Raffles Residences & Penthouses
The Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, UAE
Client representation, design management and executive client-side project management
06Service
Hospitality, Wellness & Longevity Advisory
We help owners shape hospitality assets that are commercially sound, operationally coherent and deliverable.
Overview
We help owners shape hospitality assets that are commercially sound, operationally coherent and deliverable. Our advice brings the guest proposition, operating model and physical development together, from initial positioning and feasibility to renovation, procurement and opening readiness. The practice draws on work across urban lifestyle hotels, island resorts, branded residences, heritage estates and wellness destinations — and on our Managing Principal's earlier responsibility for hotels in Paris, London and Mallorca.
Scope
What the service covers
- Hotel and resort positioning
- Feasibility and capital planning
- Operator and brand selection
- Property improvement and repositioning
- Renovation in operating properties
- Spa, wellness and longevity development
- Leisure, sport and F&B concepts
- Operational and asset performance
Typical deliverables
- Positioning and concept paper
- Feasibility and capital plan
- Operator comparison matrix
- Property improvement plan
- Opening-readiness plan
Lifecycle stages
- Acquisition
- Strategy
- Feasibility
- Design
- Approvals
- Procurement
- Delivery
- Handover
- Opening
- Operation
The practice in full
Six themes across the life of a hospitality asset.
01Strategy and feasibilityDeciding what the asset should be before deciding how to build it.
- Hotel and resort concept
- Market and demand assessment
- Competitor review
- Positioning
- Feasibility
- Financial modelling review
- Return and sensitivity scenarios
- Investment proposition
02Development and designTurning the concept into a building that works for guests and staff.
- Master-plan and design brief coordination
- Operational planning
- Guest and servicing flows
- Brand requirements
- Spa and wellness facilities
- Technical coordination
- Capital planning
03Operators and commercial structureChoosing the right partner and agreeing terms that protect the owner.
- Operator and brand search
- Proposal comparison
- Management and franchise agreement review
- Negotiation support
- Investor and funding introductions
- Owner governance
04Renovation and deliveryUpgrading and repositioning assets — often while they continue to trade.
- Property improvement plans
- Repositioning
- Closure versus phased-operation assessment
- FF&E and OS&E procurement coordination
- Construction management
- Commissioning
- Opening readiness
05Wellness, longevity and leisureDestinations built around wellbeing, sport and experience.
- Destination concept
- Specialist clinical input
- Facility and equipment planning
- Wellness programming coordination
- Food and beverage
- Sport and recreation
- Entertainment and mixed-use integration
06Operational and asset performanceThe owner's view of how the asset is performing, and what to do next.
- Operator reporting review
- Operating budget review
- Financial and operational diagnostics
- Capital renewal planning
- Asset-value strategy
- SOP and training coordination through specialists
FF&E: Furniture, fixtures and equipment · OS&E: Operating supplies and equipment. Specialist services are delivered with appointed specialist designers, operators or clinicians where the project requires them.
In practice
Hotel and branded-residence delivery in Dubai.
Our approach
How we think about hospitality development.
Hotel and resort positioning
A successful hotel is a coherent business proposition: the target guest, the market, the brand, the accommodation mix and the supporting amenities must reinforce one another. We work on urban lifestyle hotels, destination resorts and boutique heritage properties, and we test the proposition against how the asset will actually be operated.
Feasibility and capital planning
We test assumptions on demand, costs and phasing, and compare genuine options rather than presenting a single, unqualified forecast. Our work at El Retiro and Reethi Faru shows how the right sequence of studies protects an owner from committing capital too early.
El Retiro — Hospitality, Wellness & LongevityReethi Faru Resort
Operator and brand selection
We define the owner's objectives, identify suitable operators and brands, compare their proposals on a like-for-like basis and coordinate the commercial terms with the owner's legal advisers. A proposed brand is never treated as appointed until the agreement is executed.
Property improvement and repositioning
We evaluate asset condition, guest expectations, operating standards and capital priorities to build a property improvement plan. We keep the development roadmap distinct from completed works, and address the practicalities of remote-island procurement and logistics where they apply.
Renovation in operating properties
Works in a trading hotel must balance guest disruption, safety separation, revenue, programme and logistics. At Raffles The Palm we have worked owner-side within an operating luxury setting; at Reethi Faru we assessed closure against phased operation.
Spa and wellness development
A spa should be integrated with the accommodation, landscape, building services, operator requirements and commercial plan — not added at the end. We bring in specialist designers and operators where the project requires them.
Longevity and medical wellness
We shape the development strategy, integrate the concept, appoint the specialists, plan the facilities and set up governance. Clinical programmes, treatment protocols, medical efficacy and regulatory compliance belong to qualified clinical professionals; NEXTSTEP coordinates the development proposition and does not practise medicine or provide patient care.
Leisure, sport and F&B
We coordinate concepts and specialist input for dining, recreation, fitness, children's facilities and destination experiences, and connect each facility to market need, operational practicality and capital priorities.
Operating performance
We provide an owner-focused analysis of operator reporting, budgets and capital renewal, and organise the right specialists where deeper operational support — such as revenue management, SOPs or training — is required.
Related experience
Where we have applied this service
The Marina Hotel
Dubai Marina, Dubai, UAE
Client representation, development advisory and design management
Managing Principal's career experience
Hyde Hotel
Business Bay, Dubai, UAE
Client representation and executive client-side project management
Reethi Faru Resort
Filaidhoo Island, Raa Atoll, Maldives
Independent PMC and owner's representative — renovation and repositioning advisory
El Retiro — Hospitality, Wellness & Longevity
Churriana, Málaga, Spain
Strategic and development advisory, positioning and investor engagement
Mauritius Resort
Mauritius
Client Representative
Enquiries
Discuss hospitality & wellness
Tell us about the project and the support you are looking for.