Jork Bosselaar and Salim Al Owaimari, GM and Leisure Concierge, Alila Jabal Akhdar, Oman
Since this interview, Jork has now left Alila and is working in Bali.
This 'Meet the Manager' slot is a little different as we felt that there are two staff at the Alila Jabal Akhdar who really shape the hotel. In addition to Jork, the GM, who leads the hotel and perhaps could be described as the brain driving the property, Salim is a true ambassador of Omani hospitality and could be seen as the heart of the hotel.
Salim is unusual among Omanis as a young national who enjoys working in hospitality, a career with long hours and relatively low pay. However, it is hard to imagine the warm and genial Salim working in any other industry. His beguiling smile of greeting lights up the room and his eagerness to teach you about Omani culture is totally genuine. Coming from the local area near the hotel, Salim was well aware of the seasonal tourist attractions and the lack of appropriate accommodation. After completing a degree in tourism operations, Salim began work as front desk team lead at a hotel in the nearby Nizwa. This work vastly improved his English skills (which are now fluent) and his confidence in dealing with people from many different cultures. After a brief post as Duty Manager with Crowne Plaza in the centre of Oman, Salim worked for the Nizwa Tourism Authority and learnt about the exciting new Alila development. A firm believer in tourism as a driving factor in Oman's development, Salim is the authentic Omani face of Alila Jabal Akhdar and it is hard to imagine the hotel without him. However, it is the way of the world, that talent is sought by others and everyone moves on eventually. Hopefully the Alila has a good few years of Salim's warmth and knowledge before he is headhunted by another hotel.
To say that Jork is the brains of the property is not to say he doesn't have heart or soul. On the contrary, Jork came across as being passionate about the project has has taken the helm of. The Alila in Jabal Akhdar is owned by the Oman Tourism Authority and, as such, is not simply a hotel. Rather, it is an opportunity for Oman to develop its tourism and turn away from oil-dependence and an enabling platform for Sultan Qaboos' national development plan for the country, helping support interactions between Omanis and the wider world community.
After studying hospitality at Stenden University in the Netherlands (unique in that it treats hotel studies more as management consulting with case studies and discussion rather than straight tuition) Jork did his first internship in Aruba, before a short period in Venezuela. This was a slightly scary time with little tourism in the country, so when the opportunity came to travel to Thailand, Jork grabbed it and had a brief stint in media distribution. Unfortunately, this didn't work out quite as planned, so he sought to return to hospitality, working at a number of properties in Phuket, including the prestigious Amanpuri. From here, he started his career with Alila as GM of the Alila Manggis hotel in Ubud. As far as we can tell, Alila suits this 37 year old's personality to a T, caring deeply about the culture and community of a destination and not simply focusing on profits. Alila means 'surprise' in Sanskrit and the hotels aim to provide visitors with emotional souvenirs to take away. As we always say, the most important thing about a hotel is the story you can tell when you go home.
The Alila Jabal Akhdar tries to provide traditional Omani hospitality to its guests. As would be experienced in the local village, it is the senior member of the hotel family, Harith, who serves a welcome coffee to all new arrivals, despite not speaking a word of English. Amusingly, it seems that the Oman Employment Office were not keen on the hotel employing such senior members to the team, but Jork felt that it was important to reflect the local culture as much as possible. We were impressed with how sensitive Jork was towards his staff, feeling that they should develop at their own pace. We have our fingers crossed that Harith will be willing to share his stories of life in the mountains when we next return.
The guests at present are roughly 50% Arab nationals (mostly Omanis escaping the humidity of the cities) with the rest made up of expats resident in the UAE and Oman and world tourists. As such, there is a very different feeling in the hotel at weekends (Thursday-Saturday) when many guests are locals staying for 1 night only and mid-week, when the clientele are mostly Westerners staying for around 3 nights. Currently, the Alila Experiences and complimentary Alila Hospitalties are a work in progress. We were disappointed during our stay that these were not up and running, but learnt from Jork that there were unforeseen problems with arranging these experiences. For example, if visiting a traditional Omani home, it would not be possible for men and women to enter the same door or sit in the same room. Although foreign to us, we can appreciate the importance of respecting the local culture and believe that working through these difficulties will eventually result in greater cultural exchange. However, we discussed plans for yoga or tai chi in the mornings, calligraphy sessions, local musical instruments and educational talks from astronomers or geologists discussing the rocks, which are 650 million years old. As the winters get bitterly cold, it is also planned that the fireplace in the lobby will be lit and coffee, dates and fine chocolates will be served. Other plans include story-telling around the bonfire outside and the traditional Omani Shuwa, which consists of a goat roasted with spices in a pit and is generally only eaten on festive occasions.
The Alila Jabal Akhdar is a very special hotel and one that we look forward to returning to. It is difficult to imagine the property without Jork or Salim, who both currently seem irreplaceable. Visit now and experience the hotel in its youth. Then return frequently to witness the hotel's and Oman's development.
