Building Relations

What started off as a hobby during summer breaks at his grandparent’s house in Geiranger, a small tourist village in the western part of Norway, quickly turned into a true passion for Richard Raab. As he put it, “It was quite a journey” through several continents and cultures. And after nearly 20 years of association with the Four Season Hotel, which started off as an Assistant Restaurant Manager and Banquet Manager for the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills in 1998, Raab is now in Bahrain as the General Manager of Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay. Here, he shares with us the biggest lessons he has learned along the way. Excerpts from the interview:

 Started off as an Assistant Manager of a restaurant, you are now the GM of Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay. Can you tell our readers about your journey? 

It’s been quite a journey, one that I enjoyed the most. Since my younger days, I always wanted to travel and see the world. Luckily the hotel business gave me that always. I’ve been to several countries, continents and worked in different cultures. So far I’ve enjoyed it. 18-years-ago, I’ve been lucky enough to join Four Seasons and that allowed me to do one thing I love the most - Travel. On their first day at the company, I tell people: Four Seasons will give you the ball and it’s up to you to dribble, shoot and score with it. The opportunities are there. I guess I’m a living example of it. I’ve several colleagues who have the same track record and the same opportunity. It’s really exciting. 

Having worked in the Dubai market, how would you compare that with Bahrain? 

Well, one of the big differences is the size. Bahrain has roughly  15,000 hotel rooms, which is growing, while Dubai has over 100,000 hotel rooms as of now. Another big difference which I see is that Dubai is a bit more of the leisure market. Particularly the Eastern European/Russian and European leisure market which Bahrain is missing. And that’s potentially where Bahrain has its opportunities. 

What were the few challenges that you faced after moving to Bahrain? 

The challenge remains the same, no matter where you work. As a General Manager, I was told to learn the name of every employee here, which means learning about 500 names. Hence knowing the team itself was a challenge. But I think I’m almost there. Building that relationship is really important and enjoyable. It pays off in the long run. 

However, when it comes to business, one of the challenges is the market itself, which is basically weekend oriented. People come here for a short period of times, maybe for two days.  And room occupancy during those two days will be almost full. Occupancy will be almost half, unless there is a conference or an exhibition, during rest of the week. If not more than half or less compared to the weekend. So, in the beginning, finding the right balance in staffing level and making sure everything works smoothly was a challenge. Luckily for me, the team already in place had done a great job. Hence it was more about me understanding and fine-tuning it with my experience. 

With the tourism sector rapidly growing in the Kingdom, what is something unique that the Four Seasons has to offer and how is Four Seasons further contributing to this sector? 

It’s important that all who are the part of the tourism industry in Bahrain such as the hotels, airlines, airports, and related authorities work together to make sure that we promote the Kingdom. To make the pie larger, with everyone contributing, rather than stealing from each other. Honestly, what the Four Seasons brings to the table is one of the leading luxury brands worldwide with over 100 hotels now. We have worldwide sales offices and events all over the world. We promote not only the hotel but also the destination we are represented in because we believe in the hotel and the destination.  We don’t want our hotel to be a cookie cutting hotel, and that’s the same with all our properties. We want them to have individual character and want them to connect with the location they are in and then later we add our expertise, which comes in the terms of craftsmanship and our people, which is important to us. 

What makes Four Seasons different from others? 

Here in Bahrain, we obviously bring a unique and one of a kind building and facilities that enable Bahrain to compete with the rest of the world. Pick up this hotel and put it up any were including Paris, London or New York. You will find that Bahrain is still in the top of the range. This together with our staff, who stays connected to our guests, with a lot of character and phenomenal craftsmanship, be it in the kitchens or in our spas, create something very unique and special. 

What are the future plans? 

We have launched our latest hotel in Vietnam, so we now have two there and we have also just opened one landmark hotel in Tunis. Recently we took over the Ocean Club in the Bahamas, where one of the James Bond movies was shot. So basically, we re-entered the Bahamian market that is an important one for the Caribbean and for the Bahamas and for the North American leisure market. 

Regarding the Four Seasons in Bahrain; most importantly we are working on enhancing our outdoor space. Our Bay View Lounge has received a face-lift with brand new furniture and we have just signed the contract to redo the furniture for our CUT Lounge, and that is really developing further from what we started earlier this year. CUT Lounge used to be the part of CUT by Wolfgang Puck, whereas now we have pushed it to have its own identity, its own character and I think it’s now connected to the local community and used not only when coming to dine in CUT but also just to visit CUT Lounge. 

In January, we are looking to give a face-lift to our outdoor shisha lounge that was kind of an unpolished gem. From our shisha lounge (which is right in front of the infinity pool), you have the skyline of the city of Manama in the background and the place looks beautiful, so we are reinvesting there with brand new furniture and revamping our menus and so on while we are at it. 

Any exciting announcements? 

We are excited to continue elevating the guest experience at this fantastic, unique hotel that has won more awards than most of our other hotels in a very short amount of time. Moreover, we have one of the best restaurants on the island, best afternoon tea lounge and one of the best bar lounges as awarded just a couple of days ago at the CITI Fact Dining Awards. CUT by Wolfgang Puck, re/Asian Cuisine, Blue Moon Lounge and Bay View Lounge earned ‘the best’ titles in Bahrain in 2017. Thus, we are delighted to continue fine-tuning and polishing this unique hotel product and make it shine like a diamond even more. 

What is one message you would like to give to aspiring youngsters? 

I think the beauty of hospitality is that you really can work your way up. You can start from a dishwasher in the kitchen all the way up to the general manager and a lot of our people have made their way up to the top. So the sky is really the limit. When you get the ball, it’s up to you how fast you dribble it and how fast you shoot. 

The hospitality sector is a pure people business both in terms of the guest and in terms of the staff. So I think emotional intelligence is probably one of the most important things to develop at an early stage. I don’t enjoy sitting in the office all the time, I like to be out and about and meet people and that’s what energizes me on a daily basis. 

Any Closing Note? 

I do hope to personally welcome guests when they come and visit us here at Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay during the holidays. Just like in the past we will continue to provide spectacular time and services in 2018 - moments that will last a lifetime.