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 Roseau, Dominica
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A tasteful blending of old-world charm with modern luxury
and amenities is about the best way to describe the
facilities at the
Fort Young Hotel in Roseau, Dominica.
Symbols of its fighting days, now in the past, two highly
polished cannons flank the entrance of the hotel, which was
built by the British in 1761; it was also home to the
Dominica Police Headquarters from 1859 — 1955. The Fort was
officially unveiled as the Fort Young Hotel in 1964. After
being rebuilt in 1989, ten years after 1979’s Hurricane
David, it was again renovated in 1999. It further benefited
from an ambitious expansion project in 2004. The
seventy–one room hotel beckons and welcomes visitors to the
shores of Dominica with well–trained, professional and
friendly staff.
Fort Young Hotel offers four styles in
accommodation: Standard, Oceanview, Deluxe Oceanfront and
Oceanfront Suite rooms. From the moment When Steel Talks
(WST) press team stepped into the hotel’s reception area,
 to
the point of departure three days later, the experience was
one that offered welcome respite from the team’s hectic
schedule while on the island. In step with the times and
technology, the hotel offers free high speed internet
connection in all their rooms. Guests can also savor the Balas Bar & Lounge adjacent to the lobby, sipping at cool
drinks with appetizers, while working away wirelessly on
their laptops and PDAs.s
The hotel also features business and
conferencing services which make it ideal for meetings.
Guests, who are in Dominica strictly for vacation purposes,
can count on the availability of massage and spa facilities.
Quality in-house entertainment on the bill is the norm, and
this is additionally augmented periodically, depending on
which 'act' is in town, as was the case of
visiting steelpan artist Vanessa Headley in 2006.
 The accommodations for WST were the
spacious Deluxe Oceanfront rooms, complete with private
balconies overlooking Roseau Bay. The rooms are located in
the most recent additional wings of the hotel. The
bathrooms were large and elegant with attractive fittings,
complete with oversized sunken baths. They were also
equipped with welcome features such as mini refrigerators, personal in-room safe-boxes, and adequate desks
for working away after WST’s coverage of events. As a plus
for families considering choosing the Fort Young Hotel for
their stay in Dominica, some rooms are inter-connected.
Air-conditioning appeared to be central, was very effective,
but so unobtrusive that the guest did not audibly know it
was on while functioning.
 Depending on where your rooms are
located, there are breathtaking views of the panoramic
Roseau Bay, and a beautifully semi-secluded pool set to the
bay as its backdrop, that entices you to pause no matter how
many times you make your way to the dining area and other
parts of the hotel.
In addition to optional room service,
there is buffet style breakfast and lunch (the latter with
different themes on a daily basis) and à la carte dining for
dinner,
with an appetizing choice of both international and local
cuisine. WST generally dined in the Waterfront Restaurant,
where the staff was officious and attentive at almost every
turn. Like its name, the Waterfront Restaurant lines Roseau
Bay, and also overlooks the Roseau Berth where, during the
day, there is often a cruise ship in port.
The hotel currently functions under the
seasoned and watchful eye of its Sri Lankan-born general
manager, Fazl Khan (pictured). He is world-traveled, has worked in
about twenty–three countries,
 and made St. Lucia his home
with his family for almost seventeen years; they remain
there as he tends to his present assignment, Fort Young
Hotel.
Khan has been in the hotel management
business for twenty years, especially within the
Caribbean. He came to Dominica in November of 2007 to take
over the management of the Fort Young Hotel, where his
initial tenure is slated for two years. In the short space
of time that has elapsed since coming on board in November,
he has significantly upgraded the facility, motivated the
staff, and heightened the lure and marketability of the
hotel. His specialty is ‘boutique hotels’ and he is a
master at resurrecting hotels that are bankrupt or in a
lurch and putting them on the path to profitability.
He has
an exceptionally strong base in human resources, one that is
borne out by his words “staff come first, guests come
second, and the owner comes third…If your staff is happy,
then automatically your guest is happy; if your guest is
happy, then automatically the owner is happy...This is my
philosophy, which some [other] owners do not understand.”
 Khan went further to explain that his staff is his asset,
and he is a team worker. Fort Young Hotel is owned by
one of Dominica's leading business entrepreneurs and chairman of the hotel’s board of directors, Philip
Nassief. Khan
further ensures respect for his workers by having them ‘work
with their own people.’ “If you look [around], there are no
expats [expatriates in supervisory positions above his
staff] here.” When in the Caribbean, he looks within the
region to acquire his human resources.
Khan mingles unobtrusively with guests,
sometimes sitting at dinner, quite unassuming but quietly
and keenly observant, usually with no one but staff knowing
who he is. He emphasizes that he enjoys not operating as a
figure of fear, but being a genuine part of their support
and growth process, while at the same time tweaking in areas
whenever there may be a need for enhancement in their
service. “I love to train and guide my people as much as I
can” he explained.
Though
adept at all phases of the hospitality industry, Fort Young
has made the ‘leisure’ market their target audience; they
have identified honeymooners, diving enthusiasts and other
such leisure-seekers, as their objective. The Dominican
Government also contracts the hotel’s services. There are
occasions when high–level ministerial meetings are held on
the island; the hotel then teems with officials, and their
attendant retinues. It is the ideal time to observe Prime
Ministers, Presidents and other high-powered personnel in
more relaxed frames of mind, as they mingle in the classy
Fort Young Hotel. At that time those familiar with general
manager Fazl Khan, drop by the latter’s office to easily
renew the acquaintance and jokingly ensure that their pet
‘penchants’ are being catered to during their stay.
Fort Young
Hotel is currently listed at three-and-a-half stars, but
Khan’s aim is to mold it into a four-star establishment. To
this end he has put forward the Fort Young as a candidate
for AAA Four-Diamond-status in the hotel’s ongoing upwardly
mobile thrust. Already touted as the island’s premier
hotel, it remains Fazl Khan’s constant vision. In his
doggedly determined manner, the veteran manager – arguably a
man with the ‘Midas touch’ when it comes to hotels – says he
will continue the focus on ‘his people’ [the staff], and by
extension, his guests. “I always train my staff, regardless
who it is, as soon as they [the guest] walk into that door
[hotel lobby], you treat them like a king or queen…” His
philosophy is that if he can get every guest to return as a
repeat customer [and recommend to others], then “that is the
hotel’s success.”
contact:
Fazl Khan, General Manager,
Fort Young Hotel | email:
gm@fortyounghotel.com | tel: (767)
448-5000
In Pictures:
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