The Best Hotel to Stay in Abu Dhabi - Research Paper Example

The Best Hotel to Stay in Abu Dhabi Insert your name here Insert your enrolment here Insert name of Faculty Guide here Table of Contents i.Abstract 2 1.0.Chapter One: Introduction 4 1.1.Background of the Study 4 2.0.Chapter Two: Literature Review 7 2.1.General Qualities of the Hotels in Abu Dhabi 7 2.2.Comparisons of Specific Hotels in Abu Dhabi 11 2.2.1.Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi 11 2.2.2.St. Regis Abu Dhabi 12 2.2.3.The Westin Abu Dhabi 12 2.2.4.Qasr Al Sarab 13 2.2.5.The Emirates Palace 14 3.0.Chapter Three: Research Methodology 15 3.1.Research Problem 15 3.2.Research Question 16 3.3.Theoretical Framework 16 3.4.Research Hypothesis 16 3.5.Data Collection 17 3.6.Data Analysis 17 4.0.Chapter Four: Research Findings 17 5.0.Chapter Five: Recommendation and Conclusion 23 i. Abstract This study seeks to critically assess the best hotel to stay in the emirates of Abu Dhabi. Based on the thesis statement, the research is to identify contemporary studies and trend in the hospitality industry, specifically, hotels in United Arab Emirates and ascertain which is the best within the periphery of Abu Dhabi. Over the past few years, United Arab Emirates have become not only a center of economic and social attraction but tourism. As a matter of fact, its popularity across the world has necessitated the need to assess the best place of accommodation where the crowd visiting it will get the best available services that compares to the international standards. Conceptual studies have failed to capture the main problems that business men, tourists and visitors need when they visit hotels in Abu Dhabi. These studies have not been concerned with the facilities and services that make a given hotel special but they have been concerned with issues such as strategic management, marketing and technology as some of the common themes of their studies. However, with the growing demand of services, the problem research of this study is to identify critical themes such as the performance and exceptional services that these hotels look to provide to its consumers. To conceptualise the thesis statement different hotels in Abu Dhabi will be compared and contrasted on equal measure so as to ascertain the extent to which they can answer the research problem. 1.0. Chapter One: Introduction 1.1. Background of the Study An understanding of the best hotel in Abu Dhabi has been essential part of the general area of study for decades now. Scholars who have attempted to look at the issue have done so based on the extent to which hotels in Abu Dhabi meets standards of visitors, tourists and locals. For instance, a research conducted by Forbes Travel Guide Star Awards noted that there are different hotels in Abu Dhabi including The Emirate Palace, Yas viceroy Abu Dhabi, St. Regis Abu Dhabi, Westin Hotel among others that will be discussed in details in the next chapter (Daghfous & Barkhi, 2009). These hotels however, differ in terms of quality of services they offer as well as facilities that contrast and compare differently when related to international standards. On the other hand the background information of the study relates to the research conducted by Smith Travel Research, Inc. (STR) (Stephenson et al. 2010). The conclusion the research made from cross-hotel surveys in Abu Dhabi noted that market segment for every hotel in Abu Dhabi dictates the level of services that these hotels offer to tourists, the locals and the visitors. As a matter of fact, hotel performance metrics showed that for one to understand the best hotel in Abu Dhabi the there is need to recognize the fact that luxury hotel markets in United Arab Emirates and specifically Abu Dhabi, has attained an increase in all indices especially when consideration is given to average daily rate, occupancy and nominal revenue per available room among to 20 hotels in Abu Dhabi. While this research noted that the average room supply varied from one hotel to the other, there is certainty that one hotel must be better than others in terms of service delivery. Arguing the point from a different perspective, United Arab Emirate (UAE) has recorded strong growth between 2011 and 2015 making it necessary to assess the extent to which every tourist on a vacation or on a business trip will always stay in a hotel (Sharpley, 2002). Giving these tourists the needed information on the best hotel to stay in will not only be essential for market differentiation but give these hotels competitive advantage over others. A research conducted by the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (AlFaris et al. 2016) indicated that a number of issues and technologies have emerged in the recent past particularly in UAE. For example, demographics, labor and skill shortage in the industry characterized by low wage rate, industry reputation are some of the issues that have been reported in hospitality industry. It therefore essential to understand how these hotels fight these challenges by introducing different measures that ensure there are the best ahead of others. Furthermore, such issues have been encountered by the hotel companies expanding on their scale of operation and