Rotana Hotel History and Analysis

Rotana Hotel was initially a vision shared the co-founders who worked to make it a reality.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

1992 Mr Nasser AlNowais and his co-founder Mr Selim El Zyr conceptualised an idea of founding and owning a management company. Their vision was to create a hospitality group that meets international standards but mostly focused on serving the region.

1993 Rotana became a reality after the opening of the first hotel, Beach Rotana in Abu Dhabi. With their commitment to high standards of customer service, the hotel earned the trust and the loyalty of the customers. Soon, Rotana came up to be the new Middle East Hospitality brand.

2000 The Hotel Rotana Brand moved grew beyond the borders of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to open up other chains in Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt, Lebanon. By 2005, it had twenty properties which were in operation.

2008 Due to its reputation, the Rotana brand came up with a new brand structure by introducing alcohol-free resorts and hotels: Arjaan By Rotana and Rayaan By Rotana.

2012 Rotana moved to Turkey and India after establishing a strong presence in the MiddleEast.

Rotana Brands

Rotana boasts several brands which comprise Rotana Hotels and Resorts, Arjaan Hotel Apartments, Rayhaan Hotels & Resorts by Rotana, Centro Hotels by Rotana, and Residences by Rotana. Between 2007, and 2012, Rotana was voted consecutively as the MiddleEastern Leading Brand by World Travel Awards.

ART Rotana

Art Rotana is located in Amwaj Islands which comprise a group of human-made islands found in the Arabian Gulf. ART Rotana is located to the northeast of Bahrain, near the Coast of Muharraq Island, which is a few minutes drive from Bahrain International Airport.

Art Rotana offers a comprehensive accommodation for its guests with features and services such

311 luxurious rooms and suites, ample parking space with valet parking service, Business Centre, high-speed internet connection, complimentary tea and coffee making facilities, a 24-hour currency exchange, complimentary daily local newspaper, IDD telephone with voice mail, 24-hour in room dining and mini bar, in-room safe and hairdryer, non-smoking rooms, laundry and dry-cleaning facilities, Barber Shop and Beauty Saloon, gift shop and newsstand, doctor on call, multi-channel satellite television , babysitting service, car limousine rental, and multilingual colleagues

In ART Rotana notable areas and services include Choices, dining, gallery lobby lounge, Patisserie Art, Flames Steak & Seafood, WU Bar, Restaurant, Lounge, Rosso bar, Enoteca, Ristorante, Cellar 59 Bar, Lounge, Tapas, Room Service, Recreation, private swimming pools, private beach & Island Sauna, state-of-the-art leisure & wellness club with professional instructors, massage and steam rooms, kids club and water park, and a conference facility.

A Review of the Organization and its Mission

Rotana Hotel Management Corporation, usually known as Rotana, trace its history to 1992 when two visionary partners, Selim El Zyr and Nasser Al Nowais, formed the company. Rotana has grown to be one of the best managed hotel group in the Middle East. It began with two properties back in 1993 and currently, the projected number of properties will be approximately 100 by the year 2020. The group is expanding rapidly, and there are several properties which are soon to be opened while new projects are being initiated. Rotana management mission is to have a property in all the major cities in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, South Asia, and Africa.

Vision for Rotana

Rotanas vision is To be the Leading Hospitality Management Company which is recognized for its unique blend of world-class standards with genuine hospitality and its truly treasured experiences provided for guests, colleagues and owners (Rotana, 2017).

Within its vision, Rotana has what they refer as brand promise. The key selling point in the Rotana brand is time. Rotana appreciates the value of time, and it promises every visitor to the hotel that a time spent at Rotana is a treasured time. The concept of time, expressed as the adaptability of treasured time, is further extended to all those who deal with Rotana and they include owners and partners, colleagues, and guests. About time the hotel believes that treasured time is an acknowledgement of the past, a reflection of the present and a promise for the future.

Rotana Values

At Rotana, they believe that their past success has been made possible through strong partnerships. At the heart of the relationship is the genuine friendships that have grown and continued to stand the test of time. The culture at Rotana is the one of building strong bonds with all colleagues, guests, partners and owners. The organizational culture at the company is characterized by friendliness, loyalty, and integrity. To ensure that the company delievrs its brand with high consistency as well as integrity, they have developed values that define their character. Each member of the Rotana team is expected to live the values on a daily basis. The values are referred to as the Rotan Life where LIFE is an acronym for Long-term, Innovation, Friendly, and Ethical.

During the internship, I experienced the work environment at the hotel. True to the Rotana values, very team member live according to the values. It was a conducive environment for the students work style because there were a lot of opportunities to gain a lot of knowledge and skills of what is needed in a service industry. Every team member was cooperative and kind enough to offer me help where I needed. Team members responded to the questions I asked, taught me many things I did not know and were willing to correct me where I went wrong.

