OWNER INTERVIEW
Katara Towers Lusail Marina District
The final selection keeps in mind the optimum operational benefits for the hotel as well as the return of investment for the owner. This vetting process ensures that our partners grant the same importance to factors such as complete transparency to the owner and business performance as we do at Katara Hospitality. We look for operating partners who understand that while individuals who enter our front door are our guests, the hotel owner is the customer.
Six Senses Spa
also a key consideration for us. Our investments are solid, profitable and likely to yield the return of investment within the forecasted period of time. What criteria do you take into account when you select an Operator? As experienced investors in the hospitality sector, we operate on clearly defined business principles that are applied uniformly across all our endeavours. Katara Hospitality
awards contracts for projects and services based on rigorous tender processes after an in-depth analysis of comparable partner offers against measurable criteria. The same applies when we are selecting hotel operators or management companies for any of the properties in our portfolio. When we assign operators for a hotel, the strengths of each bidder are carefully considered and compared to the particulars of the property in question.
We look for operating partners who understand that while individuals who enter our front door are our guests, the hotel owner is the customer
At what stage in hotel development do you bring the management company on board and what are the benefits of this strategy? The development part of our business is closely related to and interconnected with our core expertise of hospitality asset management. We develop many of our hotels from the project stage and also undertake major renovation works for some of our international properties. When developing a property, we bring the operator on board during the very early stages so they can share their expertise and recommendations during the planning process. Appointing a suitable hotel management company to run our properties under development is a key component of our investment strategy. Commissioning the operator early on in a hotel renovation project also allows its brand identity to be taken into account SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014 19