growing their own employees through training. In addition, the transformative elements in the technology sector do not capture the entire industry of hospitality. The sector has emerged into a complex industry with sophisticated technologies such as capabilities of individual systems, complicated cooperation’s and marketing technics (Ahmad and Saber, 2015). This paper does not only focus on the best hotel to stay in the emirates of Abu Dhabi but intends to evaluate emerging technologies and contemporary issues in Abu Dhabi hotels. Indeed Abu Dhabi hotels have expanded tremendously from the time of their formation and some even have subsidiaries across the globe, all operating different resorts and luxury services but the most significant factor is service delivery that can make it be categorized as the best hotel in Abu Dhabi (Al Kaabi et al. 2015). In the recent past, front desk office has experienced a constant emerging technology and as a result it has been considered as the area that determines the best hotel particularly those ranked as top 10 in UAE (Kempinski, 2016). For example, one-stop guest services which connect the guests to the outside services (front desk) by phone and video and audio navigators is one of such service that has been regarded as one which qualifies the best hotel (Henderson, 2006). Additionally, other emerging technologies include Video Check-In and Express Check-Out which facilitates checking in and out without the transitional front desk. According to Henderson (2006), the aspect of the performance and exceptional services should be characterized by a touch screen system installed in different points for guests to use. Performance and exceptional services is further judged by aspects such as efficiency in online booking, where clients access the front desk office online, orders for service and book for rooms and does the payment through credit cards such as PayPal, visa among others advance the front desk office to a new level (Elbanna, 2016). Conclusively understanding best performance and exceptional services among hotels in Abu Dhabi is to recognize how these hotels have considered moving from their functional model to a product design model, which enable alignments of their operations to align with current demands in the market. There are several reasons that make this approach worth researching about these hotels. First, the objective of these hotels in terms of strategic development is to reach even further improvement in service standards and computer related products if it needs to rival international standards. The product design model therefore allows focusing efforts and consolidating specific expertise around the product and not the function, which brings in a more focused set of skills and experiences. Secondly, the hotels are assessed in ways in which they address the constantly changing business environment in a more flexible and responsible way, as the product design model concentrates decision-making authority in a “product cell” and thus enabling faster response of customer needs (Morris and Kazi, 2016). With that in mind, a product design structure and strategic management if applied to their the running of the hotel can provide the organization with an opportunity to gather cross-functional and diverse teams under each focus segment, and provide customized and effective solution to the customers. Based in the researches that have been conducted regarding hotels in Abu dhabi. As a result the following hotels will be compared; Emirates Palace, Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi, Qasr Al Sarab, St. Regis Abu Dhabi and The Westin Abu Dhabi. 2.0. Chapter Two: Literature Review 2.1. General Qualities of the Hotels in Abu Dhabi Society, the marketplace, technology and economy are transforming at an unprecedented speed and account for the largely unpredictable and uncertain environment in the hotel industry within UAE and specifically Abu Dhabu (Elbanna, 2016). The meaning of this point is that the assessment of the the best hotel to stay in the emirates of Abu Dhabi from the list of hotels provided needs to consider the fact that strategic business decision making is continuously expanding (Henderson, 2006). International collaboration and technologies need to be closely examined because they inevitably affect the domestic market in determining the best hotel to stay in the emirates of Abu Dhabi. Knowledge of the most updated best hotels in Abu Dhabi market situation helps in laying the foundation for studying the research trends of the same subject matter (Dutt and Ninov, 2016). These studies agree that the best measure of ascertaining quality of best hotel will be pegged on the following factors; Wireless payments. All the hotels (Emirates Palace, Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi, Qasr Al Sarab, St. Regis Abu Dhabi and The Westin Abu Dhabi) have currently facilitated the use of wireless payments and this according to Dutt and Ninov (2016) is a not a reason for distinguishing the best hotel as all of them have ensured that their systems integrate wireless payments. However, Rahimi and Kozak (2016) contradicts these findings arguing that wireless payments have become common place