James Munro

On October 10th, five months and 10 days after closing its doors, the renamed Sheraton Dubai Creek was back in business, bang on schedule. But an elegant marble lined interior now greets guests rather than its former 24 year-old lobby that looked something like a backdrop to an ABBA concert.

'The reaction of returning guests has been very positive,' says general manager James Munro. 'Of course, it is not the same for new guests who simply feel that this is one of Dubai's many fine hotels'.

The extensive refurbishment of the lobby areas, extension of the conference and meeting room facilities and the replacement of exterior cladding, brings to a close an extensive refurbishment programme. This leaves the Sheraton Dubai Creek as among the best business hotels in downtown Dubai.

'It is very much a business hotel,' says Mr. Munro. 'Around 60% of guests are corporate, which rises to 75% including meetings. We do hope that the number of leisure guests will rise now that we have better facilities. This is the real Dubai, next to the Creek with the Abra water taxis and the gold souk'.

However, the Sheraton Dubai Creek is now, more than ever, a very plush business hotel. All 255 rooms have also been upgraded in recent years, and the magnificent three presidential suites offer 180 degree Creek views. An executive floor has butler service and its own breakfast area, and there are 16 executive suites and 11 junior suites.

'We expect an excellent year in 2003,' says Mr. Munro. 'The relocation of the Dubai Shopping Festival to January will help to smooth out the first quarter, as March is always a busy month anyhow.

'Then we also have the IMF and World Bank meetings from September 19-29th and the AirShow in November. And these events are on top of the usual conferences such as Gitex, Big 5 and Arab Health.'

The former Iranian restaurant has gone as part of the refurbishment and is now a large function or meeting room adjacent to the swimming pool area. Does this not leave the hotel short of restaurants?

'Not really, we have Italian, Japanese and Indian, plus the lobby lounge,' says Mr. Munro. 'When people are staying in downtown Dubai they like to dine in other places as well, and the hotel used to be short of meeting space which is no longer the case.

'Similarly we have lost one tennis court to provide badly needed space for another 30 cars. This gives us more control over parking than before.'

Indeed, it is easy to see why returning guests have been pleasantly surprised by the refurbished hotel. Many of its former blind-spots have been cleverly eliminated, and the building seems to function much more smoothly.

However, one thing that has not changed is the staff. 'We were very happy that 98% of them stayed with us despite the summer closure,' says Mr. Munro. 'A good hotel keeps its staff'.