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Richard’s wife Sandra and their children, Isabella, 11, and Luciana, five, have joined him. The youngsters have enrolled at Nadeem School and the family has settled in Saar.

Like many couples in the hospitality industry, he met his sweetheart at a hotel launch.  “I was in Los Angles at the time working at the Four Seasons and we were about to open up our first hotel in the Middle East which was the Four Seasons Hotel First Residence in Cairo back in 2000.

“Sandra was working at the Four Seasons in Dublin. One of the key things about Four Seasons is to get the culture right so whenever or wherever there is an opening we tend to bring people in to help instil the company culture and get the place set up and going.”
Sandra was helping out in the reservations section and Richard was working in the restaurants and room service areas when Cupid’s arrow struck.

Although she went back to Dublin and he returned to LA they kept in touch and met up in New York and romantic Richard went down on one knee on top of the Empire State Building to propose.

“I was more nervous than ever,” he admitted. “I was shaking, it was a bit windy and raining too … but the most important thing was that she said yes!”

They wed a year later in Dublin where Sandra’s family lives. She was actually born in Mexico, her dad’s homeland, and the family settled in Ireland, her mum’s country, when she was four.

The Bahrain assignment is Raab’s first as GM, having most recently served as acting general manager at the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeriah Beach when former regional vice president and general manager Simon Casson was promoted to president, hotel operations - Europe, Middle East and Africa.

“Richard is a consummate hotelier whose extensive experience in resort management and food and beverage will be a great asset to Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay,” said Mr Casson. “Having worked side-by-side to open our Jumeirah Beach resort, I wish Richard well in his new position, with full confidence in his future success.”

That experience covers everything from city hotels to island resorts, in a colourful career that has taken him around Europe, America and the West Indies too.

Although it could have been all so different had his career taken a different course. The rolling waves of the sea almost enticed him.
He was born and grew up in Sweden, his father’s home country, but his mother is from neighbouring Norway and he holds a Norwegian passport. “I normally say I’m a true Viking, a true Scandinavian, no doubt, no questions asked!” he explained.

“I used to spend my summer vacations at my beloved grandparents’ cottage in a tiny village in the west part of Norway, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2005,” he explained.

“Geiranger attracted many cruise ships all through the summer and I had the opportunity to work as a tour guide entertaining tourists flocking to this magnificent part of The North.”

Though his initial aspiration was to be a sea captain, it took Richard only a short time to realise that he was better suited for the front of the house, where he had the chance to personally engage with guests.

“What kid wouldn’t want a chance to captain a cruise ship wearing a crisp uniform while knowing the ins-and-outs of the ship, greeting guests by name or best of all, hosting the forever-attractive ‘captain’s table’ during gala receptions?” he said.

“The glimpse of these luxurious ‘floating hotels’ was extremely appealing and I knew that in Geiranger my future career had been decided.”

Feet firmly on the ground, he landed in the English capital. “I first came to London in the early 1990s to look for a job in a hotel for the first time out of Swiss hotel school and I ended up living in Vauxhall, north of the River Thames.”

He secured a position at The Regent Hotel and was able to pursue his other great passion, football. A handy midfield general in his youth, playing for Lunds Boys FC, he started following Chelsea who played in the same blue jerseys.

It was the pre-Roman Abramovic era and the fortune that the Russian billionaire lavished on the club, and he stood in the infamous Shed in the old rattling Stamford Bridge stadium to cheer on the players, including forward Tore André Flo, the first Norwegian to star in the top tier of English football.

Frank Lampard remains his favourite all-time Chelsea player, whose style mirrors his own business philosophy.
“What a character on the field, what a leader, he had the whole thing, just a rock solid performer, day-in and day-out,” he said.
He still fervently follows the team and is quietly confident the club can regain the Premier League title it pathetically defended last season, handing the prize over to upstarts Leicester City, a footballing lesson not lost on him as he contemplates ensuring the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay doesn’t sit on its laurels in the coming months.

Leicester’s dismal run this season only emphasises the point.

As in football and life in general, you need a little luck too.

The Avenues shopping development at Bahrain Bay, due to open this year, is a gift not yet out of its wrapping paper.
The multi-million dinar complex is quickly taking shape with the lights on the advertising hoardings already shining brightly as drivers speed past on the busy highway close by.

“It’s going to be absolutely fantastic for the hotel and it’s really, really exciting,” rightly enthused Richard.
“To have it on our footsteps is phenomenal – an added bonus point for the hotel and it will also attract many people to Bahrain Bay in general.

“This place could become the Bahrain version of Downtown Dubai and we’ll be right in the centre of it. We can’t wait for it to open.
“The Avenues in Kuwait is considered to be one of the best shopping malls in the Middle East and for one to open up here, right next to us, is ideal. We couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

You could almost see the wheels whirling in his mind as he contemplated offering ‘luxurious stay & shopping packages’ to tourists, and he has more immediate initiatives lined-up already.

The CUT Bar & Lounge, next to one of the celebrated restaurants, is in the process of being revamped as a stand-alone destination, as well as being a welcoming area for diners, and a new state-of-the-art air purifying system has been invested in.
“We will spice up the environment to make it into a more lively late night destination too.

“People planning a night out with friends and thinking where they should go, can now say, let’s go to CUT Lounge! I’m sure those who have enjoyed the Friday brunch experience, for example, and want to carry on, will also enjoy it.”

A new menu will be introduced and tasting sessions are currently being held. Executive Chef Brian Becher of re Asian Cuisine and CUT by Wolfgang Puck has worked on some ‘American Classics’ which include, as Richard described, ‘probably the best Philadelphia Cheese Steak Sandwich this side of the Atlantic’ and his hot Reuben sandwich, composed of corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing, grilled between slices of rye bread ‘is just to die for’.

Things are cookin’ at the Four Seasons and Richard is going to enjoy the ride.