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Beverly Hills woos the Middle East

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A room with a view at Montage Beverley Hills

Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau announced the launch of BOLD (Beverly Hills Open Later Days) last month–a new city-wide initiative designed to offer tourists and locals a chance to enjoy the best of Beverly Hills beyond regular business hours.

Visitors to Beverly Hills shopped brands such as Chanel, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana and Louis Vuitton to name a few, during extended shopping hours. Complimentary activities such as live entertainment from popular DJs, style sessions with fashion influencers and luxury car test drives along Rodeo Drive, were thrown into the luxury retail mix.

“Shopping in Beverly Hills is incredible,” Todd Orlich, general manager of Montage Beverly Hills tells us. “Joseph Katz is our personal shopper. He knows the right people and can get our guests into the right places, so you as the guest can be buying things before they are actually launched. Joe also works with local tailors – not just the ones at the stores, but those around Beverly Hills – who design for the celebrities. Joe also organises shipping your items so that when you get home, you can pull it right out and wear it, even before it’s on the market for others to buy.” 


MIDDLE EAST MARKET

Just like there’s no doubt that Montage Beverley Hills was launched with the affluent traveller in mind, it cannot be doubted that they have their eyes set on the Middle East market for the same reason.

Says the general manager, “We realised early on how important the Middle East market would be for us, not only for the Beverly Hills property, but for the city of Los Angeles itself.” Within the Middle East, the most important market this year is the UAE. “By the end of last year, it was Saudi Arabia. However, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait are growing too, so the entire GCC market will see more people coming to Los Angeles this year.”

The director of Middle East sales for Montage Beverley Hills, Hassan Abdoh, has been instrumental in teaching the staff about the sensitivities of travellers from the region. Food and beverage training for the Muslim traveller has been provided to exacting standards.

Orlich says, “Most of the guests that come to us are family travellers, so the kids’ programme around the hotel is quite important. This programme is called Paint Box and it has a lot of activities throughout the afternoon and evening, geared to children of all nationalities.

“We have added is a full butler programme with a chief butler and two junior butlers reporting to him, whose job is to get everyone settled from unpacking, to getting the right prayer mats, so we can make sure our Middle Eastern guests have what they need.”


MONTAGE SPA

“We also have great activities for ladies. We see that they are very much into skincare, so we brought in Raphael, who is a well-known aesthetician from Geneva and she introduced a new line of skin products and technology called L. Raphael to the hotel. We are the only spa in the Beverly Hills area to feature unique and effective oxygen facials.

“We found that manicures and pedicures are popular with the market too, but that they need to be done in private locations, so we carved out three areas in the mineral area of the spa, where we can close the drapes and have privacy for these when needed,” says he.

The 2016 US Spa Industry Study showed that 77 per cent of all resort/hotel spas offer male-specific packages. Beverly Hills’ boasts a higher concentration of extravagant spas than anywhere else in Southern California and men have a variety of spa experiences to choose from. The city is seeing a surge in men venturing into spas as well and Montage is well prepared for the onslaught.

Spa Montage at Montage Beverly Hills offers its male clients unique treatments designed to restore and rejuvenate the mind and body. Ranging from short treatments for those who need a quick fix, to more luxurious, extensive care packages, the spa provides a range of choices. Male clients can enjoy combination treatments such as the Gentlemen’s Ultimate Escape that includes a 60-minute customised Gentlemen’s Facial and a 60-minute massage that targets sore muscles.


ALL AND PENDRY

Montage International encompasses the ultra-luxury brand Montage Hotels & Resorts, the luxury hotel brand Pendry Hotels, Montage Residences and the management of premiere golf courses and clubs. Apart from Beverley Hills, Montage Hotels & Resorts, also has properties in Laguna Beach, Deer Valley, Kapalua Bay, Palmetto Bluff and Los Cabos, which will be opening next year.

Pendry Hotels is a new luxury hospitality brand launched by Montage International. Founders Alan J. Fuerstman and Michael Fuerstman’s experience in the hospitality industry serves as the foundation for the brand. Each property is injected with a unique perspective on contemporary style.  The brand has two properties to its credit so far; both were launched earlier this year. Pendry San Diego, located in the historic Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego, California, opened in February. Sagamore Pendry Baltimore, opened in next month and is located in the Fell’s Point neighbourhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Pendry Hotels is a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts.

Orlich explains a bit more. “Pendry has a lot of the high touch service points of a Montage, but it is also going to have a lot of extensions that Montage wouldn’t do. For example, Sagamore Pendry Baltimore has a downstairs social club that has a DJ, bigger restaurants, bigger bars, and is a lot more active. Pendry properties will be in social centres of cities. For example, they are in the Gaslight district of San Diego and the Sagamore district in Baltimore – areas which are active very late at night. We feel it is not going to be for a different guest; we think the Montage guest will use these properties, but differently. 

“I think they are destinations where the luxury market average rate is between $350 to $450, not like Beverly Hills, where its $750 to $950.”  

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