among these hotels and that assessing them in terms of payment platform may not help researchers, visitors and tourists understand the extent to which one hotel may be better than the other. Their findings were supported by Dutt and Ninov (2016) who brought the aspect of payments, technical team and front desk office management as the prerequisite in ascertaining how best these hotels have been. As a matter of fact, hotels such as Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi, Qasr Al Sarab, St. Regis Abu Dhabi and The Westin Abu Dhabi have installed less human efforts due to the technological advancement that suit different needs of customers. Research by Al Kaabi et al. (20150 indicate that when looking for hotels in Abu Dhabi, clients have regarded the aspect of ‘best hotel’ in terms of how best their experiences are being totally personalized, thus advancing the personalized systems within the hotel. For example, from the welcome message, food preferences to television screens, additional services such as flowers in the room, training are new advancement in the hospitality industry that define the best hotel according to the author. Taking case studies on Emirates Palace, Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi, Qasr Al Sarab hotels, Dutt and Ninov (2016) support the fact that these hotels have ranked highly when it comes to emerging technology in the front desk office and hospitality in general which has made the entire industry to produce efficiency and productive services to their customers. According to Al Khaja et al. (2015) it is also relevant to note that globalization plays a role in the development of hotels in Abu Dhabi. For example, as Viceroy Abu Dhabi and Qasr Al Sarab have subsidiaries in in different parts of the country, and therefore, its activities and services target a wide market. According to the author, this is what makes these hotels best as compared to others. As the international trade expands, it is also paramount that hotel companies invoke divergent management skills and developmental strategies to claim a place amidst the high levels of economic uncertainty. On the other hand, there exist some factors with documentation, validation and above all, certification which play critical role in ascertaining the extent to which these hotels are the best. In other areas lower levels of food safety management were observed with some supplementary precise challenges noting that in terms of food safety management, these hotels differ. The baseline data recognized, all along with rigid requirements emphasized on international best performance; make available of a comprehensive road map for results to be accomplished in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (Al Kaabi et al. 2015). The competitive nature of hospitality and hotel across the globe induces Emirates Palace, Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi, Qasr Al Sarab, St. Regis Abu Dhabi and The Westin Abu Dhabi to hotels to maintain the rooms to a standard that can attract their guest (Al Kaabi et al. 2015). According to Al Khaja et al. (2015), these hotels have been characterized by housekeeping which refers to the act of providing a clean, securitized since they have access to all rooms in the hotel, and confortable environment. In particular, Emirates Palace and Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi have housekeeping department which are very important in promoting the reputation of the hotel. Therefore, in terms of what makes ‘the best hotel’ is characterized by cleanliness, maintenance and promoting the pride of the hotel. Additionally, continued visit of guests at Emirates Palace and Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi have been enhanced by the housekeeping department, without a direct link to the guests, therefore ensuring the generation of revenue coming in to the hotel. This view is supported by Ahmad who found through the survey and interviews that were semi-structured with owners, workers of small and medium category hotels who explained that to stay in the competitive hotel businesses, miniature and medium hotels owners or the operators carry out a lot of marketing ideas which are then put into practice in terms of product, positioning, setting of the price, and policies of promotion (Morris and Kazi, 2016). According to findings by Ahmad and Saber (2015) the housekeeping staff today also plays a role in increasing the style quotient of the hotel and also in ensuring security of the guests and the staff. Emirates Palace, Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi, Qasr Al Sarab, St. Regis Abu Dhabi and The Westin Abu Dhabi have perfected this area with slight differences in their performances. These have included minimization of infectious pests that may interfere with the comfort of guest, taking care of laundry and horticulture. One can now conclude that housekeeping at Emirates Palace, Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi, Qasr Al Sarab, St. Regis Abu Dhabi and The Westin Abu Dhabi is more than just a cleaning department, but also a stylish management to present the brand of the hotels rightfully. Most scholars are in agreement about the importance of housekeeping in hotel despite the fact that the views vary depending on the status, size and standards of the hotels in question (Morris and Kazi, 2016). 