ROTANA Hotels’ newest addition to its portfolio, the five-star Fujairah Rotana Resort & Spa, is set to welcome guests with a champagne check-in from April 1, says the hotel’s general manager, Jean-Francois Laurent.
The hotel has been fine-tuning its product as of March 1, when it began operations. By April 1, he told TTN on a site visit, “95 per cent of our facilities will be operational, including restaurants and bars.” The property’s spa, still under construction, will open at the beginning of the summer.
Set between the Hajjar mountains and the beach, the hotel is perfectly sited to target a predominance of leisure tourists. “We estimate that between 60 and 65 per cent of guests will be the leisure market, will 30 to 35 per cent will be made up by the local business community,” he says, promising the sort of ambience found in resorts in Mauritius and the Seychelles, when asked how he plans to differentiate his product from nearby hotels.
Laurent’s own background is in Mauritian resorts and that experience brings to bear on his operational philosophy: “The focus is on creating an ambience of wellbeing for the guest the minute he walks into the resort. From a seated welcome – with cold towel and champagne – so he doesn’t have to queue at reception to a general manager who is not dressed in a suit and tie, we have tried to think like the guest, to look at what would make him comfortable.”
Every one of its well-appointed 250 rooms offers a private terrace or balcony overlooking the Indian Ocean complimented with a view of the beautifully manicured grounds. Published rates begin at Dh1100 ($299.5) for a single room with balcony, going up to Dh2000 for a premier oceanfront suite.
Facilities include poolside WiFi, free use of tennis courts and squash facilities, free watersports and more. Conference and banqueting facilities include a ballroom, three luxurious meeting rooms and acres of ‘al fresco’ beach and garden banquet venues.
Typical source markets are the UK, Germany and the Far East, while weekenders from the UAE are expected to comprise 35 per cent of the mix.
By Keith J Fernandez