LEISURE MANAGER
100
Bliss out
Louise Oakley visited W Doha to find out from director of spa Liliana Matic Moore why Bliss deserved to win Spa of the Year at the first Middle East Spa Awards
SPA MANAGER INTERVIEW have never met anyone quite as full of energy and enthusiasm as Liliana Matic Moore, director of spa for Bliss at the super trendy W Doha. During our interview, which lasts close to two hours, Moore does not sit still for longer than 10 minutes, instead getting up to reveal the many different products hidden in her floor to ceiling cabinets, smearing different masks on my hands so I can “see and feel them working”, explaining prototypes of new collateral and demonstrating testers of products, scrolling through photos of her latest publicity campaign and, most surprisingly, printing off her P&Ls and occupancy records to prove to me that yes, Bliss Spa is indeed the best in the Middle East. Moore achieved this accolade for Bliss earlier this year at the first Middle East Spa Awards, which were announced at The Hotel Show in May. In addition to receiving the overall gong for Best Spa, beating Amara at Park Hyatt Dubai and the Six Senses Spa at Six Senses Zighy Bay, Bliss scooped the awards for best Spa Marketing and best Spa Design. Overall 25 spas across the region submitted 45 separate entries across five categories, and considering Bliss Spa was one of the newest, having only opened in May 2009, its domination was significant. But for Moore, winning the awards was a necessity — she had to win on account of promises made to her GM at W Doha, Safak Guvenc, and the hotel owners, both of whom she speaks very highly of. “I have my GM’s support, I have my owner’s support, in how many spas does the owner come into the office?” asks Moore. And she wouldn’t have been happy with just the Marketing or Design Awards, which she humbly attributes to the Bliss branding machine based in New York. While Moore in reality plays a major role in the promotion of the spa — from taking the therapists out to cancer wards and golf courses to providing 550 goody bags at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open — it was the management, not marketing, award she had her sights on. “When I first came here, I told him, ‘Safak I will make you the best spa ever’. Don’t give me marketing or design — this is not me,” says Moore, who sat nervously throughout the Awards waiting for the overall winner to be announced at the very end. “I truly believe that management is management — my obligation is to bring customers in
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September 2010 • Hotelier Middle East
The W Doha lobby, called the Living Room.
Bird's eye view of the hotel lobby.
The imposing exterior.
Director of spa Liliana Matic Moore.
www.hoteliermiddleeast.com