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THE Kempinski Grand & Ixir Hotel Bahrain City Centre is celebrating its second year of operation with both its towers open and recording impressive occupancy rates of more than 90 per cent over consecutive weeks.
Now fully operational after a staggered start its 460 luxuriously appointed rooms and suites present the largest inventory of hotel rooms in the country.
“Despite the challenging times that Bahrain has gone through over the last couple of years, the hotel has performed beyond expectations,” said Puneet Singh, general manager, who this week marked his first year at the hotel’s helm as the mall itself recorded its fifth anniversary.
The hotel’s success justifies the investment in September 2011 and the brave decision to launch operations following civil unrest that led to despair in the hospitality sector with the grand prix and exhibitions being cancelled.
The two towers made up the 65th property in Kempinski’s international chain of luxury hotels. Indian expat Mr Singh, 42, who lives with his American wife, Nita, and their seven-year-old daughter, Sabina, in Janabiyah, said: “We have overcome the challenges by focusing our efforts into delivering the uncompromising Kempinski standard of quality in every aspect.
“Considering that we have only been open for two years we have done remarkably well, attaining the number two position in the country in a short period of time.
“We believed in success and were confident in our product and brand and as a result our performance has been above the market.
“So far this year, the hotel performance has been great and the beginning of summer was fantastic with the visitors from our key market, Saudi Arabia, returning to Bahrain en-masse.
“In June 2013, in particular, we saw the busiest month since the opening, with increases in both corporate business as well as leisure travellers. We believe that the confidence in Bahrain will continue to grow for the remainder of the year, a momentum that should last into 2014.
“In general we have many other exciting plans in the pipeline, which will be especially interesting for Bahrainis keen to work and develop in the hospitality industry. More about this in the near future!”
Rooms in the Ixir tower start from BD75 to the Pearl Suite costing BD1,400 a night. The Grand tower’s larger rooms cost BD100 a night to BD2,400 a night for the Royal Suite.
Only last month, Kempinski Grand & Ixir Hotel Bahrain City Centre officially opened the largest Turkish Hammam in Bahrain, in its spa and wellness oasis, Pure Spa, adding to the ‘wow’ factor for tourists and locals alike.
As well as attracting international travellers, Mr Singh says the hotel has also had ‘a great year’ with a lot of different initiatives to get involved with the local community.
The year started with the successful opening of its Arabic restaurant Baharat in the Ixir tower. By popular demand, apart from Sunday, it is now open nightly for dinner, instead of just at weekends.
“We wanted the opening to reflect our enthusiasm in endearing our hotel to the local community in more ways than one; and to that end we invited Bahrain-based artists to create art with spices,” he explained.
The paintings were auctioned off, with the proceeds equally divided between Al Noor Welfare Charity and the artists.
A recipe contest was held which attracted entries from scores of local culinary lovers. Naima Al Hajeri’s winning offering was featured in the Baharat Iftar Buffet for the duration of Ramadan.
Over the past six months, the Kempinski has also partnered with a local farm, as revealed exclusively in GulfWeekly, to guarantee fresh produce for its restaurants.
Mr Singh added: “We believe all our community projects are innovative, but in addition we will do another first in the country. We will be the first hotel in Bahrain to have a dedicated blog, where the community can follow us and communicate with us.
“We are also very active online and on Social Media. Travellers in the GCC and around the world are increasingly becoming tech-savvy, and we are doing our part to keep up with the technology to make reservations and information updates convenient and efficient for our guests.”
Staff members have not been forgotten either. Mr Singh said: “You can have the most beautiful hardware but if the software isn’t right, it just will not work.
“We invest heavily in our employees as they are the most important factor. For example, we organise Career Days in various locations around the world where both existing employees of Kempinski, as well as external job seekers, go and meet the general managers of all the Kempinski Hotels, in order to find the most suitable position in their chosen location anywhere in the world.
“In the Middle East we held the first Career Day in Abu Dhabi last December. We are looking forward to the day that we have our first Bahraini employee attending one of the Career Days in their career progression!”
