Michael Schmitt joins Conrad Dubai with almost 30 years of experience in the hospitality sector
Dubai, UAE – Conrad Dubai is delighted to announce Michael Schmitt as its new General Manager. Schmitt joins the hotel with a multi award-winning background and with much of his career spent working with Hilton and its luxury hotel portfolio. He is an international hotelier with extensive experience in luxury hotels in a mix of countries where he played a leading role in shaping transformation, driving innovative guest experiences and strengthening brand positioning.
“I am thrilled to be joining the team of the iconic Conrad Dubai. The hotel is renowned for creating inspired guest experiences, and I look forward to working with the team to further refine these with my luxury experience,” said Michael Schmitt General Manager, Conrad Dubai. He continued: “Dubai is a world-class city, and Conrad Dubai with its luxury accommodation, state-of-the-art meeting facilities, unique culinary concepts and an urban oasis pool deck, is perfectly positioned to provide luxury and innovative guest experiences to all UAE visitors and residents.”
Prior to joining Conrad Dubai, Schmitt was General Manager at Waldorf Astoria Chengdu, China, where he positioned the hotel as one of the city’s leading luxury hotels winning a series of awards, including Asia’s & China’s Leading Luxury Hotel by World Travel Awards 2021 and ranking 6th amongst China’s top hotels by Condé Nast Traveler – Readers’ Choice Awards 2021. He also won the 2020 Asia Pacific Hotel General Manager of the Year award by Stelliers Asia. Schmitt was a board member of the European Chamber of Commerce in China Southwest chapter.
Prior to his post at Waldorf Astoria Chengdu, Schmitt was General Manager of Conrad Xiamen, China, where he was responsible for the pre-opening period and thereafter successfully positioning the hotel as Xiamen and Fujian Province’s leading luxury hotel, setting new benchmarks for luxury guest experiences.
On a more personal note, Schmitt goes by the motto of his late grandma ‘above the clouds is always sunshine’. Schmitt says: “Challenges come and go and it is your state of mind and how you choose to move forward that determines how happy you are in life. Do not worry about things you cannot control and it is much easier to be happy knowing that the sun is always there – just sometimes covered for a while”.