Hotelier Middle East – August 2019

PEOPLE

HOTELIER MIDDLE EAST | August 2019 | Volume 18 Issue 07 25

BACK OF HOUSE

Meet

L

ito Dalangin, cluster chief

engineer, Hyatt Place Dubai

Al Rigga, Baniyas Square and

Wasl District talks about his role,

strategies and biggest achievement.

Sum up your role in 50 words

My job entails overseeing pre-opening

and engineering operations at all

Hyatt Place Hotels in Dubai which

currently includes three hotels and

two serviced apartments – a total

inventory of 728 guestrooms, dining

outlets and recreational facilities.

Being responsible for the

engineering team means addressing

every operational, maintenance and

energy saving concern while ensuring

that every task is done with the highest

efficiency and effectiveness.

engineering team for six years before

joining the Hyatt Place pre-opening

team in 2014. I have been responsible

for three Hyatt Place Dubai openings

— Hyatt Place Dubai/Al R igga in 2014,

Hyatt Place Dubai/Baniyas Square

in 2015 and Hyatt Place Dubai/Wasl

District in 2019.

Prior to that, I spent seven years in

a resort/hotel group in the highlands

of New Guinea where every day

is an adventure. One needs to be

resourceful as the hotels are situated

rather remotely. I also had the

opportunity to work at the Khiran

Resort in Kuwaitalong with other

properties in the region. I must say

that Dubai is by far the best.

Describe the biggest achievement in

your hospitality career so far.

With the current market trends, I think

that my biggest achievement so far

is being able to save more than 20%

in R&M (repairs and maintenance)

expenses without compromising the

service quality and the continuous

upkeep of the properties.

How would you describe your

journey in the hospitality industry.

In one word, I would definitely

describe my journeyin the hospitality

industry as fun.

LITO DALANGIN

How long have you worked in the

hospitality industry?

I’ve been working in the hospitality

industry for 22 years now.

What are the biggest challenges in

your role?

My challenges are project-related defi-

ciencies and energy savings targets.

What are your strategies to enhance

business at the property?

With a dynamic team of 32 members, I

constantly encourage them to engage

in knowledge sharing. We carry out

internal trainings and cross-trainings

that expands our scope of work and

skill-set.

I also believe in empowering

my colleagues and always discuss

and initiate new ideas that might

improve the performance of a task.

Most importantly, an internal work

environment is built where they

can perform their best every day.

Three things you absolutely enjoy

about your job.

The culture of fun in the workplace,

and work-life balance.

Prior to your current position what

were you doing before?

I was with the Grand Hyatt Dubai

CLUSTER CHIEF ENGINEER, HYATT PLACE

DUBAI AL RIGGA, BANIYAS SQUARE AND

WASL DISTRICT

MY FAVOURITE:

Advice received: A smart worker will

always be ahead of the hard worker.

Cuisine: Japanese.

Holiday Destination: Norway/Finland to

see the northern lights.

Hotel stay experience: Hyatt Regency in

Paris, France.

Hobby: Cycling, tennis and fishing.