Hotel development in the Middle East is booming. Hilton Worldwide alone has 19 hotels under development in the region and the new year will see the grand launch of Burj Dubai – the world’s tallest tower. Here, we take a tour of the Middle East and highlight just a handful of hotel happenings.
Dubai
Dubai is maintaining its reputation for glitz. The Armani Hotel Dubai will occupy the first eight floors of the Burj Dubai tower and will open shortly after the tower’s launch on January 4 2010. It will have 160 rooms and suites, an Armani/SPA, five restaurants and a nightclub.
Meanwhile, The Palazzo Versace Hotel is scheduled to open by early 2011 on Dubai Creek, featuring 217 hotel suites and all the lavish opulence that the Versace brand represents (if you like this, see other features on celeb-owned hotels and fashion hotels – Web editor).
Talking of lavish, further openings at Palm Jumeirah next year will ensure Dubai remains in the spotlight in 2010. The five-star Taj Exotica, modelled on the palaces of Rajasthan, will have 232-rooms and the largest spa in the Middle East, while the luxurious Kempinski Hotel Emerald Palace will have 318 rooms facing the sea. In 2011 Fairmont’s Kingdom of Sheba opens on the crescent with 550 rooms.
In other news, the 260-room Jebel Ali Hotel at the Jebel Ali Golf Resort and Spa will reopen on December 1 with special rates of up to 50% off.
Abu Dhabi
Scores of hotels opened in time for Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island playing host to its first Formula 1 Grand Prix on November 1. Most notable of these is the striking Yas Hotel, the only hotel in the world built to be part of a racetrack. Almost all the 499 rooms and eight restaurants have track views.
Other hotel brands new to Yas Island include Crowne Plaza, Rotana and Radisson.
Worth a note is Starwood’s Aloft Hotel which, with 408 rooms, is the second largest hotel in the city. It opened at the end of October next to the city’s exhibition centre.
Over at the new beachfront 369-room Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, the funky design features metallic beaded curtains, angular silver sofas and lily pad-shaped lights and there’s a restaurant offering from celebrity chef Marco Pierre White.
The other Emirates
The most northern Emirate, Ras Al Khaimah, is attracting several luxury properties. Opening in 2010, The Palace Hotel, by Hamra Hotels and Resorts is designed in the style of an Arabian palace and will have 12 restaurants, an 18-hole golf course, and, the hotel’s signature feature, an underwater champagne bar.
Next month sees the opening of the exclusive desert resort of Banyan Tree Al Wadi. Set in a private nature reserve among the dunes of Wadi Khadeja, this property sells itself as being the first in the UAE to offer an all-pool villa concept, complete with hydrotherapy spa.
Expected to open by the end of next year, the 291-room InterContinental Fujairah Resort hotel will be the first InterContinental beach resort property to open in the UAE.
Oman
The Sultanate of Oman’s answer to Dubai’s Palms comes in the form of The Wave, spread along four miles of natural beach near the capital, Muscat. Kempinski and Fairmont are two of the three five-star hotels that will combine with a links golf course, a marina and numerous restaurants to complete this upmarket ‘experience’.
The Fairmont will open in 2011 next to the Greg Norman-designed course and Kempinski will open in 2013.
Another of the country’s major projects is the building of Al Madina A’Zarqa, a city north of Muscat. Anantara is the name behind the management of the first hotel to open here in late 2010.
Qatar
The opening of the 291-room W Doha in March this year marked the entrance of Starwood’s W brand in the Middle East. This funky yet elegant property boasts sweeping staircases, ceiling-suspended seating and Baccarat chandeliers.
Next year will see Hilton Doha open in the third quarter followed in 2011 by InterContinental Doha West.
Jordan
The resort of Aqaba is undergoing a revolution thanks to the Saraya Aqaba development. It combines shopping, dining, and entertainment within an authentically-styled ancient city.
The project includes five hotels, a souk, convention centre, waterpark, marina and a man-made lagoon. The Jumeirah-managed components of the development include three hotels and a Wild Wadi Waterpark. Starwood is the other hotel operator bringing its Luxury Collection and Westin brands to Saraya Aqaba. The launch date is scheduled for 2011.
