For Omar Haddad, hospitality is a sequence of moments that should feel connected. At Meridian Hospitality Studio, his focus is on understanding the guest’s journey and making the work behind it clearer for the team.
Illustrative written Q&A. These fictional answers demonstrate a format; this is not a real or recorded interview.
Where do you begin when looking at a guest experience?
I start by following the journey from the first enquiry to the final goodbye. I look for the moments when a guest has to repeat a question, wait without knowing what comes next or work out who can help. These are often small details, but they tell us where an experience feels disconnected. Listening to the team helps us understand why those moments happen.
How can a team turn observations into useful changes?
Choose something specific, make responsibility clear and talk about what happens when the team tries it. A process needs to make sense to the people delivering it as well as the people receiving it. I prefer a clear handover or a useful prompt to a long instruction that nobody can remember during a busy shift. There should also be room to ask questions and adjust the approach.
What would you like the next stage to focus on?
I am interested in service guides that support consistency without making every interaction feel scripted. A team needs a shared understanding of what matters, along with the judgement to respond to an individual guest. The next stage is about connecting that understanding to everyday actions, so an idea discussed in a meeting can become something practical in the working day.