The welcome
Despite a complete lack of signage on the drive to our destination, our phone’s GPS app enables us to finally locate the hotel. The lobby, beautifully decorated in warm shades of cream and turquoise, mimics the original Waldorf Astoria in New York in terms of grandeur. But it is busy, and there are small queues at the reception counters; we’re surprised that our check-in lacks a personal touch until after the paperwork is done and a personal concierge appears.
The neighbourhood
The hotel opened in August, and boasts 346 rooms and suites. The 18-hole Al Hamra golf course is right next door and Ras Al Khaimah’s many water parks are a short drive away. The hotel’s grounds are extensive, all accessed by an awe-inspiring white marble door, handmade in Syria, and flanked by huge iron lanterns from Lebanon, each larger than an SUV.
The room
We start off our stay in a Tower Suite with a sea view but move to a one-bedroom suite when it becomes apparent that nothing can be done about the yellow water pouring from the faucets. Still, our room is over 120 square metres of opulence, with two bathrooms and dressing rooms, three 42-inch TVs, a living room with a queen sleeper sofa, an adjoining lounge-cum-office area and large, thick rugs.
The scene
Most guests are from within the UAE – expatriates and Emiratis – as well as large tour groups of Russians and Europeans. A private lap pool for adults keeps rowdy children at bay, and the children’s club for ages three to 12 offers arts and crafts, game rooms and a temperature-controlled pool. We make good use of the watersports on the beach, which includes everything from jet skiing to parasailing.
The service
The personal concierge is appreciated. Service across the hotel is warm and gracious; around the pool area, however, service is slow.
The food
From Azure, the restaurant by the pool, the Tramonto salad (Dh80) with grilled shrimps, shaved fennel, Granny Smith apples, spicy almonds and a citrus dressing was delicious. For dinner, the Lexington Grill steak house is fully booked, so we choose to order room service instead. Our meal arrives promptly. We start with the chilled shrimp cocktail with horseradish sauce (Dh70), which is fresh and delicious. For mains, we dig into the best Emirati lamb medfoun (Dh165) I’ve ever tasted, and the lasagne (Dh70) is comforting and rich, made with béchamel instead of ricotta. We cannot resist ordering the makhni dal (Dh35); it arrives piping hot, spicy and full of flavour. The next day’s breakfast buffet at Qasr Al Bahar is more like a seven-star brunch. We are spoilt for choice and forego lunch that day.
Loved
The Salvatore Ferragamo bathroom amenities add a touch of luxe to our weekend. The dark wood crib brought to our room upon request is one of the fanciest I have ever seen at a hotel and the attention shown by hotel staff to our one-year-old daughter is much appreciated.
Hated
I don’t remember ever being at such a fancy hotel and not being able to order lunch at the poolside. The hotel also has a problem with its water filters: yellow water poured from the faucets in both our rooms, making it impossible for us to bathe the baby.
The verdict
Once the water issue is resolved, this will be the perfect weekend getaway for UAE residents.
The bottom line
Rooms at the Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah (www.waldorfastoria.com/rasalkhaimah; 07 203 5555) start at Dh1,375 including taxes.
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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.”
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