In the Long-term value, I saw that there was an emphasis on creating and nurturing lifelong relationships with colleagues as well as the guests. The objective was to create moments that would not be forgotten easily. I still remember the kind support I received from my colleagues. At Rotana, innovation runs deep. All staff are encouraged to develop new ways of doing things. The goal is to improve continuously and achieve the highest possible standards in the industry. Even students on attachment for me encouraged to come up with innovative ways of making processes to be more efficient and effective. On the aspect of friendly, every employee at the hotel was not only friendly to each other but also to the guests. This was one of the values that I firsts noticed. From my first day at an internship, I felt welcome and appreciated although I was still new. On ethics, the company emphasize ethical practice in the workplace. Everybody including the owners, guests, partners, and colleagues are to be treated with respect at all times. There is also an emphasis on high integrity among the staff. Since I commenced my internship, I did not witness any single incident of unethical conduct or lack of integrity. Working at Rotana is truly an exciting experience full of learning opportunities.

New Skills Gained

As an intern, I was assigned some activities which I had to perform under the supervision. The hotel has many departments and to ensure that I acquire relevant skills, I had a program which shows the time and duration I was going to take in each department. I had a log of activities that I performed in each day I was working in the hotel. By the time internship was coming to an end, I had covered all the departments and gained new skills.

The hotel has standard operating procedures (SOPs) which outline how each activity in the hotel should be performed while ensuring that the highest possible standards are met. These SOPs were the basis on which I learned how to do many things as I maintained the highest standards. Overall, the skills I gained can be classified as general skills, customer service skills, language skills, communication skills, safety skills, financial management, understanding the industry, cultural awareness, and interpersonal skills.

General skills. These skills involve performing activities in the workplace environment. At Rotana, the general skills which I learned include rules about the elevator, lost & found the procedure, how to sign in for duty, how to sign out for duty, and uniform pickup standards. Other general skills I acquired include restaurant noticeboard, restaurant dress code, duty schedule & working hours, and sick leave procedure. These skills enabled me to be aware of the need to have uniform standards for performing each activity. I also learned that such general skills make it easier to incorporate a new employee into the hotel because the SOPs will be used to guide the employee on what is expected of him or her. Further, the general skills covered how to do basic things in a hotel such as serving, setting the table, storing materials and food, carrying food, and so forth.

Safety Skills. I have briefed that safety is a very important aspect in the context of the hotel industry. Every hospitality industry, including Rotana, relies much on the perceptions of their potential customers and a problem associated with safety might discourage customers. Therefore, I was trained on basic safety skills such as what to do in case of an accident, fire outbreak, natural disaster, or acts of human beings that can compromise the security of the guests, the workers, and the hotel facilities. Besides learning how to interpret alarms (fire, intrusion, smoke, and so forth0, I also learned how to use a first aid box. Safety is also a broad concept. This include safe food for the guests and proper material handling and storage.

Financial Management: As an intern in the Food and Beverage department, I was informed that financial management skills are highly desired for anyone intending to work in such a section in future. There are some decisions that need to be made and about activities that take place in the Food and Beverage department. Some of the activities I performed include keeping books of accounts in the restaurant which include records of cash flow, receiving, cost control, profitability, expenses, and auditing of F&B.

Customers service skills. The goal of every hospitality industry is to offer exceptional services to its customers. Working in the hotel gave me an opportunity to experience how this is put in practice. I learned that to offer the best services to a customer; one need to have a good cultural awareness since what is regarded good in one culture may not be good in an another culture. The guests I interacted with came from various cultures and I was told it is important to keep an open mind to avoid misunderstandings that can arise due to beliefs and values.

Culinary skills. Food is the major item that is found in any setting in the hospitality industry. In the F&B section, I learned the professional way of cooking and baking various foods. I worked in Rosso as an Italian restaurant, bar attendant, dining, and main kitchen. The section also helps expand my knowledge about sanitation, food and nutrition, common cuisines of various regions around the world. While serving as a bar attendant, I learned how to do various things such as serving various types of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. For example, I learned how to serve red wine how to open a bottle of champagne, how to serve a glass of white wine, how to serve fresh juices, how to serve Italian soda, how to serve bottled beer, and so forth.

Language skills. During my first day, I was taught that if my passion is to work in the hospitality industry in future, I must learn to practice language skills because working in the industry involve interacting with people who speak different languages. The ability to communicate with people of other languages is an invaluable skill especially in a facility handling global guests. Although I knew this before, th...