[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="Carving paths to success" ids="125449,125450,125451"] By Shahd Alhamdan AROUND 300 Saudis are breaking the stereotype in the employment market by having unconventional jobs in the hospitality field and carving their way to success. ASSILA Hotel, a Rocco Forte property that had a soft opening in Jeddah in September 2016 and will celebrate its grand opening on Sunday, has employed this group of young males and females in different jobs, including demi chefs, comi chefs, chefs, baristas, kitchen stewards, front-desk staff and hotel hostess. For those young Saudis, who are in their 20s and 30s, being part of ASSILA Hotel, is a great chance due to the good salary, flexible working hours, the opportunity to enter a growing field and other factors. For some of them, working in an entry-level job in a hotel is a brave step, especially as Saudi society still looks down at some of these jobs. But the employees believe time has changed. According to the young Saudis, guests visiting the hotel, which is located on Prince Muhammad Bin Abdulaziz (Tahliah) Road, are astonished at seeing them, but are proud of having Saudis working in different entry-level jobs in the hospitality field. Rabea Ashaari, a Saudi male in his 30s working at the front-desk and guest relations, said, "Guests are happy that Saudis are working in this hotel. They keep asking if we were Saudis and they are surprised of how Saudis can perform the tasks of opening the doors, carrying the luggage, or cooking. They liked this fact, especially guests from the Gulf countries such as Qatar and the UAE." Ashaari worked in a hotel in Makkah before and when he got married, he had to move to Jeddah since it is his wife's hometown. For Ashaari, working in ASSILA Hotel is a great chance because it is a new hotel in a strategic location and the hospitality field in the Kingdom is flourishing. Aligning with the Saudi Vision 2030, ASSILA Hotel, which has 147 rooms, 63 suites and 94 residential suites, is training staff and developing strategies to empower them for a stronger future in the hospitality field. Saleh Al-Qahtani, a Saudi male in his mid 20s and working as barista in one of the hotel's cafes, explained that he knew about the job vacancy from a friend and when he got accepted, the hotel management gave him and the others intensive technical and behavioral training. "I was one of the first people to work in the hotel and it was a great opportunity to gain experience. I studied hospital administration and I could not find a job in the health sector that fits me since the working hours are long and the salaries are low. Here I am satisfied with the salary and working hours," he added. For some of the Saudi employees, ASSILA Hotel is a place to meet new people and gain experience while for others it is a door to achieve their dream job in the future. Abeer Ahmed, a Saudi female in her 20s, working as a hostess said, "It is a new field for women and people should accept it. I am not doing something wrong. It is an enjoyable job since you are meeting different people of different nationalities. This can make you learn about different cultures and how to deal with them." Layla Mohammed, another Saudi hostess in the hotel, explained that she loved the job after the training. The job duties include booking rooms and tables in the restaurants for the guests as well as answering phone calls. "It is a new field since hospitality is growing in the Kingdom and we are still studying so this is an opportunity for us. I learned a lot of things and it is different from other work places," she added. Ayman Al-Thaqafi, a Saudi student in his early 20s, is a kitchen steward. He applied for this job as a first step to enter the culinary field, aiming to be a chef one day. He said, "I worked in the National Water Company when I heard that there is a new hotel that will be launched." He said one of the struggles that he faced at the beginning was society's perception of having Saudis working as stewards. Yet, after a while he discovered that the work is not a demerit. Reda Al-Amri, pastry chef and supervisor, has a hospitality background and took several cooking courses. He said, "At the beginning the salaries were low and rarely you can find a Saudi working as a chef, so society didn't accept it. However, my family supported me and now the condition is different. I came here and I am a supervisor who is earning a satisfactory salary. One day, I will open my own pastry restaurant." According to Jaida, a Saudi female in her 20s working at the front-desk, dealing with different personalities and trying to please guests is one of the tough tasks in the hospitality market. She added that she worked in schools and several companies as an HR employee. But when she entered the hospitality field three years ago, she found herself and she is hoping to reach the managerial level in this field. The hotel has several restaurants and cafes. Some of them have already been opened while others will be launched soon. These places include Aubergine Arabic Mediterranean restaurant, CoCo'Ba chocolate bar and bakery, Il Caffé, a 24-hour Italian café with terrace; Twenty Four, an international buffet restaurant; and Pampas Argentinian grill restaurant. ASSILA Hotel is an attractive place for weddings and business meetings as well. Mohammed Al-Attas, banquet manager who holds a bachelor's degree in hospitality, had worked for three years in another hotel. He said, "Working in the hospitality field is different from what we read in the books and what he have studied." He added what makes ASSILA Hotel different is the location, the staff and the food. Al-Attas said several work events took place at the hotel after the soft opening. The hotel has employed very successful people, such as Chef Saed Al-Hawasawi, who studied hospitality in Al-Madinah and won a cooking award. He is a member of different cooking fraternities in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Syria. People enjoy eating his dishes and he believes the hospitality field in the Kingdom is in the "revolution stage".
