLab opens its doors on level 11 and 15, we plan to also actively target resident spa guests from around the region.