2.2. Comparisons of Specific Hotels in Abu Dhabi In order to understand the best place to stay, the hotels above need to be compared against each other particularly Emirates Palace. 2.2.1. Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi One of the key features of this hotel is that situated on the Island of Yas and that makes it accessible from the place of downtown Abu Dhabi. According to Al-Aomar and Hussein (2015) Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi is first class hotel that presents their guests an incredible and diverse category of actions, appeal and a lot of cultural adventures to practice and take pleasure in. Additionally, just like Emirates Palace, this hotel residence to a number of the United Arab Emirates most thrilling attraction, they organize racing actions, concerts and a lot more than that. Abu Dhabi Downtown is just a small drive as of the hotel and is the just right objective to relax shop or travel around the enlightening side of Abu Dhabi. However, when assessed in terms of management, and particularly hotels such as Emirates Palace, Elbanna (2016) notes that Emirates Palace is ahead in terms of room services, customer services, layout services and quality services. This seems to be the same thing with St. Regis Abu Dhabi and The Westin Abu Dhabi. Based on these two researches it therefore worth concluding that when customers are looking for room services, customer services, layout services and quality services then Emirates Palace stands to be the best place for them. 2.2.2. St. Regis Abu Dhabi St. Regis Abu Dhabi ascends to latest levels of magnificence and service further than anticipation. According to Rosalind and Karanikola (2014) the fact that signature St. Regis Butler Service is available as a complement for St. Regis Abu Dhabi means that Strategic management further means that unlike other hotels, particularly Westin and Emirates Palace, St. Regis Abu Dhabi is not benefiting from the economies of scales and strong relationships with stakeholders and partners, which is not placing it in a strong bargaining position with its upstream partners and allows leveraging the costs. When this factor is compared with Emirates Palace tourism remains the most critical factor in UAE. Therefore Emirates Palace has been gaining competitive advantage by working rigorously for the improvement of customer services. Putting this rightly, recent studies by Elbanna (2016) ranked Emirates Palace higher than most hotels in Abu Dhabi due to its hotel reservations. Additionally, unlike other hotels, Emirates Palace has 48 conference rooms a ballroom with a capacity of 2400 guests, a large conference center and a huge auditorium able to accommodate 1100 seats. According to Elbanna (2016), Emirates Palace is introducing theory of service delivery which when assessed from their operations, is grounded on the marketing, human resources operations and management thus articulates on an endogenous explanation for the erosion of service quality in other hotels. 2.2.3. The Westin Abu Dhabi Researches describe the Westin Abu Dhabi as the hotel which provides refreshment to the visitors who received (Desai, 2013). Assessed from the viewpoint of the best hotel to stay in the emirates of Abu Dhabi Westin supposes that all the guests of the hotel should feel better as compared to the time they arrived and special to kids as well. However, more is still needed from this hotel for it to be considered as best for stay. First, Westin Abu Dhabi experience instances of delay in the room forcing the department to come up with time for maintenance. Secondly, the emerging technology advancement and the necessary requirement of proper hygiene have facilitated the evolution of housekeeping over the years but this is the area where Westin Abu Dhabi seems to struggle when compared with other hotels. According to Desai (2013), entry of new specialized agencies for different fields such as glass cleaning, façade cleaning, pest control, sanitization, increased automation, among other are some of the new technologies in housekeeping that Emirates Palace is still ahead on. The eco-practices as one of the emerging technologies in the department of housekeeping within the Westin Abu Dhabi but conclude that Emirates Palace remains ahead. 2.2.4. Qasr Al Sarab Qasr Al Sarab is known for its compact fluorescent lamps and motion sensors in meeting rooms, conference rooms and public areas is a step in that direction. The treatment of Ozone has also advanced as environmental friendly technique. The trends are in constant transformation looking at the current technology and productivity. However, researches that have not agreed on the fact that Emirates Palace offers the best and as such is well supported by the theory of service delivery in the sense that the theory is merely concerned with service quality and as a result may not be measured and tested as straightforward a manner since there are some instance where quality can be measured and tested in manufacturing rather that service delivery (Desai, 2013; Suliman and Al-Hosani, 2014). Based