The Mina Family - Hameed - Senior Health Club Receptionist at Club Mina
To better understand the true essence of the "Mina Effect", you also have to understand the wonderful people that make up the Mina Family...in an effort to bring our associates and guests closer together, the Mina Effect Blog will regularly feature snapshots of these special people.
Tell us a little about yourself? How did your career in hotels begin and how has it progressed?
My name is Abdul Hameed Panjath, a native of Kerala, India. I started my hotel career in the Kingdom of Bahrain’s Ramada Hotel, where I worked in the Accounts Department. I then came to Dubai in 1996 and started working at the Dubai International Marine Club (a.k.a. DIMC) as a cashier in Barasti. After three years, when DIMC found the need to build its own hotel for the boat racing crowd, I was transferred to its very own Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina, as a Kiosk receptionist in 1999. I was one of the first 40 staff employed by the hotel. Later on, I became a member of the staff committee, to represent my colleagues in the department. Due to my very active nature, the management must have noticed me and I was given a chance to go for the ‘Train the Trainer’ course and later on assigned as a departmental trainer.
You've been with the Mina for a long time...tell us about an unforgettable experience you had at the hotel?
One unforgettable experience I had at the Mina and perhaps, in my lifetime, happened in the summer of 2002. While making my morning rounds in the beach, I spotted a brown bag stuck by the rock. Opening it revealed a Club Mina membership card. Thinking that the owner must have been worried looking for this, I immediately went and informed our General Manager, Mr. Michael Scully and the Security. Who would ever imagine that the bag contained AED 10,000 and important documents? Seeing this, Mr. Scully told me to call the club member right away who rushed to the hotel and collected his belongings. He was so happy to find it as he was searching for the bag for the last 3 days already. He went to his company (an Italian company), who sent an honesty certificate to me.
Any other hightlights you'd like to share during your time with the Mina?
With the support of management and staff, I was promoted as a Health Club Receptionist in 2003.
I got the ‘employee of the month’ award in the years 2002 and 2004 and was selected ‘employee of the year’ in 2005. Wow! And what a surprise I received from the management and staff at the Mina…I went to Paris to celebrate and collect my award with all the other Meridien employees of the year. I enjoyed my 4 day trip with about a 100 other associates from Le Meridien worldwide…… an experience of a lifetime! And what could be more surprising than to find out upon my return from Paris…I had been promoted to Senior Health Club Receptionist! Have I left my heart in Paris? No, I’m afraid not. Because the whole time I was there, it was the Mina Team that was in my mind and in my heart…I am just certain of one thing, it’s what the ‘Mina Effect’ is all about. At present I am enjoying my work at the Club Mina with Bojan, Nathalie, Jiji and the health club associates. Moreover, our club members make us all feel like part of their families. Once more, I would like to express my thanks to the management and staff of the Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina and welcome you to be part of the experience too.
For careers with the Mina, visit www.minacareers.com