RISING above bustling Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, the four-star Gloria Hotel is the largest amongst all suite hotels in the Middle East.
This 41-storey property features 1,000 elegantly appointed apartments and offers comfortable accommodation in Dubai for traveling executives, families, holidaymakers as well as long staying guests.TTN interviewed the charming area general manager Freddy Farid about future plans. We have heard that Gloria Hotels’ executive floors will be refurbished soon. Can you share all the details with our readers? Gloria Hotel will be renovating their three executive floors – a total of 100 rooms and suites as well as the executive lounge. The luxurious executive suites will be equipped with new fixtures and fittings as well as custom-made soft furnishings. The executive lounge will also be redesigned with bespoke details to enhance guest comfort and functionality. The renovation work will be carefully executed within a few stages to ensure guests’ comfort and quality stay.What kind of a budget is involved in this refurbishment?The estimated value for turnkey renovation is Dh32 million ($8.7 million). Why did you decide to refurbish this year?The decision was taken as part of our 2015 renovation plan late last year. As we are always striving to improve the quality of our service and the comfort of our guests, we have carefully monitored their feedback during 2014 and their suggestions have formed some of the renovation details. Also, since Dubai is constantly adding new rooms to the market, this helps keep up with the new hotel openings.You are sharing the stand with Dubai Tourism & Commerce Marketing at ITB Berlin this this year. What is your one main aim of going to the event? Proudly partnering with DTCM, we are open to meet and establish relations with new partners and strengthen our relationship with our existing partners while promoting our property expansion. Congratulations on the TripAdvisor and HolidayCheck award. In your opinion and experience, what are the reasons some hotels stand out as good, quality hotels?Our strong belief is that dedication to guest satisfaction is the direction the industry is moving towards. Having implemented some of the latest guest satisfaction solutions we hope to further improve and perfect our service during the following year. I believe one of the main reasons of success is to listen carefully to our clients’ feedback and improve on it. What services and products does Gloria Hotel offer for business travellers?At Gloria Hotels and Resorts we are dedicated to meet a business traveller’s needs from A to Z. We pride ourselves with offering five-star quality for four-star value and this is one of the major factors that attract and retain our guests from the corporate segment. Our executive floors offer a hotel within a hotel concept with dedicated staff. Our convention centre covers more than 1,653 sq m of exceptional meeting and conference facilities. We offer a fully equipped business centre, 24 hours health and fitness centre and the perfect location in Dubai. Can you share any plans for this year?We are launching two exclusive loyalty programmes this year – for our corporate partners and guests. Our property expansion also continues with the impending opening of our hotels in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia.