Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
MR Aqeel Raees's spectacular rise from a local 13-year-old schoolboy who didn't even finish his intermediate education and joined Bapco as an accounts clerk to the CEO of Bahrain Hotels Company is impressive to say the least.
He completed an 18-month commercial course in bookkeeping, accounting and English in Bapco but eventually took a salary crunch of 50 per cent to join BHC. He joined Gulf Hotel in 1974 at the lowest rung of the management ladder after completing a two-year course in hotel management from UK.
"In 1971, BHC initiated a training programme for Bahrainis to study hotel management abroad after which it would allow them to join the hotel ranks.
"This is how many Bahrainis, including myself, joined the hotel.
"After completing the course I became the hotel's night manager and was in that position for a year before I moved on to become the guest relations manager and took care of the reception desk and room reservation," he says proud of his achievements of working his way up the organisation.
From then on it has been a steady rise up the corporate ladder for Mr Raees. From managing the housekeeping and accommodation services to becoming the resident manager, Mr Raees has through the years been closely involved with the daily workings of the hotel.
This is the reason why when he sits in his plush office away from the daily hum drum he knows the hotel's mechanism and its milestones like the back of his hand.
Mr Raees became the second Bahraini General Manager of Gulf Hotel in 1990 and through the years has met and received many notable dignitaries and heads of state.
He is the longest-serving general manager in hotel's history, having been at the helm of its affairs for 12 fruitful years before moving on to higher ground with the hotels' holding company in 2002.
Now his focus has shifted from looking after Gulf Hotel only to managing BHC's portfolio which extends across Bahrain's borders to managing the Ocean Paradise Resort in Zanzibar.
"BHC's strategic plan is to spread its wings further and reach out to other properties beyond the Gulf.
"I have been with BHC for almost 34 years now. I just hope that before I retire I can help BHC to acquire more properties inside and out of Bahrain," says the grey-haired Bahraini with calm confidence that comes with many years of invaluable experience in the industry.
