Elie Akl, General Manager

Elie Akl

General Manager

The Ascott Limited

Location
Saudi Arabia
Education
Bachelor's degree, B.A in International Hotel
Experience
20 years, 8 Months

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Work Experience

Total years of experience :20 years, 8 Months

General Manager at The Ascott Limited
  • United Arab Emirates
  • My current job since February 2022

"Citadines Abha KSA" - 5 star Hotel in South KSA RESPONSABILITIES/ACHIEVMENTS
•POP Champion of the first International Brand 5 star Hotel in Abha KSA
•Preparing the POP Budget and obtain approval form Owners
•Liaise with the Cluster team for the first year operational Budget and 5 years forecast to Owner
•Take over form project team as per timelines and submit monthly progress report to headquater ofice
•Organize weekly meetings with project team, consultant and conractors for the property handover check list, OS&E and FF&E delivery
•Define recruitment plan as per approved Budget and timelines
•Define a S&M strategy, system integration, snagging and staf on job training
•Target soft opening date and submit the efectiveness indicator forms
•Grand opening (March 12th) in the presence of Prince Turki Bin Talal, Governor of Saudi Arabia's Asir Region and Chairman Sheikh Tarek Al Mutlaq
•Promoting Wedding Venue up to 200 pax (or 3 segregated meeting rooms) with a revenue of 50, 000 SAR daily
•Establishing 2 new Restaurants (Armenian, Meditarrenean and International) - target opening date April 25th 2023
•High Guest's satisfaction with #1 st Rank on GRI versus compset and 8.5 Booking.com and 4.1 Google reviews.

General Manager at The Ascott Limited
  • United Arab Emirates
  • January 2019 to January 2022

"Ascott Tahlia Jeddah" RESPONSABILITIES/ACHIEVMENTS
•2020 Traveler's Choice Winner Award - Trip Advisor
•"Safe Guard" Label Certification - Bureau Veritas
•125 rooms, 3 F&B outlets, Gym and 2 meeting rooms
•Checking the business and pick up report on daily basis, follow up with Sales, revenue team and taking action
•Revise financial statistics on monthly basis with Finance department (Revenue, Expenses, Marketing and Profit) and give remarks on major variances; follow up for AR aging and handle payments
•Cost control measures and cost saving initiatives
•Observe the Compset and Industry set (STR) and do site inspection for other properties
•Sales call activities on weekly basis to empower the relation with potential leads in the city
•See new opportunities and activities with sales team and check the market segment productivity
•Marketing the business and creating new concepts and promotions
•Attend all Guest's reviews (Review Pro), reply to Guests, share all comments with all departments and follow up
•Setting KPI to all departments, adhere to company vision, goals and objectives
•Leader for the emergency response team and working closely with our property Owners.

General Manager at The Ascott Limited
  • United Arab Emirates
  • November 2017 to January 2019

"Ascott Sari Jeddah" RESPONSABILITIES/ACHIEVEMENTS
•World Travel Award: "Saudi Arabia's Leading Serviced Apartments 2018"
•Restructured the operation, opened new opportunities for Staf to show creativity, renovated rooms and upgraded the service such as private Butler, breakfast, transportation and meeting room facilities
•Increased the Long Stay Guests and focused on diferent sources such as Newly weds, medical treatment, Royals, Embassies and strengthen the business with big corporates in the city and increased 37% from their leads in 2018 (saved OTA commission by 41% in 2018).
•Kept the property in first rank with the competitive set based on the GRI in Jeddah.

Cluster Villas Manager at "Vivienda Hotel Villas" 5 Star Hotel Villas
  • January 2014 to November 2017

Part of Preferred Hotels and Resorts RESPONSABILITIES/ACHIEVEMENTS
•January 2017, I took the responsibility for operating 4 properties in Riyadh due to the absence of the current OM and reporting to the Group General Manager
•Pre-opening for 3 Hotels (LUX Collection) within one year including 3 F&B outlets and SPA
•Added two new F&B venues in Granada, the V Lounge for special events (60 pax - VIP) and the Terrace (150 pax- outdoor), both generated a revenue of 1.5 millions SAR within 6 months.
•Analyse the overall budget for rooms, Food and Beverage outlets and laundry
•Recruiting, training and monitor all staf members.
•Smooth running of day to day operation with full support to all staf
•Sales and marketing the concept
•Targeted Potential Guests and got excellent figures for the Q1 of 2017
•Increasing the OTA review score to 9.1 for Vivienda Granada and 9.3 for Vivienda Prince Turki El Awal
•Weekly Head of departments meeting to support, strategize, plan and manage all departments

Hotel Duty Manager
  • January 2014 to January 2015

Food Safety Certified (Boecker - HABC L3 level); increased overall audit score from 46% to 82%
•Oversees and inspect the Villas condition
•Escort and welcome Potential Guests to Villa with full Hotel orientation
•Observe team performance and develop team members by conducting on job training
•Handle Guests complaints and follow up
•Do proper handover to Night Manager

Hotel Duty Manager at "Marriott-The Luxury Collection by Starwood", Grand Hills Village
  • July 2009 to December 2013

RESPONSABILITIES/ACHIEVEMENTS
•Operatins 115 rooms, 54 serviced apartments and the Biggest Royal Residence with 4131 sqm with 3 Pavillons, Swimming pool and private Gym.
•Attend for the Hotel's events and assists all Guests (7 F&B outlets, 3 Wedding venues and a Theater)
•Handling Guest's requests and complaints
•Assign tasks for all departments, observed the quality of service and Guest's feed back
•Checking the Rooms condition, maintenance and status
•Checking the security if it is efective with CCTV observation

Food & Beverage at "Intercontinental Le Vendome & Phoenicia Beirut"
  • May 2004 to May 2009

RESPONSABILITIES/ACHIEVEMENTS
•Room service, order taker, amenities and mini bar attendant
•Various positions in diferent F&B outlets: Italian, International, Oriental, Asian, Lounge and Bar
•Banqueting and special events (1200 pax)
•Butler for the VIP Club Floors
•Sydney's Restaurant: Breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and over night menu
•Employee of the year 2006 (Intercontinental Le Vendome Beirut)
•Best seller for the FIT program - 2008

Education

Bachelor's degree, B.A in International Hotel
  • at American University of Culture and Education
  • April 2023

Bachelor's degree, Management
  • January 2009

, -TS3 in Hospitality Management
  • at Ecole Hoteliere Dekwaneh
  • January 2007

,
  • at College Sacre Coeur Gemmayze
  • January 2004

Specialties & Skills

Food Safety
Revenue
Budgeting
Daily Operations
OPERA (WEB BROWSER)
CLOSED-CIRCUIT TELEVISION SYSTEMS (CCTV)
CREATIVITY
FOOD SAFETY
MICROSOFT EXCEL
SWIMMING
TIMELINES
INTEGRATION
STATISTICS

Languages

English
Expert
Italian
Expert
French
Expert
Portuguese
Expert
Armenian
Expert
Arabic
Expert