At a height of 355m, with 1,608 guest rooms, 72 floors and 14 F&B outlets, JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai, is the tallest hotel in the world, and Dubai’s largest. Balan Paravantavida, hotel manager, JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai shares what it takes to operate an iconic behemoth property and the increasing focus on the India market
JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai has the distinction of being the tallest hotel in the world and the largest in Dubai with 1608 rooms. The hotel manager of the property Balan Paravantavida, is a global Indian hospitality professional, who has worked outside India for more than three decades of his career. A former chef with the Marriott group in the US for almost 15 years, he has also been the opening GM of JW Marriott Pune and JW Marriott Aerocity Delhi. A highpoint of his career is his currently position at the largest Marriott hotel outside the US. “When I got here in summer 2014, at that time we had opened just one tower, 804 rooms. The second tower with 804 rooms opened the same year. The hotel attracts amazing occupancy, and customers are from across the world,” says Paravantavida. By end of 2014, the whole complex opened.
Most of the rooms offer stunning views of Dubai city/harbour or Burj Khalifa. At any given time there are 4000 guests staying. “There are so many events and meetings taking place. We move 3000 cars every night. We have a parking for 1600. We have more than 100 valets. About 120 managers, and 150 supervisors, working 24 hours a day,” states Paravantavida, remembering to inform that the hotel has 1600 staff and about 400 contract workers. The total number of personnel at the property add up to a staggering workforce of 2000.
F&B and other facilities
The property is owned by the Emirates airline. It has close to 100,000 sq ft of meeting space including two big ballrooms, which can hold theatre style anywhere 1600-1700 people in each. There are 45 meeting rooms and 14 F&B outlets.
Most of the restaurants are award winning ones, with cuisine ranging from Indian, Italian, Japanese, Thai, American to a steakhouse on the 68th floor. Kitchen6 restaurant, as the name indicates, has six kitchens including Indian, Arabic, European and Asian. “We serve anywhere from 1200 to 1500 breakfasts in that room. The whole floor is a restaurant across both towers. There are three entrances and 465 seating,” informs Paravantavida. He points out that Rang Mahal by Atul Kochhar won for three years in a row the Best Indian restaurant in Dubai honour, Thai restaurant which won an award for two consecutive years, Kitchen6 has also won many awards. “The French restaurant, Italian restaurant, are all award winning. We have experts in every cuisine from that specific country,” he says, adding that majority of the restaurant customers are from outside which keeps the establishments packed in peak hours – local residents to other hotel guests to transient guests. The bar Vault on the 72/71 floor is a big draw. It offers amazing views of Dubai city, including of Burj Khalifa tower.
The Saray Spa covers an area of 50,000 sq feet. It has a uniquely Arabic ambience with hamam treatment and the hotel’s signature Dead Sea Floatation Pool. “You don’t have to go to Jordan to float on the Dead Sea. We bring salt from Jordan that creates the experience of floating,” states Paravantavida.
India focus
The key source markets are GCC, India, US, UK, China, Korea, Australia, Russia. India is a fast growing market for the property, overtaking the other source markets. “India used to be on the fifth place three years ago, today India is at the second place, after GCC. Almost 50 per cent Indian guests comprises of group and the others include leisure, business segments. Our goal is to grow the group segment to about 65 per cent,” says Paravantavida.
The hotel does on an average 40,000 to 42,000 room nights a month. “If it is JW Marriott brand, we have to live up to that expectation. The good news is that we have very good name in the market. Specially in India, we are known very well, thanks to support from many agencies, media, and others. We have Marriott global sales office in India who sell this hotel, in addition we have a senior level sales person for India, only for this hotel, as India is very important to us for MICE group and incentive sector. We also have the leisure segment coming from India,” mentions Paravantavida. He himself goes to India often, as do other senior people from the management. “We interact with every segment. Many corporates in India who have business in Dubai and also meet outbound travel agents. Because I was in India for five years, it has helped me a lot in connecting with people and bringing them here. For Indians at the end of the day it is all about relationships,” he remarks.
Interesting Facts
- At a height of 355 metres, the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai is the tallest hotel in the world.
- It is just 26 metres shorter than the Empire State Building in New York and 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
- The shape of the two towers was inspired by a date palm tree, an indigenous desert plant.
- Combined, the hotel’s more than 14 food and beverage outlets can seat 2,743 people.
- To reflect the 24-hour, 7 days opening hours of La Farine Café and Bakery, there are 247 mirrors on the walls.
- Rang Mahal by Atul Kochhar, the hotel’s Indian award winning restaurant, is run by the world’s first Michelin starred Indian chef – Atul Kochhar.
- By 2016, the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai has won over 60 industry and media awards.
- If you’re feeling romantic in the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, or simply want to really relax, switch your bathroom lighting to ‘Spa Mood’. The room will glow with a soft pink haze, and help you switch off from a busy day.
- In the Dubai Ballroom, lighting concepts for the chandeliers and LED lights can be selected from a choice of 1000 colours.
- The Dubai Ballroom has the largest LED screen in the UAE.
- If stacked, all the glasses in the hotel would reach a height of 13 kilometres – that’s 15 times higher than the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest structure.
- Three tonnes of Dead Sea salt have been shipped to service the hotel’s indulgent Saray Spa and its signature Dead Sea Floatation Pool.
- The JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai has enough banqueting chairs to seat passengers travelling on five A380 aircrafts.
- There are 89 public toilets in the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai.
- There are over 75 nationalities employed in the hotel.
JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai partners with local organisations to come up with many events. It is also a prestigious venue for weddings – the top market being Arabic followed by Indian. “There is a sales person just focusing on Indian weddings. The response has been good,” informs Paravantavida. He affirms that though hundreds of hotels are coming up in Dubai, visitor inflow is increasing from source markets and connectivity is also getting a fillip. “The future looks good. We need to continue looking at new source markets, keep great service and products. Visitors will come,” he states.
Having spent most of his career years in North America (US, Canada, Caribbean Islands) with various Marriott group properties, he says, “I have been with the Marriott for more than 32 years, lived in seven different countries and moved 18 times with the company. It has been a great journey.” His message for the young and upcoming hospitality professionals is – work hard, move around. “I was lucky to live and work in seven countries, and moving around and travelling helped me learn more. So I advise them to go from city to city, country to country and learn more and more,” he remarks, adding that today’s youngsters get a lot of opportunities so they need to focus on learning.