on this position, there is difficulty in developing quality metrics and compare it with what Emirates Palace is offering since Suliman and Al-Hosani, (2014) note of biased service businesses that focus on controlling measurable variables -- typically, expenses and work. 2.2.5. The Emirates Palace According to literature reviewed from different researchers, Emirates Palace offers the best quality and fits the tag of ‘the performance and exceptional services that it looks to provide to its consumers’ (Suliman and Al-Hosani, 2014). The first feature that makes this hotel have exceptional experience is guest relations. According to Elbanna (2016), Emirates Palace is providing high level of customer service to the guest. It even provides interactive session where guests are supposed to provide their honest feedback. Coupled with this is the fact that the hotel, through its management team attain the competitiveness by investment in research and technical development which if well executed will reduce the costs of services to compete with niche operators. However, some studies have offered different perspectives about the performance the hotel noting that the current strategic position of the hotel demonstrates a weaker focus on guests’ sustainability and growth. Therefore strategic options to grow through market penetration and market growth is not valuable to the organization, thus placing further pressure on its already asset-heavy operations (Morris and Kazi, 2016). Morris and Kazi (2016) argue that what Emirates Palace offers stretches beyond just strategic positioning. It is categorized by Morris and Kazi (2016) as hotel that offers exceptional services because of its membership program, transit visas for UAE and suggestions that are used to improve its services. Unlike other hotel which just has membership programs, Emirates Palace provides membership program with the group. This program makes it outshine others especially when one wants urgent booking thus encouraging relationship between the hotel and its customers. This finding shows that the objective of the company in terms of strategic development is to reach even further improvement in service standards and network quality. The product design model allows focusing efforts and consolidating specific expertise around the product and not the function, which brings in a more focused set of skills and experiences. Availability of Information Technology Butler Service is what makes the Emirate Palace better place when compared with other hotels in the region. Unlike other hotels such as Qasr Al Sarab that has concentrated in information technology, Emirate Palace is providing a personal butler for every room as well as suite. In consequence, butler service has taken a different step where the hotel is giving an Information Technology butler when it comes it private consultation. In addition to this, research by Rahimi and Kozak (2016) indicated that it is only Emirate Palace that provides up to date leisure and healthcare facilities to its clients. Unique to the needs of customers, both local and international, the hotel has fitness suites, health spa, energy zone, paddle programs and tennis. This makes the stay in this hotel unique and special compared to the other hotels already mentioned in this research. 3.0. Chapter Three: Research Methodology 3.1. Research Problem The primary problem that the research plans to provide solution to is that over the last few years UAE has become a center of attraction not only economically but the tourism. Abu Dhabi as is known to everybody is the capital state of the United Arab Emirates. Therefore to cater for specific needs of customers from different parts of the world, the research provides insightful information regarding the best hotel in the Emirates of Abu Dhabi. According to Rahimi and Kozak (2016), the research problem augurs well with plans the research intends to take in order to deal with practical problem or ethical issues that may be encountered. It further helps in having research plan, and shaping the questions that will be asked during data collection thus linking the secondary research problem. 3.2. Research Question What is the best hotel to stay in the emirates of Abu Dhabi? The question does not only help in the contextualization of the background information regarding the research but helps in the recognition of the complexities concerning hotel business operations at Abu Dhabi. This in turn surrounds the literature of business ethical decision making in a cross-cultural context as far as these hotels are concerned. 3.3. Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework deals with service delivery and ethical theories of which are further achieved through succinct research problems that not only encompass the sections suggested above but also captures the tenets of dependent and independent variables. 3.4. Research Hypothesis Hypothesis: The best hotel to stay in the emirates of Abu Dhabi The hypothesis is directional where the research attempts to predict the expected outcome with regard to data collection and analysis tools that will be used. 3.5. Data Collection The research uses mixed method of data collection as it enhances reliability of the data collected and the conclusions or deductions made therefore. Three data collection procedures used are: observation, structured interviews and structured questionnaires. 