By Nayla Barakat: JUMEIRAH Royal Saray Bahrain, is a perfect family leisure spot for everyone planning a break away from home. The hotel facing the beach is a final piece of this idyllic vacation spot. The pool and beach view of this serene 5-star property is a vibe well worth experiencing for a weekend.
The hotel offers unique private Cabanas for those who want to use the pool and beach and relax by indulging in a walk at the beach. It also has huge private villas for rent consisting of three and four-bedrooms with a garden area, pool and jacuzzi.
Recently, Jumeirah Royal Saray has become a favourite staycation spot of locals and residents in Bahrain since the government of Bahrain reopened the pools in the wake of Coronavirus pandemic. The hotel has been one step ahead when dealing with the precautionary measures to combat the Covid-19 and safety of its guests.
“Like every company, Jumeirah as well has taken a very pioneering step in taking precautions in our operations. We have added cautions, said Zeki Ozal, General Manager of Jumeirah Royal Saray Bahrain. “The three fundamentals are: Masks, Social distancing and Washing hands or use of gloves. I can go on and add many such precautionary measures.”
“Today, where we stand business wise is much better than as we compare to the previous months. We never closed this hotel, it was always open during March and April when we had almost no business,” he said.
Ozal added: “But in May we started gaining business with the local Bahrainis and residents. The people started gaining confidence because of the level of precautionary measures taken by the governments and instructions given to contain the effect of the virus. We were very busy in June and July as compared to the previous two months we did very well without any guests from KSA.
“The local business flourished because people missed to go to the pools and beaches. We at Jumeirah Royal Saray have private pools in our villas and hence since then our villas are full every day to date. We have four very nice huge villas that consist of a garden, pool, and jacuzzi are very comfortable.”
Ozal said: “Since the pool and beach has opened, we are busy. We have water sports and we also have taken away food and beverage services on the beach. Our facilities are open but we do not have any table service in the restaurants but we have room service. Since last week we are allowed to accept groups at a time up to 20 people. One group at a time.”
“So, at this people are approaching with caution yet but in our villas, we have banquet dinners of up to 20 people as they are spacious. This is an interim time where people are adjusting to reality without complaining. We need to go through this time to get into the normal stage,” he added, saying, “I think the reality is sinking. It’s not a matter of complaint any more people can go out with masks and taking all precautions. We have taken a lot of steps, we are one of the first companies originated from Dubai and immediately implemented here we have extensive protocols in every area all the golden touch points elevator buttons, door knobs, guest’s washrooms and frequently visited areas are sanitized frequently with certain protocols. We also have sanitation regularly between every guest.
On the beach every sunbed is sanitized between each guest, also the villas and the rooms. These are fundamentals but once they are followed, they are life savers, he said.
Ozal said: “Whoever comes in the hotel must take their body temperature, if anybody comes and books any facility must register their contact details and IDs for contact tracing as per the governments instructions. So, we are happily implementing all these precautionary measures.
“Even when we have room make up our staff maintains the social distance between the guests and them by allowing them to move to the balcony for the safety of all. Even on our buses and other vehicles we don’t allow staff to sit next to each other and our staff and collogues all go to temperature checks before entering the building.”
He said that in the guest rooms the hotel cleans up the room and gives time or gap for 24 hours before offering it to other guests. “Whereas in the villas due to high demand we do the sterilisation with the approved chemicals that are given to us by Jumeirah group. The sanitization is done between every guest with the spraying machines that kills 99.9 percent germs. We also supply sanitizers and masks to the in-house guests and we will have the same protocols when we open for the guests on each table to give masks.”
Ozal said: “We have unique private Cabanas for those wanting to use the beach and pool. All Cabanas are full these days. We have a total 14 room on the ground floor one can walk out from the garden to the room. Our rooms are spacious anyhow with the balcony its size is 75 square meters they are equal to a deluxe suite as compared to other hotels.
“Once again, it’s minimaxing your contact so you don’t have to use the elevator and touch the buttons. We are taking all the safety measures for the elevators as well where the signage is there “Please wait for the next guest to travel alone”, “Do not enter without mask”. So, it’s a matter of time people will get used to it. We are waiting for the Saudi Bahrain causeway to reopen as it is vital for us.”
He said that the hotel has villas for rent and food and beverage offerings are still there within health care guidelines of the authorities. The villas are very convenient to have small parties and one can have a barbecue where the hotel supplies ingredients for it. “We can provide a staff to help make the barbeque or if the guests want to make themselves. This is something for one those who are bored at home and want to have an outing with family or friends’ villas available. Also, barbecue can be done at the Patio area of the Cabanas.”
“At present our villas are available for BD499 for a three-bedroom villa and four-bedroom villa is for BD699 including breakfast. The three-bedroom villas consist of six beds and the villas are huge there is nothing like it in the whole country. We have private butler service for the villas too. Our villas are very popular and we have a waiting list for it where many celebrities also come to stay,” he said.
“With the local guests the weekday business would be irrelevant because we are expecting from Saudi Arabia, we have more weekend business but here it’s throughout. With the villas, it’s very consistent on weekdays or weekends they are full. In the hotel it’s more on weekends but recently we have more business on weekdays than previous times with the Bahrainis.”
Ozal added: “There is less corporate business, no profit or loss. But we have more leisure business on the weekdays now. We want to enhance this therefore we want to highlight the activities on our Instagram account where we can give quick responses to those interested. “
“We are happy with the outcome, especially we have more business on the weekdays as compared to weekends. At Jumeirah Royal Saray, we position ourselves as a family hotel. It is families first for us and that is why we have started something we don’t allow single on the pool; it’s either a couple or a family. We apologize.”
Ozal said: “So, at Jumeirah Royal Saray we never closed, we remained opened and active. There is pandemic but we are grateful the government never imposed the closure. We ensure to follow the guidelines. I am impressed with the smart move of the government when they first closed and the easing it by opening for a short while and never having a complete lockdown.”
