Grand Hyatt Doha, a leading five-star hotel in Qatar, has appointed Xavier Halbi as the new director of rooms.

Halbi brings more than a decade of experience to his new role at the luxurious 249-room leisure retreat.

He has been passionate about the hospitality world from a young age, which drove him to pursue a degree in hotel management at the hotel management school VATEL in Lyon, France before obtaining his MBA in International Hospitality Management from Cornell University and ESSEC Business School in 2004.

A French native with a service-oriented mindset, Halbi started building his career at the age of 19, when he got his first hospitality job in Lyon as a bell attendant and continued enhancing his skills in service in destinations as diverse as China, UAE, France, England and the Maldives. He started his Hyatt career at the Hyatt Regency Xi’an, China, as guest relations manager and assistant manager front office and has been with Hyatt for 11 years.

He aimed to understand the hotel operations as a whole and went on gaining hands on experience in different departments to increase his understanding of how each department contributes to the hotel’s success. He worked as VIP team manager at Grand Hyatt Dubai, and then joined Hyatt Regency Dubai & Galleria as revenue manager and later on added Park Hyatt Maldives under his responsibilities. His most recent position was director of operational strategy at the same hotel.

“I seek to understand my customers first” said Halbi, “until you understand your customers, deeply and genuinely, you cannot truly serve them. That is the key to exceptional service.”

Being a certified NLP master practitioner and NLP coach, Xavier is an expert on behavioral analysis, which is integral for being an effective manager and leader. “I want to coach my team to reach their potential, that’s why I took it to myself to become a professional coach. Creating a motivating environment for my employees is essential – you can only deliver good service from happy employees,” he said.

With his new appointment at Grand Hyatt Doha, Halbi aims to turn the hotel into a benchmark for exceptional service and excellence for hotels in Doha. - TradeArabia News Service