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Serge Zaalof, Jumeirah's VP, on hospitality and holistic living
18th Oct 2006
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The Jumeirah portfolio is nothing if not impressive. Nine hotels, garnering awards almost quicker than they can be doled out, they dominate the hospitality-driven super-city Dubai and have spread to London and New York. But this stable of over-achievers will soon be joined by no less than 21 more sleek steeds waiting to do the bidding of thousands of luxury-loving guests. At least that is the plan according to Serge Zaalof, the group’s Senior Vice President Asia Pacific, for whom the year 2011 stands as a future coming of age for the group.

“For the brand of course you have to be present in London, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai,” he says, comfortably installed on a sofa in Hong Kong’s Ritz Carlton during the group’s sales road show taking in Japan, Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong, as the group is yet to have a property here. “But the rest can be more flexible, Bali and Phuket for example.”

The Jumeirah tag line, stay different, initially seems almost restrained, coming as the brand does from Dubai, a city decorated with billboards all proclaiming some world shattering event with the opening of the next phenomenon - The Palm (“Living the eighth wonder of the world”), The Burj Dubai (“History rising”), The Dubai Mall (“The earth has a new centre”). However when Serge begins explaining exactly what lies behind it, and bringing out some impressive tag lines of his own, people start to sit up and take notice.

“The more you know your customer the more you know your future,” he says. “Stimulating service, hospitality, less obvious technology – you don’t even need to talk about service. But for the customer, what is luxury for them? Maybe to be in their hotel room, listen to music and see absolutely no one. Maybe this is the best luxury.”

He outlines the Jumeirah code of practice, which he calls elementary, but the reflection of true hospitality.
1 – smile and greet the customer before they greet you
2 – never say no. If necessary give an alternative.
3 – treat everyone the way you would like to be treated.

While his code of practice is pure hotel-think, it is easy to see how the elements could, and should, be incorporated into any company’s philosophy, whatever the industry. Turning this around Serge is a firm believer in looking across industries in order to bring innovation to the table. He consults with people who are not designers on design, he compares his operations and logistics with NASA, he uses consumers and the web to benchmark across industries and come up with new ways of doing things, new ideas, new ways to learn.

A personal hero of his is Noel Chomsky, a professor and rebel in the American establishment. Having gone to a lecture of his, he walked out spellbound. “The way he thinks is very different, very open and real. He can teach about management and people, and has a very different view of the world.”

In a similar way, Serge also brings a different view of hospitality to the ever changing and expanding industry. The Jumeirah Group has corporate hotels and leisure properties and Serge refuses to see them as two separate entities. “People are always linked to their professional lives, so the customer of leisure is also corporate. The corporate client can also become a leisure customer. For the corporate client a pool is very important, as is technology and also coffee and tea making facilities. People like to do things themselves. This is the same in the leisure market too, where baby high chairs and baby-sitting are essential. Perhaps in some corporate hotels you find staplers and other pieces of stationary. But in the leisure properties you’ll find Sudoku and crosswords – and an iPod.”
One of Serge’s main focuses is on the tip-top highest of the high end of luxury, where customer development is at its most demanding and creative, where you’ll come into contact with the type of client who is always looking for something new.

“It is less about the bottom line,” he says candidly, “and more about the customer. Because when you are talking about luxury quality the bottom line is taken care of. We must deliver luxury and quality, attached to the price.

“Luxury and quality is all about human relationships. Motivate your staff to be curious about the customer. In a resort you have plenty of time to build a good rapport. In a corporate hotel you have two or three days maximum, but treat them like a leisure client. Corporate clients like to be recognised too.”

Serge has worked around the world – the Middle East, North America and South Africa - as well as visiting Asia numerous times, and he is about to move to Shanghai to oversee Jumeirah’s entry into the Asian market with Hantang Jumeirah Shanghai. As he makes the transition he already has nothing but praise for the Asian people. “Asian employees are so good in hospitality. In Europe we know the technique, but in Asian countries people are naturally kind and smiling.”

Shanghai will be the fourteenth country he has lived and worked in, and for him the key word when moving around the world so much is adaptability. “Tolerant, adaptable, flexible, understanding - you can’t compare country with country,” he advises. “Bring out the good of the people and the bad will diminish.”