3.6. Data Analysis Data analysis is a mechanism for reducing and organising data to produce findings that require interpretation by the researcher. The scores of the tests were processed through Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software and used in the quantitative analysis. The qualitative analysis of the responses involved interpreting each aspect of the rubric according to the respondents’ view. Additionally, descriptive statistics (means and frequencies) were utilised in the analysis. Along with various references such as SPSS textbooks, a statistician was engaged to ensure accurate entering of data and correct test usage. Pearson’s Correlation analysis was employed to decipher the relationship between different variables. 4.0. Chapter Four: Research Findings When comparing service qualities and excellent services at The Emirate Palace, Yas viceroy Abu Dhabi, St. Regis Abu Dhabi, Westin Hotel. Beginning with service delivery, these hotels have implemented certain level of processes by which they produce services which are aimed at satisfying different needs of clients. However, when these hotels are compared with services offered at the Emirate Palace the hotel (The Emirate Palace) operations management has been ratified to take care of managing process of service production. Only two hotels, according to the survey, managed the process of transforming input resources in the output of services. Details of this information are as shown in figure 1 below: According to research questionnaire, there was need to ascertain the research question by evaluating the effectiveness of these hotels when it comes to supply chain management. These hotels have stratified methods of efficiently integrating manufacturers, suppliers, stores and warehousing with the aim of ensuring that merchandise is produced at the right quality for customers. However, we found that there were only two hotels that designed their supply chain with a certain objective of each linked in the chain. These hotels were Westin Hotel and the Emirate Palace. Specifically, the Emirate Palace has designed the modern service for the customer with flexibility and how the process of delivery meets specific needs of tourists within and outside UAE. While our data showed that other hotels are equally offering what Emirates Palace does in terms of supply chain, the reason why the Emirates Palace comes ahead is that at these other hotels decisions are not made at different levels of management which to some extent affects customer service delivery. The figure 2 below illustrates performance of these hotels when it comes to supply chain management. Thirdly, our study ranks four hotels highly when it comes to quicker decisions making processes. These hotels involve The Emirate Palace, Yas viceroy Abu Dhabi, St. Regis Abu Dhabi. However, we found that it was only the Emirate Palace that had quicker decisions when it came to elaborating menu of the week, theme needed by clients regarding a certain event, meeting or party, decisions on offers available for customers, outlining duties of hotel staff. In short, it is only in the Emirate Palace where visitors are likely to find that there is thin line between the functions of tactical and operational level. These finding supports researches that had been reviewed especially when it comes to the application of service theory in management. When comes to inventory management and customer service, Emirate Palace come second to Yas viceroy Abu Dhabi. Data presented shows that Yas viceroy Abu Dhabi has succinctly provided avenues where customers are given opportunities to hold tradeoffs with each other. This is sharply contrasted by the fact that the Emirate Palace is providing a very high level of client services making it come second among the list of hotels listed above. This research finding is in tandem with research by Rahimi and Kozak (2016) who was concerned with hotel management. We conclude, based on the inventory management that Yas viceroy Abu Dhabi ranks highly but the Emirate Palace remain the best place to be since they are more concerned with the stocks in the inventory unlike Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi who are primarily basing their management on customer satisfaction. While all these hotels provide internet facilities to its clients in all rooms, it is the speed that matters. St. Regis Abu Dhabi and the Emirate Palace provide Wi-Fi internet connection of 20 mbps. However, the Emirates Palace is ahead of St. Regis Abu Dhabi in some cases. On request, the Emirate Palace has complementary line which is spread to special rooms. These rooms according to research survey are provided with a broad line of 80 mbps though this attracts some charges. Business process map for three hotels were ranked on the following indices; Apologize for delay and ask for time. Customer satisfaction Deliver Service to customer Order for Service Service booked for the customer Update service and customer database management Business Process Map for Qasr Al Sarab