H
ubert
Debono has previous experience
in hospitality and is an ITS (Insti-
tute of Tourism Studies) graduate.
His wealth of experience in hospi-
tality stems from experiences with
hotel chains such as Le Méridien,
Westin, Riu and db hotels & resorts;
where he worked his way up, step-
by-step, from an intern to Gener-
al Manager. Mr Debono has made
himself to be a solid connection to
all important departments func-
tioning in a hotel, which indeed
results in a great multitasking and
“hands on” leader who has in-
novative ideas for development.
The ‘be’ concept is engaged throughout the hotel’s entire provisions portfolio.
Keeping staff engaged
With regards to this, the general
manager thinks that “everyone in
the sector feels the ever-growing
challenge in finding skilled front
liners to work with.” He adds that
employees with the right attitude
and passion for hospitality are
becoming increasingly harder to
find. It is even more rare to find
locals willing to work in the indus-
try. ‘When we manage to attract
promising individuals, we make
sure that at be.HOTEL they will find
the right culture where they are
willing to develop their career fur-
ther.’ Hubert commented that he
is very proud of the current team
at be.HOTEL and that the compa-
ny is continually looking at ways
to improve employee well-being,
personal development, and to
keep them engaged and motivated.
HOSPITALITY MALTA
“We have built a great and fully
devoted team and we would like to
keep it that way, which is why we
provide great conditions to attract
and recruit skilled labour” he ex-
plained, going on to mention that
various methods of motivation are
in motion to maximise retention.
Is be.HOTEL serving the
shopping centre, or is the
shopping centre serving
be.HOTEL?
“Originally, the scope of the ho-
tel was to serve the shopping cen-
tre and the idea was to build com-
petitive advantage from a shopping
complex point of view,” the gen-
eral manager explains. In the very
beginning, the hotel within the
Bay Street Complex was primarily
catering for the student market.
Eventually the Directors saw an op-
portunity for this facility to serve a
bigger purpose – to be a direct and
significant player in the Maltese
hospitality industry.
As a result, the hotel was totally re-
furbished, rebranded and extend-
ed on 3 additional floors which
included a panoramic conference
room. The strategy of the ho-
tel shifted completely and started
targeting the more sophisticated
travellers and corporate guests.
be.HOTEL’s USPs and
key differentiating factors
“The designer-styled be.HOTEL is a
4-star