4 QUESTIONS TO RAMI SAYESS, REGIONAL VP & GM, FOUR SEASONS HOTEL BEIRUT

Four Seasons Hotel Beirut is taking its gastronomic creations and hospitality beyond the walls of the hotel with its recently introduced off-site catering packages. HN spoke to Rami Sayess, regional vice president and general manager of the Beirut propert

What was behind the decision to launch an external catering service?

For the last two and a half years, the Four Seasons has established itself in the F&B market and our restaurants have become go-to destinations, offering a diverse range of cuisines all year round. Obviously, the next logical step was to take that experience out of the hotel and bring it into people’s homes and other venues, which will become available in December. To that end, we made major investments to ensure that the new service is unique and, in turn, offers added value to the brand itself. We will be able to cater to events ranging from dinner for two to weddings and other large events. It should be said that this service is not new to Four Seasons, as it is already available in various places throughout the region. One good example is Riyadh, which since its launch, now constitutes 30 percent of our F&B operation there. That is also why we believe that the time has come for us to do the same in Beirut.

What kind of setup will the service have?

To ensure that we offer our customers the best type of service, we will hire a highly skilled chef for the hotel’s newly established catering division, in addition to a catering manager, who will report directly to the head of the F&B department. We will also have a huge on-site storage area to stow away the equipment, as well as an off-site storage area to better handle the logistical side of the operation.

What kind of pricing system will you put in place?

It’s important to note that the type of catering we plan on offering will be distinctive, yet also competitive, in terms of value for services rendered. We want our clients to feel that they are truly getting more than their money’s worth. Not only that, but we also want interested parties to know that just because it is a Four Season’s catering service, that doesn’t automatically imply it is expensive.

On another subject, what upgrades have you undertaken on the hotel?

We have done some work here at the hotel this year, such as guest room upgrades, where we replaced all TVS with internet protocol (IP) TV units that allow guests access to our services, as well as other relevant information pertaining to their stay. Furthermore, we also changed all the mattresses to a model that offers guests three different types of toppers (soft, medium or hard) that can easily be changed, using a very simple zipper system. The beauty about this mattress, which we have been working on for years specifically for the hotel, is that it requires a minimum amount of maintenance, unlike those of yesteryear. This, in turn, will significantly decrease the amount of work housekeeping is usually in charge of performing. We also replaced all the room-locking mechanisms to proximity cards that open the door when the guest is at a close distance.