- A disruptive upscale hotel brand designed to provide its guests with ‘everything they value, nothing they don’t’
- A technology-driven hotel brand focused on the human experience operating within a timelessly-designed environment
- Smartotels has designed and developed a proprietary enterprise application system to ensure operational efficiency, reducing labor costs by 30%, and resulting in an increase in Gross Operating Profit (GOP) margins of between 7.5% and 10.0%
6th February 2017; Dubai, United Arab Emirates: FORM Hotel, the upscale hotel brand in Smartotels Hospitality International’s portfolio, launches today at GIOHIS 2017 (Gulf & Indian Ocean Hotel Investors’ Summit) in the UAE. A pioneering ‘concept hotel’ brand, FORM offers business and leisure travelers accessible premium hotel fundamentals with the flexibility of add-on service and amenity features in a technologically-advanced, design-forward and socially-responsible environment.
FORM Hotel’s 143-key flagship property is being developed by Dubai Contracting Company (DCC), a world-class UAE-based contracting and development company with significant long-standing experience in hotel real estate, and designed with inimitable timeless elements and custom-designed furniture by Paris-based global architectural firm, Architecture-Studio, known for creating global landmarks such as the Arab World Institute in France and the National Theatre of Bahrain. FORM Hotel Dubai’s facilities will include an all-day dining lifestyle restaurant, a rooftop infinity pool, a fully-equipped rooftop gym, a specialized design boutique, and a technology-focused boardroom. The hotel is situated by the newly-extended Dubai creek in Al Jaddaf, a location rooted in tradition and evolving with the urban landscape of Dubai. FORM Hotel Dubai is located within close proximity and favourable accessibility to some of Dubai’s most famous landmarks and business and leisure destinations. Currently under construction, the hotel is expected to open in Q1 2018.
Breaking away from traditional hospitality concepts, FORM Hotel has introduced a retail operating model to deliver a hotel experience that meets the needs of today’s ‘novel consumer’.
Smartotels Hospitality International LLC’s Founder and Managing Partner, Tarek M. Daouk said:
“By offering a core hospitality experience with the flexibility of add-on service and amenity features, FORM Hotel will empower its guests to customize their journey. The hotel will benefit from an operating model that is engineered to drive strong returns to investors through an increased ability to control operating expenses by compressing fixed costs and exploiting variable costs”.
FORM Hotel has designed and developed a proprietary enterprise application system that ensures operational efficiency and seamlessness of service delivery to FORM’s guests. This application reduces labor costs by 30% as compared to a typical upscale hotel, resulting in an increase in Gross Operating Profit (GOP) margins of between 7.5% and 10.0%.
Elaborating on the term ‘novel consumer’, Daouk commented:
“Today’s guests should no longer be targeted by demographic groupings, such as the millennial or Generation-X –Y -Z, etc., but by their consumer behavior. At FORM Hotel, we focus on the hyper-connected, the hybrid consumers and the bargain hunters.”
FORM Hotel’s five primary value propositions to its guests include a superior-quality luxury bed, a high-pressure shower, a seamless technology experience, free high-speed Wi-Fi, and a premium breakfast.
Further, hotel guests will be able to select from a series of add-on service and amenity features such as turndown service, shoe shining, deluxe toiletries, plush bathrobes and a number of alternative offerings.
Smartotels Hospitality International is currently focused on the UAE with an active pipeline of purpose-built assets and plans to grow its portfolio of lodging brands to 25 properties by 2026, through a combination of management contracts, franchise agreements, property leases and hybrid contracts.
Commenting on Smartotels’ shareholders, Daouk, said:
“Our blue-chip shareholders have global balance sheets that cover a wide range of industries including real estate, healthcare, fresh produce, construction, technology, aviation, renewable energy, insurance and manufacturing. With that track record comes significant experience navigating global markets, influence, and know-how.”
Smartotels has already established strategic relationships with leading real estate development, architecture, branding, technology, and digital firms worldwide, all founding elements for its prospective growth plans.