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The Ritz-Carlton, Bahrain enjoyed a fruitful 2017, scooping numerous hospitality awards, but the luxury location refuses to rest on its laurels as it kicks off the new year with a series of investments.
The most prominent of these is the Royal Beach Club Marina, part of a $1.5 million revamp of the hotel’s facilities, which also includes a fully-heated outdoor pool for guests to relax in during the winter.
It is the only marina on the north and west coasts of Bahrain and was created in partnership with United Marine Trading Co. (UMT). It features a state-of-the-art European design boasting the latest in nautical technologies, fuelling facilities and life-safety features.
Soufiane Ellalam, executive assistant manager of sales and marketing at the Ritz-Carlton, believes that the marina emphasises the hotel’s commitment to improving itself and continually aiming for excellence.
He said: “We refuse to settle for what we have and constantly strive to be better and make investments to enhance the experience. Our history shows this; in 2016 we opened the hugely popular Cantina Kahlo Mexican restaurant, last year we had the Ritz Kids Club, and now to kickstart 2018 we have the marina innovation and the outdoor heated pool so guests can really enjoy the facilities all year round.”
Sitting on its own private curved basin, the marina includes 10 new mooring spaces for boats with more than half the area now exclusively reserved for larger luxury vessels of 13 to 27 metres in size, along with an upgraded electrical capacity and high-quality pontoons to support the overall structure.
Advanced life safety features include additional safety ladders, two fire-hose reel cabinets and caddy units, high-pressure fire hydrants and lockable aluminium gates on each gangway. Arriving at the dock area, there is now a widened and extended pathway to the marina, along with smooth access bridges during low tides off the Arabian Gulf.
Soufiane is originally from Morocco and has been involved in the hospitality industry in the region since 1998. He came to the Ritz-Carlton five years ago and believes that the quality of service is what sets the property apart from its competitors.
“The luxury hotel sector has grown massively in recent years, with a spate of five-star hotels opening in Bahrain, but our demand has stayed the same, with our market and revenue share as good as ever,” he said.
“We remain the best venue in Bahrain for hospitality in my opinion, not just with our views and amenities, but thanks to the service. Customers may try different hotels, which is natural, but they always come back to us because of how much they enjoy our service and also for the nostalgia factor.”
Soufiane admits that 2017 was a difficult year for the hospitality sector in general, due to issues affecting the wider Gulf, but the Ritz-Carlton was still chosen to host numerous prestigious international events such as the 67th FIFA Congress and the IISS regional security summit.
Furthermore, it brought home a plethora of industry accolades across its food and beverage outlets, including Best Italian Fine Dining (Primavera), Best Mexican Restaurant (Cantina Kahlo), Favourite Tea Room (The Lobby Lounge), and Best Business Lunch (Nirvana). In addition, Natura Bisse secured a Favourite Spa Products award.
Soufiane said: “We are very proud to have won so many awards, which is testimony that we’re doing things right in challenging times. However, our emotional bond with our guests is the most important thing. You can have the biggest rooms and the best restaurants, but it means nothing if you don’t have the service and a friendly smile to greet you.”
He signed off with words of wisdom and teased many more initiatives to come throughout the year. “We don’t take ourselves for granted because of our name, we’re constantly trying to stay humble and better ourselves.
“We have some truly amazing ideas in the pipeline, which we hope to be able to share soon.
“Our only competition is ourselves, and the only question is: ‘how do we get better than ourselves?’ Our focus is inward rather than outward; if we had our eyes on others and what they’re doing, we’d lose focus on what truly matters.”