This 'Meet the Manager' slot is a little different as we felt that there are two staff at the Alila Jabal Akhdar who really shape the hotel. In addition to Jork, the GM, who leads the hotel and perhaps could be described as the brain driving the property, Salim is a true ambassador of Omani hospitality and could be seen as the heart of the hotel.
Salim is unusual among Omanis as a young national who enjoys working in hospitality, a career with long hours and relatively low pay. However, it is hard to imagine the warm and genial Salim working in any other industry. His beguiling smile of greeting lights up the room and his eagerness to teach you about Omani culture is totally genuine. Coming from the local area near the hotel, Salim was well aware of the seasonal tourist attractions and the lack of appropriate accommodation. After completing a degree in tourism operations, Salim began work as front desk team lead at a hotel in the nearby Nizwa. This work vastly improved his English skills (which are now fluent) and his confidence in dealing with people from many different cultures. After a brief post as Duty Manager with Crowne Plaza in the centre of Oman, Salim worked for the Nizwa Tourism Authority and learnt about the exciting new Alila development. A firm believer in tourism as a driving factor in Oman's development, Salim is the authentic Omani face of Alila Jabal Akhdar and it is hard to imagine the hotel without him. However, it is the way of the world, that talent is sought by others and everyone moves on eventually. Hopefully the Alila has a good few years of Salim's warmth and knowledge before he is headhunted by another hotel.
To say that Jork is the brains of the property is not to say he doesn't have heart or soul. On the contrary, Jork came across as being passionate about the project has has taken the helm of. The Alila in Jabal Akhdar is owned by the Oman Tourism Authority and, as such, is not simply a hotel. Rather, it is an opportunity for Oman to develop its tourism and turn away from oil-dependence and an enabling platform for Sultan Qaboos' national development plan for the country, helping support interactions between Omanis and the wider world community.
After studying hospitality at Stenden University in the Netherlands (unique in that it treats hotel studies more as management consulting with case studies and discussion rather than straight tuition) Jork did his first internship in Aruba, before a short period in Venezuela. This was a slightly scary time with little tourism in the country, so when the opportunity came to travel to Thailand, Jork grabbed it and had a brief stint in media distribution. Unfortunately, this didn't work out quite as planned, so he sought to return to hospitality, working at a number of properties in Phuket, including the prestigious Amanpuri. From here, he started his career with Alila as GM of the Alila Manggis hotel in Ubud. As far as we can tell, Alila suits this 37 year old's personality to a T, caring deeply about the culture and community of a destination and not simply focusing on profits. Alila means 'surprise' in Sanskrit and the hotels aim to provide visitors with emotional souvenirs to take away. As we always say, the most important thing about a hotel is the story you can tell when you go home.
The Alila Jabal Akhdar tries to provide traditional Omani hospitality to its guests. As would be experienced in the local village, it is the senior member of the hotel family, Harith, who serves a welcome coffee to all new arrivals, despite not speaking a word of English. Amusingly, it seems that the Oman Employment Office were not keen on the hotel employing such senior members to the team, but Jork felt that it was important to reflect the local culture as much as possible. We were impressed with how sensitive Jork was towards his staff, feeling that they should develop at their own pace. We have our fingers crossed that Harith will be willing to share his stories of life in the mountains when we next return.
The guests at present are roughly 50% Arab nationals (mostly Omanis escaping the humidity of the cities) with the rest made up of expats resident in the UAE and Oman and world tourists. As such, there is a very different feeling in the hotel at weekends (Thursday-Saturday) when many guests are locals staying for 1 night only and mid-week, when the clientele are mostly Westerners staying for around 3 nights. Currently, the Alila Experiences and complimentary Alila Hospitalties are a work in progress. We were disappointed during our stay that these were not up and running, but learnt from Jork that there were unforeseen problems with arranging these experiences. For example, if visiting a traditional Omani home, it would not be possible for men and women to enter the same door or sit in the same room. Although foreign to us, we can appreciate the importance of respecting the local culture and believe that working through these difficulties will eventually result in greater cultural exchange. However, we discussed plans for yoga or tai chi in the mornings, calligraphy sessions, local musical instruments and educational talks from astronomers or geologists discussing the rocks, which are 650 million years old. As the winters get bitterly cold, it is also planned that the fireplace in the lobby will be lit and coffee, dates and fine chocolates will be served. Other plans include story-telling around the bonfire outside and the traditional Omani Shuwa, which consists of a goat roasted with spices in a pit and is generally only eaten on festive occasions.
The Alila Jabal Akhdar is a very special hotel and one that we look forward to returning to. It is difficult to imagine the property without Jork or Salim, who both currently seem irreplaceable. Visit now and experience the hotel in its youth. Then return frequently to witness the hotel's and Oman's development.