Business Process Map for Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi Business Process Map for The Emirate Palace Based on the three figures above, the Emirates Palace is leading three hotels that were picked to be the best when it comes to; Apologize for delay and ask for time. Customer satisfaction Deliver Service to customer Order for Service Service booked for the customer Update service and customer database management 5.0. Chapter Five: Recommendation and Conclusion From the hotels in Abu Dhabi that were compared, this study succinctly provides solution to the research problem and research question. In terms of the performance and exceptional services we can conclude that the Emirate Palace is providing a wide array of customer services to its guest. While other hotels have been found to be a notch higher with regard to the performance and exceptional services, the Emirate Palace is better as it provides value added and this suggests why in as much as the price is high it records higher bookings. Secondly, when one assesses the hotel in terms of the research question, “What is the best hotel to stay in the emirates of Abu Dhabi?” we found that the hotel is the best hotel to stay in the emirates of Abu Dhabi due to a wonderful customer services in as much as there are a number of areas that still need improvements owing to the fact that other hotels are still ranked highly in terms of service delivery. Secondly, the asset-heavy strategy of the company can significantly jeopardize its financial position in the near and long-term future as it makes it vulnerable to economic instability. In order to leverage this risk, it is recommended that the organization look at ways of inorganic growth through creating strategic affiliation with hotelier providers, rather than building on its own services. References Ahmad, S. Z., & Saber, H. (2015). Understanding marketing strategies with particular reference to small-and medium-sized hotel businesses in the United Arab Emirates. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 1467358414567799. Ahmad, S., & Saber, H. (2015 ). Understanding marketing strategies with particular reference to small-and medium-sized hotel businesses in the United Arab Emirates. Tourism and Hospitality Research ; http://thr.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/01/16/1467358414567799.abstract. Al Kaabi, A., Al Mazrouei, A., Al Hamadi, S., Al Yousuf, M., & Taylor, E. (2015). Knowing the status: Gathering baseline data on food safety management across the Abu Dhabi hospitality industry. . Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes; http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/WHATT-12-2014-0038. Al Kaabi, A., Al Mazrouei, A., Al Hamadi, S., Al Yousuf, M., & Taylor, E. (2015). Knowing the status: Gathering baseline data on food safety management across the Abu Dhabi hospitality industry. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 7(1), 17-32. Al Khaja, M., Al Muhairi, M., Al Yousuf, M., Al Mazrouei, A., Ali, M. I., & Taylor, E. (2015). Developing a solution for small businesses: the creation of Salamt Zadna, a unique food safety management system for small businesses in Abu Dhabi. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 7(1), 63-77. Al-Aomar, R., & Hussein, M. (2015). An assessment plan for lean and green sustainability practices in the supply chain of hotels. Sustainable Development (2 Volume Set), 168, 141. AlFaris, F., Abu-Hijleh, B., & Abdul-Ameer, A. (2016). Using integrated control methodology to optimize energy performance for the guest rooms in UAE hospitality sector. Applied Thermal Engineering, 100, 1085-1094. Daghfous, A., & Barkhi, R. (2009). The strategic management of information technology in UAE hotels: An exploratory study of TQM, SCM, and CRM implementations. Technovation, 29(9), 588-595. Desai, S. S. (2013). An Analysis of the Competitive Marketing Strategies of the Hospitality Industry in UAE. IUP Journal of Management Research, 12(1), 22. Dutt, C., & Ninov, I. (2016). The role of mindfulness in tourism: Tourism businesses' perceptions of mindfulness in Dubai, UAE. Turizam: znanstveno-stručni časopis, 64(1), 81-95. Elbanna, S. (2016). Managers' autonomy, strategic control, organizational politics and strategic planning effectiveness: An empirical investigation into missing links in the hotel sector. Tourism Management, 52, 210-220. Elbanna, S. (2016). Managers' autonomy, strategic control, organizational politics and strategic planning effectiveness: An empirical investigation into missing links in the hotel sector. Tourism Management, 52, 210-220. Henderson, J. C. (2006). Tourism in Dubai: Overcoming barriers to destination development. International Journal of Tourism Research, 8(2), 87-99. Kempinski. (2016). EMIRATES PALACE FACTS & FIGURES. Enmirate palace; http://www.elitm.com/images/files/fil0027.pdf. Morris, S., & Kazi, S. (2016). Planning an accessible expo 2020 within Dubai’s 5 star hotel industry from legal and ethical perspectives. Journal of Tourism Futures, 2(1), 88-94. Morris, S., & Kazi, S. (2016). Planning an accessible expo 2020 within Dubai’s 5 star hotel industry from legal and ethical perspectives. Journal of Tourism Futures, 2(1), 88-94. Rahimi, R., & Kozak, M. (2016). Impact of Customer Relationship Management on Customer Satisfaction: The Case of a Budget Hotel Chain. