Pam Wilby

'We have stripped the rooms right back to the concrete, and there will be brand new marble bathrooms,' says general manager Pam Wilby who revels in the challenge of overseeing the work of two dozen contractors racing to complete the project by September 14. In any other destination, this would be the talk of the town, but in Dubai such a huge renovation project is just another hotel redevelopment.

'By doing the refurbishment at this time of the year we minimize the disturbance to guests,' says Ms Wilby. 'There is now nobody staying in the main building, and all our guests are either in The Tower or The Club, our two extensions.

'But we have no choice about the refurbishment. Dubai is such a competitive market we have to stay ahead. We have competition next door from The Royal Mirage, and the Madinat Jumeirah is coming up soon'.

A former nurse and one-time Dan Air stewardess, Ms Wilby began her career in hospitality at the Heathrow Penta Hotel, and has not looked back since.

'You either love or hate this job,' she says. 'It is very demanding, and I benefited from starting at a time when there was a move to encourage women into higher positions. I won an HCIMA grant and studied hotel management at Surrey University, and have always enjoyed it'.

Ms Wilby says that she particularly likes welcoming back previous guests and the Le Royal Meridien has rather a lot of them. 'We have 42,000 ambassadors, those are guests who have stayed more than once, and there is a hard core of around 250 who come several times a year. All the Dubai hotels are the same as Dubai has a very high number of returning visitors.

'Our guests tend to be British self-made business people, and they love to come and see what we have added to the hotel since the previous season. I just enjoy talking to them all, and that does make the hours very long here. It is not like a city hotel where you can go home at night. I have to entertain here most nights.

Ms Wilby says that the Le Royal Meridien Spa was a lucky accident which followed the completion of The Tower extension. 'We came in under budget and decided to invest in the Spa. It's now very popular, as the sort of middle to upper guests that we cater for want pampering'.

With up to 820 staff to look after 1,100 guests Le Royal Meridien is a formidable man-management challenge, but Ms Wilby seems a natural team leader and is genuinely customer focused in her work.

'A few weeks ago we had our big annual party for the Arabian Travel Market,' she says. 'That meant that the swimming pool was out of action for a day and a half. Two guests were really upset about it, and I upgraded them to the Royal Suite. Afterwards they wrote me a three-page letter saying how much they enjoyed it. That is what I like most about my job'.

For 2002 Ms Wilby is planning to add an Indian restaurant - a frequent request from British guests who miss this culinary option - and also to extend the Spa. So the guests who come back year after year will have something new to interest them, aside from completely brand-new bedroom and bathrooms, of course.