Amari Dhaka has been awarded Best Luxury Contemporary Hotel of 2015 in Bangladesh. Kelly Lewis, General Manager, received the award from the Luxury Travel Guide team.
The Luxury Travel Guide Global Awards is an international awards programme in recognition of all accommodation options, from large hotels and resorts to small luxury hotels.
With its unique location, award-winning design and outstanding service, Amari Dhaka won this luxury travel guide award for the first time.
Amari Dhaka's General Manager stated, "As a true five-star hotel, Amari Dhaka sets the benchmark for unsurpassed service standards. It is both a humbling and heartening experience for Amari to win this award."
"We have a great team here. We would not have achieved this without the dedication of Amari Dhaka team members, who go their extra way to provide the finest hospitality service, leaving our guests with indelible experiences that they will remember for a very long time."
"We are confident that this award will further enhance our hotel's brand equity, which will eventually lead to greater business possibilities for us."
Amari Dhaka is an Onyx managed property. The group has 30 hotels in Thailand under six different brands, with the latest being Ozo which opened in China, India and Sri Lanka.
Amari Dhaka is now into its second year. There is now great awareness about Amari - everybody now knows who we are, Kelly Lewis said.
The hotel has five different room types, based on view - Lake View and City View. Twenty-eight out of 134 guest rooms are suites.
Besides 24-hour in-room dining, its food outlets include Amaya all-day dining, Cascade Coffee Lounge and Deck 41 rooftop bar. The Den private bar will be opening soon.
Amaya restaurant serves Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Thai, each with its ethnic chef. The restaurant has a good view of the Dhaka skyline. It's a good place for family gathering, he said.
The Breeze spa will open in 30 days, Kelly Lewis said.
F&B and security are two of our competitive edges. We take security very seriously. Security is very important to us as we have diplomatic guests as well as guests from high profile companies like Rolls Royce, Wal-Mart, Ikea and H&M.
Referring to two recent incidents - one in the city and another in the northern region of the country, he said, "Incidents hurt. Everyone lost business. But business is coming back."
"Guests are now coming back following government assurances and the government is also putting in its efforts security-wise," he said.
"When people left we did not charge cancellation fees. They just left. People remember that. That's why they are coming back."
"The hotel has now 60 to 68 per cent occupancy on an average. I have great hope of a rebound," Kelly Lewis said.
F&B is strong at Amari. I was F&B Director four times in my career. Indeed I started my career with F&B in Hawaii. F&B is my passion and has always been," he said adding "majority of the profit comes from the rooms.
He said, the hotel attaches great importance to human resources training. Everyone has to complete 50 per cent training each month on service, security and other aspects.
Kelly Lewis said, "Environmentally we are very conscious. Amari Dhaka puts great emphasis on recycling. There are sensors on every floor so that overall temperature remains constant."
Speaking on gender issues, he said, "I'm very gender friendly. When I came 98 per cent of the staff members were male. I hired female hospitality personnel. Now it is 89 per cent male and the rest are female."
"We can train, but it is important for us to have efficient women in high profile posts." He hoped the society will free up as time goes and more women will take up hospitality as a profession.
We are strong in corporate social responsibility (CSR) with a lot of schools - that's our future. As part of giving back to community programme, Amari Dhaka organised the "First Step" for the students who are currently enrolled in short courses in Hotel Management and Tourism on October 18, 2015.
"A large number of hotels are coming up - there is obviously a great interest in Bangladesh," he said.
"People here are very friendly and hard working. I am enjoying my stay in Dhaka. I am having a great time," Kelly Lewis, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Arizona, said.
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