Frank C. Ansel III

Wartime is clearly not one of the best moments to open a 600-plus room hotel in the Middle East, and the largest conference venue in the region. But Mr. Ansel handled the opening of the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong in 1989 two months after a financial crisis, so to some extent he knows what to expect.

'Our business is always on something of a roller-coaster ride, and some part of the world or other will be in crisis. In the Philippines we once lost a whole hotel in an earthquake, and even now with the whole world in an economic downturn our business is good in China and Japan'.

Mr. Ansel is looking to the September meeting of the IMF and World Bank in Dubai, for which the Grand Hyatt is a key component, to pull the hotel's launch up towards the clear blue sky. The suggestion that the war might yet cause the cancellation of this event brings the response 'that would be tragic' but clearly life would go on.

Meantime, with its monumental ability to seat 2,000 conference delegates and to mount a sit-down dinner for 1,500, the Grand Hyatt will be coping with a series of lesser events such as the first International Investment Summit in early May and the Arabian Travel Market as official host.

'Grand Hyatt is our top brand,' explains the charming Mr. Ansel. 'You are supposed to enter the hotel and say 'Wow!' And we have worked pretty hard on this in Dubai where there is a lot of competition.'
The result is impressive. The Grand Hyatt has a sweeping entrance lobby and a huge internal water garden at ground level surrounded by four food and beverage outlets. Four Dhow hulls are suspended overhead, and the whole hotel has features that relate to the history of Dubai.

'These outlets are priced to appeal to the local community and offer excellent value for money,' says Mr. Ansel. 'And we have gone to a lot of trouble to find the right chef from each country for our different restaurants. Our personnel officer travelled around North Vietnam on a motorbike to recruit the chef for our Vietnamese restaurant'.

The Grand Hyatt is particularly proud of its range of food and beverage outlets. Its two signature restaurants will open over the course of the next month. There is Ottar, a Lebanese restaurant with chef and staff from Beirut, and the Manhattan Grill, offering US fed corn beef from Nebraska and grilled fish.

'I was in there last night and thought I was in New York,' says Mr Ansel. 'The lighting and sound is just right'.

Business visitors will also appreciate the 250 different wines available in the hotel, 50% of them exclusive to the hotel, and the 12 types of wine by the glass in every restaurant. The hotel also boasts its own exclusive coffee, and an Asian Tea House with a variety of special teas.

Finally, The Mix is to be the Hyatt's entertainment centre, or night club, with eclectic design and seating for 800 people on two levels. Upstairs there will be a light music bar, and downstairs a huge bar and alternating live music and a DJ.

Clearly the Grand Hyatt is a hotel with something to woo all ages and tastes, and a visit to this landmark is a must. Mr. Ansel says the Grand Hyatt wants to be a meeting place for the community, and indeed there is something for everybody.