Face-to-Face: Sabreena Jacobs
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This week, Travel Daily Asia chats with Sabreena Jacobs, the newly-appointed general manager of the Marriott Executive Apartments Sukhumvit Park in Bangkok…
Q) You recently took over as GM of the Marriott Executive Apartments Sukhumvit Park; what kind of leadership style can your staff expect, and what qualities will you bring to the property?
At Marriott, our people are called “associates”. We work with Mr. Marriott’s philosophy that says “take good care of our associates, and they will take good care of our guests, and the guests will come back.” Our associates are the primary assets of our property and we work together to achieve excellence in all areas.
I believe in fostering teamwork and have a very open door policy. Working together with the team, guiding them to go the extra mile, helping them to connect with our guests and creating memorable experiences is what I hope to achieve. While we create a “home away from home” for our guests, we strive to do the same for our people as they spend a large amount of time here, at their second home!
Q) How does managing a serviced apartment property differ from a hotel?
A luxury serviced apartment like ours is not very different from a hotel as we provide everything that business travellers need for their stay. From housekeeping services, to a fully operational restaurant, pool, gym, concierge, 24 hours security, and even meeting rooms. Every aspect of a guest’s requirement is kept in mind whether they stay less than 30 nights or more.
In addition, our luxury serviced apartments tend to feel a lot more like home with their distinctive residential design which enables comfortable living. Not just a bedroom but an apartment with technology and work space for productivity, fully equipped kitchens and easy access to food and beverage to support daily routine. In fact this is more attractive for long stay travellers with families as well as short stay guests that seek to balance and find a home-style living environment. Our serviced apartments give you the opportunity to settle in, even if you travel for a day or week by offering more space, privacy and flexibility with premier hotel services.
Q) How is the Bangkok serviced apartment sector performing at present, and is the Marriott seeing similar trends to the city as a whole?
In Bangkok, the serviced apartment market is quite competitive due to the rising number of condominiums and luxury apartment projects in same locations. Many expats may move to these local residential units due to the lower rental rates. In addition, some serviced apartments try to retain existing clients and attract new clients by launching many promotions and aggressively lowering their rates.
According to TAT, visitor arrivals to Thailand has increased up to 25% comparing to last year, and is estimated to have 28 million arrivals for the entire year. Japan and Korea are still in the top five source markets; so there will still be a lot of business potential. Being such a dynamic city, Bangkok has great potential for both business and leisure segments.
Recently we do see the serviced apartment market as an up and coming trend. Travellers are not just looking for hotels but also luxury serviced apartments that offer all hotel services and facilities, more room space and good locations. This is where a trusted name like Marriott makes all the difference. Our guests feel safe and secure in an unfamiliar city because of the confidence the Marriott name instils.
Q) What is your current guest mix (in terms of source markets) and which areas will you be focusing on driving business from?
Majority of our guests are from Japan, Korea and USA. We also see an increase in travellers from UK, India and Australia.
We target both business and leisure segments. From a corporate standpoint we look at business from companies that are into manufacturing, consumer products and logistics. The companies could be located in and around the city or industrial estates. Our leisure market customer mostly travels with family and they choose us because of our five star service and facilities. Comfort and location play a very important part and we can see that in our returning guests.
The Chinese market is the fastest growing and has become the world’s top outbound travel market and definitely a market with great potential.
Q) Although it is early days, what developments can we expect at the Marriott Executive Apartments Sukhumvit Park over the coming months?
Over the next few months, our guests can expect to get more surprise benefits added to their membership (Marriott Rewards). We are planning to increase our variety of food and beverage promotions and have recently launched a Wine and Tapas evening which takes place once a month and offers great value for money. We will be improving our recreational facilities and offering a more personalised experience that the guests won’t be able to find anywhere else.
Keeping our guests’ and associate satisfaction as the prime focus will ensure positive returns in all areas.
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