Looking back at his time in Dubai, it is clear that he practices what he preaches and has nothing but praise for the super-city. “The people in Dubai are very pacifist and very friendly, very educated and sophisticated. They believe in the country and that is always a good sign.”

When asked if the construction of newest, biggest, tallest icons will ever over-saturate the desert city he replies sounding like a cross between a Dubai billboard and a Nike ad. “Dubai is a paradise for architect and designer. In Dubai on Monday you have an idea, Tuesday it is analysed and Wednesday you have the product. If it makes sense, do it! In the race for quality there is no finishing line. Dubai is all about being positive. Impossible is not part of the UAE.”

It also seems as if impossible is not part of the Serge Zaalof personal creed. Shanghai will be his fourth opening, one that is key for the group, and just as important for the owners who share the philosophy of quality. “It’s a baby of love, a special son, very important for us and for our owners,” he says. “They like quality, know quality and want quality. No compromises. An owner, for me, is a customer and a partner too.”

He believes China will become an ‘energy market’ and a financial tourism hub. “Start by building projects, infrastructure will follow,” he says. “They are the leading destination in the 21st century, and they want to be number one. Japan and Singapore too – they are looking forward to a future that is almost blinding it is so bright.”

In shanghai, as in other destinations, Serge sees the local population as an essential part of the hospitality puzzle. When filling the restaurants, bars – and spa – they will become your captive audience. And the area of spa is one that Serge is passionate about.

Listen up guys! As far back as 1992 Serge Zaalof, the famous hotelier, started using skincare products, and he’s never looked back. While in Hong Kong on this trip he surprised his group’s general managers by stopping at a shop and looking at skincare products Clarins and Natura Bisse. He laughs when recounting the surprise and confusion on their faces but goes on to whisper that he’s sure he saw them looking too when they thought no one could see them. He eats according to his blood type, losing 5kg in 3 months at the start of the regime, consults a Chinese doctor and is interested in alternative medicine. “It all stimulates the metabolism and as you get older your metabolism slows. I drink green tea every day – two litres a day! It’s a wonderful antioxidant and good for blood pressure and your skin.”
One of the reasons he embraced this lifestyle was because of his hectic work schedule. “Opening Madinat Jumeirah was the Olympics of my career,” he says, looking back. “Three hotels, 315 employees… I stopped smoking, stopped drinking coffee. I thought to myself, what do you want for yourself? It is important to be spiritual too. Don’t be afraid of the soft side of yourself. Think different, stay different.”

Of course, being the professional hotelier that he is, this personal philosophy has become one he has brought to the worktable too. “When you think different you can achieve much more for the customer. You will be evolving the customer as you evolve, and the customer evolves very fast – like fashion.”

Spa is the latest ‘gimmick’ to become a hospitality essential, and shows no signs of letting up its hold on customer’s wish lists and wallet share. “People on vacation want a spa – they want to try it and are open minded. Spa is an area where there are no limits and people are becoming much more spiritual. Women are bringing their husbands to spas… Like at the Bab Al Shams. There you are in the water, looking at miles of desert. There is an infinity pool and an infinity desert. It’s very soothing. The horizon has a cleansing effect and the desert is very peaceful.”

Other trends that are shaping the industry are making people like Serge think fast and react faster to keep up. “The hotel business has never been as much fun as it is today!” he laughs. He cites H2O, the spa for men at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers, which is complemented by the Chopard floor for ladies. He says that these days it is essential to have everything within arm’s reach and therefore shopping and residential offices are the way to go when building a hotel.

The mixture of soaring ideas and enthusiasm, flexibility and ability to learn and change, and down to earth straight forwardness makes a professionally formidable yet immensely personable and entertaining whole in Serge Zaalof. He is someone who deserves the praise heaped on him by colleagues and lives up to his reputation in the hospitality world, and yet who can surprise with his humility. “I take my job very seriously,” he says, “But I don’t take my position too seriously. The people who work with me are as important as my family. These people are your army general, your lifeline, friends, partners… a bit of everything. In the past I was unavailable for everyone, but not now. Today it is important to make time for yourself, care about yourself and love yourself a little bit more. Pace yourself. Life is sometimes too complicated. Keep it simple.
 
 
     
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