What are the challenges of managing a hotel in Kuwait?
The challenges are complex; it’s a different environment and a different culture. We have 44 nationalities working in the hotel. We look at that as an opportunity to create a unique atmosphere in which we can deliver a service level that you cannot achieve in Europe. The advantage is that in an environment like this you can run a full service hotel and you can do it with good margins and get pretty good profits. What are the unique selling points of the hotel? The Al Boom restaurant is a unique concept that has been with the hotel from the beginning. Basically it is a dry-docked dhow behind the hotel; a unique steak and seafood restaurant. We get a lot of the top VIPs coming to Kuwait, and when they do, they normally visit Al Boom at least once. Also our security level; this is very important in Kuwait. I would say that Kuwait is a secure country, but we are in an environment where people perceive security as an important thing and we take that very seriously.