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 1-12. Rosalind Jenkins, N., & Karanikola, I. (2014). Do hotel companies communicate their environmental policies and practices more than independent hotels in Dubai, UAE?. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 6(4), 362-380. Sharpley, R. (2002). The challenges of economic diversification through tourism: the case of Abu Dhabi. International Journal of Tourism Research, 4(3), 221-235. Stephenson, M. L., Russell, K. A., & Edgar, D. (2010). Islamic hospitality in the UAE: indigenization of products and human capital. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 1(1), 9-24. Suliman, A., & Al-Hosani, A. A. (2014). Job satisfaction and knowledge sharing: The case of the UAE. Data retrieved from http://journalissues. org/articles/1392347581. pdf. Read More

Arguing the point from a different perspective, United Arab Emirate (UAE) has recorded strong growth between 2011 and 2015 making it necessary to assess the extent to which every tourist on a vacation or on a business trip will always stay in a hotel (Sharpley, 2002). Giving these tourists the needed information on the best hotel to stay in will not only be essential for market differentiation but give these hotels competitive advantage over others. A research conducted by the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (AlFaris et al. 2016) indicated that a number of issues and technologies have emerged in the recent past particularly in UAE.

For example, demographics, labor and skill shortage in the industry characterized by low wage rate, industry reputation are some of the issues that have been reported in hospitality industry. It therefore essential to understand how these hotels fight these challenges by introducing different measures that ensure there are the best ahead of others. Furthermore, such issues have been encountered by the hotel companies expanding on their scale of operation and growing their own employees through training.

In addition, the transformative elements in the technology sector do not capture the entire industry of hospitality. The sector has emerged into a complex industry with sophisticated technologies such as capabilities of individual systems, complicated cooperation’s and marketing technics (Ahmad and Saber, 2015). This paper does not only focus on the best hotel to stay in the emirates of Abu Dhabi but intends to evaluate emerging technologies and contemporary issues in Abu Dhabi hotels. Indeed Abu Dhabi hotels have expanded tremendously from the time of their formation and some even have subsidiaries across the globe, all operating different resorts and luxury services but the most significant factor is service delivery that can make it be categorized as the best hotel in Abu Dhabi (Al Kaabi et al. 2015). In the recent past, front desk office has experienced a constant emerging technology and as a result it has been considered as the area that determines the best hotel particularly those ranked as top 10 in UAE (Kempinski, 2016).

For example, one-stop guest services which connect the guests to the outside services (front desk) by phone and video and audio navigators is one of such service that has been regarded as one which qualifies the best hotel (Henderson, 2006). Additionally, other emerging technologies include Video Check-In and Express Check-Out which facilitates checking in and out without the transitional front desk. According to Henderson (2006), the aspect of the performance and exceptional services should be characterized by a touch screen system installed in different points for guests to use.

Performance and exceptional services is further judged by aspects such as efficiency in online booking, where clients access the front desk office online, orders for service and book for rooms and does the payment through credit cards such as PayPal, visa among others advance the front desk office to a new level (Elbanna, 2016). Conclusively understanding best performance and exceptional services among hotels in Abu Dhabi is to recognize how these hotels have considered moving from their functional model to a product design model, which enable alignments of their operations to align with current demands in the market.

There are several reasons that make this approach worth researching about these hotels. First, the objective of these hotels in terms of strategic development is to reach even further improvement in service standards and computer related products if it needs to rival international standards. The product design model therefore allows focusing efforts and consolidating specific expertise around the product and not the function, which brings in a more focused set of skills and experiences. Secondly, the hotels are assessed in ways in which they address the constantly changing business environment in a more flexible and responsible way, as the product design model concentrates decision-making authority in a “product cell” and thus enabling faster response of customer needs (Morris and Kazi, 2016).

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