The welcome
True to its name, arriving at the grand, nine-storey historic hotel, which dates from 1874, is impressive. My taxi stops close to the entrance, and I’m immediately helped by a smartly uniformed doorman. The lobby – subject, like the rest of the hotel, to a thorough remodelling a few years ago – is grand and fresh, with a mosaic-tiled floor, soaring ceilings and imperial-style grandeur. Check-in is fast, and my bag reaches the room at the same time as me.
The neighbourhood
The hotel is centrally located on Syntagma Square, opposite the Greek Parliament and very close to the main shopping areas.
The scene
The hotel is a big landmark in itself, offering a host of services, including a spa, hair salon and shops, and the views from the rooftop terrace are arguably the best in the city. The clientele is a mix of business and leisure guests travelling either in groups or individually. Most are from the United States or Europe; there’s a big Chinese group and a small group from Saudi staying while I’m at the hotel. Staircases, hallways and other public areas are quite grand, but it feels refined rather than stuffy.
The room
The hotel has 320 rooms and suites. I’m in a classic room on the second floor, overlooking Syntagma Square. The floor area of about 30 square metres seems small at first, but it’s counteracted somewhat by high ceilings and attractive coving. Despite its traditional appearance, it’s practical and well-arranged. I have a small balcony overlooking the square, but the traffic noise is too loud to make me want to use it. The double glazing just about sufficiently muffles the traffic noise. The bed and pillows are really comfortable, and the air conditioning works properly – a must in an Athens summer. The marble bathroom is luxurious. There’s plenty of well-lit wardrobe space.
The service
Efficient, friendly and down-to-earth, although coffee takes too long when the breakfast buffet is busy. At dinner, it’s dignified and personal.
The food
The main restaurant is called GB Roof Garden, which has indoor and outdoor rooftop areas. In the mornings, a buffet breakfast is laid out, and the atmosphere is informal. There’s the usual spread of fruit, pastries and hot items, but I don’t get past the locally made rice pudding and Greek yogurt. Coffee is good. In the evenings, the restaurant is cosier, conservative and sophisticated, with starched white tablecloths and well-dressed diners. The ceviche trilogy (€28.50 [Dh118]) with sea bass, salmon and tuna, delicately sliced and dressed in yuzu sorbet and orange blossom honey, is excellent. The 250-gram Black Angus rib-eye steak (€50 [Dh208]) is cooked just as I request it – soft and juicy in the middle and blackened on the outside. The accompanying potato wedges are a bit of a let-down, though.
Loved
The sense of history and the rooftop views.
Hated
The rooftop pool is only open from May to October. When I go for a swim in the downstairs pool at 7am, I find that the steam room and sauna don’t open for another two hours.
The verdict
Probably the best luxury base in Athens.
The bottom line
Double rooms at the Hotel Grande Bretagne (www.grandebretagne.gr), a Starwood Luxury Collection hotel, cost from €260 (Dh1,081) per night, including taxes but excluding breakfast.
rbehan@thenational.ae
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh132,000 (Countryman)
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 3
Fleck 19, Mousset 52, McBurnie 90
Manchester United 3
Williams 72, Greenwood 77, Rashford 79
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
