Somewhere in Barsha Heights
Conveniently located in the heart of Barsha Heights, the flagship four-star property Somewhere Hotel opened with 306 rooms offering a combination of suites and numerous facilities to cater to the requirements of different clientele.
Jean Francois Asimus, a connoisseur in the hospitality industry is the opening Cluster General Manager of the property. Starting off his career in the trade from London, he moved to Dubai in the early nineties with Hyatt. Thereafter he spent about 10 years in Asia exploring different destinations such as Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and Maldives and returned to the Middle East. His expertise in different hotel chains over the years such as Raffles, Dusit will be beneficial to this new brand which has been in the market just a little over three years.
There are many unique points to the property. Location takes the first place as stated earlier it is just five minutes from Mall of the Emirates, 10-minute taxi ride from Ibn Battuta mall, 10 minutes from Marina mall, 40 kms from Al Maktoum Airport and 30 kms from Dubai airport. The fresh French fragrance upon the arrival of the guest is a unique feature in the chain of properties. The year-round outdoor pool and sun terrace add to this list, apart from the other food and beverage options one can indulge in. The bar will be a niche location for relaxation for the corporate clients.
Somewhere Hotel Barsha Heights features airconditioned rooms and free private parking. Every room includes a seating area with flat-screen TV and a work desk.The rooms also include a mini bar and all the usual amenities as well as your personal expresso machine on the club rooms.
In terms of F&B there are three venues; firstly Nay Mediterranean kitchen offers guests an indulging evening with Shisha and bubbly. The venue offers both indoor and outdoor seating with an am- bience suited for both private and corporate events.
The Clavichord bar is the signature jazz bar and lounge, a cozy venue which hosts multiple piano and bass duos plus solo piano, guitarists both solo and duo and other more intimate configurations. It offers best wines, spirit selections and cocktails with a happy hour for the early birds and a specialty tapas menu for the guests.
The Bakery by Nay, based on a grab-and-go concept, is a lounge café conveniently located in the lobby for the residents and busy life stylers. The café offers fresh bakery products with fresh brewed and signature ground premium coffee beans. It hosts both indoor and outdoor seating with a different concept.
The company was established three years ago. “We have currently six hotels in total; which consists of two in Dubai, two in Saudi and two in Greece. There are more expansion plans in the pipeline. Our service standards make sure that the guests are complied with their requests; we basically go the extra mile for the guest.
“Our philosophy has been ‘Hospitality is taught in colleges… We learned ours at home’, we believe in the unique characteristics encapsulated by the heart of Middle-Eastern hospital- ity. Another advantage is the change of name of the area as Barsha Heights, this boosts the quality and ranking of the vicinity which would benefit those in the trade as guests would prefer their indulgence in a niche property,” states Francois.
Dubai is currently focusing on a range of markets to accommodate more visitors to the destination. Somewhere Hotels will be focusing on both leisure and corporate markets for this flagship property with an eye on the growing Asian market. OTAs have become a very valuable tool for the industry, yet the traditional travel agents clientele will continue to attract certain segments of clientele. If the OTAs can provide more flexibility to the hotels in every way such as guest comments, payments etc., would add more value.
Our philosophy has been ‘Hospitality is taught in colleges… We learned ours at home’, we believe in the unique characteristics encapsulated by the heart of Middle-Eastern hospitality
“We want to be one of the leaders, within the area, Tecom and Internet city. Barsha Heights is a new side of Dubai and we want to join the main players within the area. I think we have the tools, the knowledge and the company has some new concepts to be announced. We want to take the property to the maximum, to be known and have new properties, within the UAE or within the Gulf in fact. All the tools are there for this company to take on the next level. We would look at other areas like the Palm, Marina, and JBR. In the future we would put up in other regions as well, probably within the next two or three years,” concluded Francois.