66 November 2016 www.bahrainthismonth.com britaininbahrain LIZ O’REILLY From chamber maid to complex GM, this Brit in Bahrain has done it all. Anna Marie Dowling, of The Westin and Le Meridien, outlines the rise and rise of an English girl who now runs one of the island’s biggest hotel complexes. Finding a Home from Home WESTIN/LE MERIDIEN I understand you’ve worked your way up ‘through the ranks’, how did you get started in hospitality? I wasn’t academically gifted at school and left with five underwhelming O’ Levels [the forerunner of GCSEs]. I was doing A’ Levels and when I said I didn’t want to go on to college, my dad gave me a year to get a job. I started waitressing and enjoyed it but when I told my parents I wanted to pack in my A’ Levels and go to catering college they were horrified. But even at that age, I could see a career path. Can you give details of some of the jobs you did before moving into management? I initially joined Holiday Inn in housekeeping while waiting for a placement on their apprenticeship scheme; I spent nine long months cleaning rooms and making beds! I then spent two and a half years going round the different departments. I’ve been in the industry 34 years and, looking back, I still draw on that experience today. I still have a great empathy and understanding for those doing the different jobs. After that I had some supervisory experience and worked my way up from there. You must have some tales to tell, what’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you at work? There have been lots. When I was cleaning rooms there was a time when Bruce Springsteen was due to play Wembley and he was a great favourite of mine. Our rooms had two double beds in them and I had tapped on the door of one, looked inside and saw an unmade bed so went in to start cleaning. I turned the radio on and got working, dancing around the room and singing before I looked at the other bed and realised there was a sleeping guest…I was mortified and made a very quick exit! And what has been the most challenging? When I was GM at Sofitel Heathrow we would often have the ballroom full of people in sleeping bags if there had been a flight delay. The airlines didn’t tell them they weren’t getting a room so I was always on the front line with my staff as people could get very put out to find they would be on the floor with everyone else. In this industry you’re never short of challenges. I was working at the Jersey Grand Hotel when the owners decided to open up another property, Brooklands at Weighbridge in Surrey. Because the Grand is an independent, there was no regional team back-up and I spent many months flying backwards and forwards several times a week in the pre-opening phase. But when I look at the property now, doing well with the GM that I brought in, I can be proud. You’ve been in Bahrain now since the beginning of the year, how are you finding it? I’d always thought I wanted to have international experience on my CV and in 2015 I came out to Abu Dhabi to visit. At that point I thought ‘if you’re going to do it, you’d better do it now’. I went back, updated my CV and started visioning what I wanted to happen. I think fate brought me to Bahrain as it’s the ideal place for a first Middle East posting. It’s very inclusive, and though you’re a guest in the country, you feel very welcome. I’m happy to be Bahrain’s first female GM but I’m sure there will be many more. I enjoy meeting all the different nationalities here both in the hotel and outside and the fact that there’s a large British expat community makes it feel like home. What are your future plans for the hotels? Well, we are transitioning in ownership from Starwood to Marriott and the fact that the two have been such big competitors means it will be an interesting journey. But the hotels also continue to evolve and develop. We have a good owner in Majid Al Futtaim and we hope to renovate 100 Westin rooms next year and another 200 in 2018. Anna Marie Dowling
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