Salman Ahmed

Syed B. Ahmed has been a resident of Dubai since 1984. After receiving his degree in Marketing Management at University of La Verne in Los Angeles, California, he decided to move to Dubai to look at job opportunities and start his professional career.

Having worked for over 30 years in different sectors which have included retail, shopping malls, and real estate development, he eventually found his passion in the hospitality industry.

His first hospitality venture started in 2006 when he took over a defunct club and restaurant complex of 40,000 sq ft called The Lodge. It was a challenge to convert this old property into something modern and to compete with all the new clubs opening at the time in Dubai. The Chi Lodge club opened in 2007 and instantly became one of the best clubs in Dubai.

The club won several awards by all premier publications in the Middle East, including What’s On and Time Out awards four years in a row — a testament to a professional approach in running and operating a premier club.

In 2011 Syed created one of the most exclusive lounge bar concepts, called GOLD, in the Monarch Hotel (now The H Hotel). After selling the club in 2012 he moved to Thailand and acquired a lease on a boutique hotel and a 10,000 sq ft upscale restaurant café in the busy Patong area of Phuket.

He sold the business and moved back to Dubai in 2013, and has since worked actively as a consultant in the hospitality and real estate industry with several clients, placing several concepts from overseas in some of the best hotels in Dubai. One current project includes developing a waterfront project of approximately 480,000 sq ft comprising a branded boutique hotel and luxury furnished residences with a beach club on a private island in Ras Al Khaimah.