PERSONALITIES
Siringit Migration Bedroom and Bathroom
manage a property on Bahrain ’ s Hawar Islands to a 72-room lodgefocused resort , which is owned by the country ’ s ruler .
In Ras Al Khaimah , the northernmost emirate of the United Arab Emirates , Gardiner says the ruler and his daughter have signed a deal to create a 50-key lodge by Mantis in the Jebel Jais mountains , home of the world ’ s longest zipline . Similar to all Mantis outposts , the focus will be all about the guest experience , such as hiking , mountain biking and a farm-to-table F & B concept .
Mantis is also developing a master plan on the east coast of Barbados ; in Iceland , where it will use the geothermal baths and glaciers as points of discovery ; and in the fjords of Norway , where it is conceiving a floating hotel . There are also inquiries coming out of Saudi Arabia , where Gardiner says Mantis has two projects in planning stages .
The other market Mantis loves is
Rwanda . “ They call it the Singapore of Africa . It ’ s a very interesting place ,” Gardiner says . “ I think a lot of Americans are starting to travel there , and I ’ m sure we ’ re going to start seeing more and more flights from America to Rwanda . Obviously , it had that haunted perception of genocide , but that was 25 years ago . It ’ s turned over a new lease and it ’ s an amazing country to visit . It ’ s the cleanest country on the planet .”
A lot of Mantis ’ competition is already in the market with lodges at Volcanoes National Park , but Gardiner says Mantis hopes to find something there very soon . It already runs government-sponsored hotels in the country and is currently building the Mantis Kivu Queen uBuranga luxury cruiser , which will sail up Lake Kivu first to see the chimpanzees , then interact with the pygmies up river and finally reach the north to see the famous gorilla population . Mantis also manages the Akagera National Park , another of the Big Five parks where it updated the lodge .
“ We enjoy taking the DNA that we developed at Shamwari Game Reserve all those years ago and taking it to different parts of the world ,” Gardiner says , adding that the group still has aspirations to grow in Africa . “ We have a team of South Africans that will connect with the locals . We ’ ve been doing this for 30 years and take a lot of that knowledge from Africa , in terms of the guest experience , and then adapt to all the destinations .”
Mantis will call on Accor , as well , for further creativity . Gardiner points to a creative person on Accor ’ s team in Paris who dreams up new spa concepts and is working with his team to develop a wellness concept surrounding African mythology with witch doctors and spiritual healing . “ That ’ s kind of the direction we want it to go ; we ’ re not going to just offer the regular thing ,” Gardiner adds .
Accor ’ s mission with Mantis is also
48 hotelsmag . com January / February 2022