GENERAL MANAGER   

January 2014-June 2014

INVENTORY

Accommodation:

88 deluxe suites including 3 & 2 bedroom suites – 30 standard rooms

Catering:

International Restaurant, Italian Bistro, Cafe 2 Go, Poolside Bar, Piano Lounge, Shisha

Meetings:

4 Conference Suites – total capacity 600

Recreation:

Beach, Pool, Gym, Squash Courts, Spa

Cassells Ghantoot by Five Continents

From January 2014 until Cassells Ghantoot Hotel & Resorts’s transition to Swiss Belhotel in June 2014 this hotel was under my direct management following a series of legacy issues resulting from management appointments.

A wonderful ex-palace conversion located midway between Dubai & Abu Dhabi and close to the EXPO 2020 site in Ghantoot, this hotel has amazing potential as a deluxe 5-star hotel. Sadly the issues which caused its original closure in 2011 were cash intensive and the consistent approach to its strategic rebirth on behalf of Five Continents Directors was not maintained.

Despite much hard work on the sales side and investment, it was agreed by the Five Continents Board that the property would be controlled by a group of investors with an alternative management company in which they also had an interest. Due to the legacy management, financing and licensing issues this complex arrangement was maintained under the group banner of Five Continents…

Suffice to say that many of the issues faced at Cassells Ghantoot Hotel & Resort will feature in my forthcoming autobiography but I will not forget the support of the staff who faced adversity in the true traditions of Kipling and thus allowed me the time to ensure the transition was as thorough as the circumstances would allow.