A note from Michael Grieve, Chief Brand Officer, on what generous hospitality truly means.

There's an Arabic word I find myself returning to: karam. It translates as 'generosity,' but it means something far deeper - the kind of open-hearted care that offers guests your finest attention, your most thoughtful gestures, your genuine warmth. When someone enters your home, you give them the very best of what you have. Not as obligation, but as honour.

In Arabian tradition, this generosity was always given freely - even to sworn enemies. Guests were welcomed wholeheartedly, offered the finest room, the best meal, complete sanctuary. This wasn't just custom. It was something deeper, embedded in the DNA of this culture: warmth, generosity, and joy at its essence.

This is the standard Arabian hospitality has always set, and it's what I witness in our teams every day. The way they remember a child's favourite breakfast. How they prepare a villa before a family arrives. Their instinct to make every arrival feel like coming home. Its contemporary hospitality rooted in something ancient - authentic, not performed.

I see this transformation daily across our hotels. Families settle into suites overlooking the Gulf, or villas surrounded by gardens - and there it is: that visible softening, that return to presence. Because the most valuable thing we can offer anyone today is time. Unhurried time with the people they love, in surroundings beautiful enough to make them pause, comfortable enough to make them stay.

As the month of Ramadan draws near and families turn toward what matters most - reflection, connection, gathering around the table with those we hold dear - I find myself thinking about what it truly means to be together. Not the logistics of travel or the details of a stay, but the feeling of being somewhere extraordinary with the people you love most.

Our suites and villas create the canvas for these moments. Generous living spaces where everyone naturally gathers. Private terraces made for quiet morning reflection. Dining areas where a shared meal stretches into hours of easy conversation - overlooking glittering coastlines, or in private gardens where the only sound is birdsong. Spaces that hold families gently, giving them room to rediscover each other's company, to move at their own pace, to let the day unfold without agenda.

These are the environments we've created with intention, where the memory made feels entirely, beautifully unplanned.

This is the foundation of how we welcome families - creating the conditions for connection, then stepping back to let those precious moments unfold naturally. Because we understand that the memories families treasure aren't the ones we orchestrate, but the ones that happen when they're simply present with the people who matter most.

There's no greater gift you can give your family than your full presence. Give yourselves what matters most: each other's company, without compromise. Let your children see you relaxed. Let them feel what it's like when the whole family is truly present - no phones buzzing, no mental to-do lists, just the luxury of being together.

These are the moments that shape them, and the ones you'll both treasure. We're here to make them possible.