Unmatched hospitality

An illustrious home-grown brand, JA Resorts & Hotels is in its 40th year of operations. Whether you are looking for a relaxing getaway or an adventure-filled holiday, the group’s slew of properties have a lot to offer on the ground curated to create unforgettable memories. William Harley-Fleming, Cluster General Manager of JA Resorts & Hotels, walks through the milestones achieved by the group. Excerpts from the interview:

Property Profile

The original flagship property, JA Beach Hotel, opened in 1981, was the company’s founding property, alongside the JA Hatta Fort Hotel in Dubai, Al Hajar Mountains.

“After that, in 1997, and subsequently in 2019, the premium five-star property JA The Resort with three 5-star hotels, JA Beach Hotel, JA Palm Tree Court and JA Lake View Hotel, was launched,” says Harley-Fleming.

However, stressing that no two properties in the group are the same, Harley-Fleming explained that each property appeals to different demographics, different audiences – all unique in their different offerings under the same JA international service standards.

“We are proud to be owned by two local families, the Baker family and the Saleh family. They have managed to develop the portfolio from the original two hotels in 1981 to 10 properties. They went international in 2013 with two resorts in the Seychelles, JA Enchanted Waterfront Villas and JA Enchanted Island Resort, which was followed quite quickly in 2014 with the debut of JA Manafaru in the Maldives.”

Initiatives undertaken for the celebration

Rolling out a comprehensive, integrated market activity around its 40th anniversary, the JA Resorts & Hotels is giving UAE residents the opportunity to get up to 40 per cent discount across all its 10 properties. Harley-Fleming said that the holidaymakers can obtain the discount on room rate by going to jaresortshotels.com. He adds: “We have a host of other activities that we are currently in the final stages of putting together, such as the UAE National Day celebrations and a big New Year’s Eve festivity.”

Mitigating the pandemic loss

“As a group, we are very resilient and I think the beauty about our group is we are owner and operator,” says Harley-Fleming.

“And so it’s allowed us to become very agile over the last 18 months particularly with the pandemic challenges and the hospitality industry being hit the most. It’s allowed us to regroup internally and to advance technology. The hospitality industry, because it’s such a dynamic and such a fast-paced industry, you never really get the time to internally review your operating systems, procedures and technology. And this period has definitely allowed us to do that.”

For JA Resorts & Hotels, whether that was going down the lines of looking at paperless check-ins or increasing sustainability, the adaption was fast track. The group now has its own water bottling plant within most properties.

Thoughts on completing 40 illustrious years

Deeming it a fantastic opportunity, Harley-Fleming is proud of the locally grown hotel group within the UAE, which is now achieving 40 years in the 50th year of the formation of the UAE. “We, as a group, have done extremely well and are very proud of our achievements and the vision. JA Beach Hotel was the first leisure-based hotel in the region when it opened, the others being more corporate and business-orientated. With visionary owners, we are now in the lead.”

For more information,visit www.jaresortshotels.com