04/23/2012
The Pullman Mall of the Emirates hotel, which adjoins the famous Mall of the Emirates shopping center, opened in September 2010 and rapidly established itself in Dubai's world of luxury and extravagance.The brand will open two other hotels in 2012: the Pullman Deira and the Pullman Jumeirah. Visit a unique address in the middle of the desert.
Picture yourself lying on a massage table being kneaded by
the best hands in town in the middle of the night… In Dubai
everything is possible and the spa at the Pullman Mall of
the Emirates is no exception to this rule. In fact, it is
the perfect example of round-the-clock service. The hotel,
which opened 18 months ago and has 481 rooms and 94 suites,
is indeed exceptional.
"It's the first Pullman hotel in the Middle East,"
explains the General Manager Laurent Chaudet. "It is an
outstanding hotel because of its size and location next to
the region's famous shopping mall." This hotel is an
ambassador of the Pullman brand and has forged a unique
position for itself amid the splendors of the emirate.
Nowhere else
Here, working and living conditions in the hotel sector are
different from those in the rest of the world.This
24-storey glass façade hotel is distinctive because it
provides a unique service. "Our guests want to be able
to use some facilities day and night. We had to
adapt," confirms the General Manager. As a result, as
well as the fitness center and reception desk, the hotel
offers several other round-the-clock services: valets,
porters and room service.The hotel's employees use a
shuttle bus that runs every half hour to get to work.
A very unusual destination
The emirate, which turned to mass tourism at the beginning
of the 2000s, is also a singular destination in itself.With
its audacious sky-scrapers, luxury hotels and unusual theme
parks, it has made extravagance its trademark.From the
world's highest tower, the Burj Khalifa (828 meters), to
the artificial Palm Island, or The World artificial
archipelago in the shape of a world map, nothing seems too
much.In the Pullman Mall of the Emirates, companies also
sometimes make extravagant requests. For example for its
annual seminar, a large industrial group did not hesitate
to ask the hotel to recreate a cinema hall complete with a
giant screen and pop-corn.
Employees from all over the world
Dubai is an international and cosmopolitan city and every
year it welcomes tourists and business travelers from all
over the world as well as expatriates looking for work.As a
result, less than 1 million of the city's 8 million
inhabitants were actually born there. "We recruit
employees from all over the globe," explains Laurent
Chaudet. "We have 23 different nationalities in our
team." Most employees are Indian, Filipino and
Bangladeshi nationals. They get an air fare for their
holidays and accommodation in buildings rented by the
group. "They can recreate a family life in these
apartments. They have access to Internet, a sports room and
in some cases a billiard table," specifies Laurent
Chaudet.
Working with so many different nationalities involves
respecting others and their cultures.In their cafeteria,
employees have a choice of four to five different menus and
each national holiday is celebrated on the due date.The
Pullman hotel Body&Soul training course, is particularly
vital. "We ask our employees not to speak their mother
tongue when other colleagues are present. English is our
only language of communication," continues the General
Manager.
An exceptional view
Everyone agrees that the hotel's emblem is definitely its
magnificent terrace.Adored by guests, it looks out over
Dubai's skyline providing a 360 degree view that
encompasses the Burj al Arab giant sail-shaped hotel, the
immense Burj Khalifa tower and city's modern, fast elevated
metro, which speeds between the skyscrapers.The terrace has
two outdoor heated swimming pools and its terrace bar,
Vantage, is unrivalled in Dubai. Another significant
feature is the legally compulsory round-the-clock presence
of a life guard. Though the terrace is definitely an asset
for customers, they must beware of heat stroke!
Temperatures easily soar to 45 C° between June and
September! "Believe me, many people prefer to take
refuge inside in the air-conditioned rooms," says a
smiling Laurent Chaudet, who is now more accustomed to the
Arab Peninsula's extreme temperatures. The esplanade is
also used once or twice a month by associations for
private, themed, women-only evening events. On these
occasions, management puts together all-female teams with a
barmaid, DJ and cook.Laurent Chaudet reminds us that here
different rules must be respected: "We are in a Muslim
country. We prepare our employees so they understand this
society's cultural specificities."
Three weeks to clean the façade
Three or four times a year, the hotel's vast glass façade
also becomes the focus of an impressive show.The
establishment uses the services of a special company to
clean it and the absailing window cleaners spend two or
three weeks cleaning the façade using cranes set up on the
roof. Sometimes, as sand storms are frequent in Dubai there
are hitches and they have to start all over again.
Lastly, for several weeks now there has been funny noise coming from the building's stairwell. Indeed, every day twenty employees train by climbing the stairs to prepare for a charity expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro.Just like anywhere else, their act of solidarity in the heart of this emblematic city of luxury and extravagance, is an invaluable one.
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