Category Archives: Hotels

Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton’s midscale brand, and RAK National Hotels LLC opened Hilton Garden Inn Ras Al Khaimah, marking the brand’s entry into the northern most Emirate of the United Arab Emirates. The hotel joins five other Hilton properties operating in the Emirate and 22 across the UAE. Located in the heart of the Al Nakheel area, just steps from two major shopping malls and minutes from the souks and historical sites of the old city, Hilton Garden Inn Ras Al Khaimah features 240 modern and comfortable guest rooms, including 10 family rooms and eight suites, with sweeping city, creek and garden views. Commenting on the opening, HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Chairman of RAKHH and RAKNH, said: “Hilton Garden Inn Ras Al Khaimah is a very strategic asset within our portfolio of hotels. It presents a significant opportunity for us to satisfy the needs of travellers who visit Ras Al Khaimah from all around the world. We have seen a shift in recent years towards the mid-market segment, which goes in hand with the growing importance of the emerging modern traveller. The hotel therefore, is the right choice for us and for Ras Al Khaimah. We look forward to seeing it grow and succeed.” Hilton Garden Inn Ras Al Khaimah guests will be treated to numerous amenities and services, including complimentary Wi-Fi throughout the property, a 24-hour business center, two tennis courts and a state-of-the-art fitness center open all day. The property also offers an outdoor pool, a separate shaded pool for children, and access to the beach facilities at Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Resort & Spa via complimentary shuttle. For conferences and other events, …

A joint venture between Nakheel and Spanish hospitality group–RIU Hotels & Resorts–has moved a step closer with the release of a construction tender for an 800-room, beachfront resort and water park at Deira Islands. With an investment value of AED670 million, the resort – RIU’s first in the Middle East and one of the biggest in Dubai in terms of hotel rooms – is set for delivery in Q4 2019. The RIU resort at Deira Islands will bring a new hospitality concept to Dubai, offering mid-scale, family-orientated, all-inclusive beachfront accommodation. Located at a prime beachfront plot at Nakheel’s new, 15.3 sq km Deira Islands coastal city, the resort will feature seven F&B outlets, three swimming pools, a fitness complex, children’s club and water park. Several new attractions, including Deira Mall, Deira Islands Night Souk and Deira Boulevard, are nearby. The joint venture is one of 18 projects in Nakheel’s AED5 billion hospitality expansion programme, which will deliver 5,800 new hotel rooms and apartments across Dubai in line with the Government of Dubai’s tourism vision for 2021. RIU Hotels & Resorts has almost 100 hotels, with around 45,000 rooms between them, in 19 countries. Together, these welcome over four million guests a year and provide jobs for nearly 27,000 people. RIU is one of the most popular hotel chains in the Caribbean and the second largest in Spain in terms of revenue. Nakheel has already awarded over AED7 billion worth of contracts at Deira Islands, with more on the way. The waterfront city, which is expected to have a population of 250,000 and to create 80,000 jobs, will add 40 km of coastline, including 21km of beach, to Dubai.

UAE-based RSG International has signed a management agreement with Rotana for a new 4-star hotel in Dubai, at a prime location on Sheikh Zayed Road, Jebel Ali Central. The project marks RSG International’s second collaboration with Rotana this year, following the launch of the Sabah Rotana hotel in Dubai in March 2017, and gives a further boost to the company’s plans to augment its hospitality portfolio in the emirate ahead of Expo 2020. Located on Sheikh Zayed Road, the 54-storey, 533-room five star Sabah Rotana will include 210 spacious, well-appointed rooms in addition to 10 executive suites and 2 ultra-luxurious presidential suites. The hotel apartments meanwhile will include 260 one-bedroom and 52 two-bedroom apartments. Sabah Rotana will also feature an impressive array of food and beverage venues and world-class business and recreational facilities.

Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya will open doors for travellers on September 1, 2017.  Located in one of the city’s most architecturally striking buildings in the heart of its government and business areas, the hotel will welcome international business travellers, weekend getaways and local clientele with its chic dining options and extensive event space. The hotel boasts 284 guest rooms and suites, five restaurant and lounge concepts, the city’s most elegant and well-equipped event spaces, and numerous leisure facilities, including a two-story spa and fitness centre, and indoor and outdoor pools. To welcome its first guests, Four Seasons has announced a special introductory offer featuring 20 per cent savings on the regular room rate, as well as an attractive Bed and Breakfast package “It’s an exciting time as we prepare to introduce Four Seasons signature luxury and personalised service to Kuwait for the first time,” says Didier Jardin, General Manager.

Standard Chartered and Hotels.com launched a three-year global strategic alliance that offers Standard Chartered credit cardholders in five countries up to 12% off on hotel bookings around the world on Hotels.com. The alliance will cover the UAE, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. Hotels.com offers hundreds of thousands of properties in more than 200 countries. Neil Daswani, Global Head of Corporate Partnerships, Retail Banking, at Standard Chartered said: “Our clients like to travel well and travel smart – this partnership gives them access to an enormous number of properties and value-for-money deals with a recognised global travel leader.” Abhiram Chowdhry, Vice President, Asia Pacific and Latin America for Hotels.com brand said: “With its well-established position as a premium bank across many Asia Pacific markets, Standard Chartered has a huge base of clients with a strong interest in travel. Our goal is to help streamline their travel planning by enabling the best travel booking experience, including access to useful travel information, great offers and a wide variety of lodging and accommodation options.”

After 17 years in operation in the UAE and India, FLORA HOSPITALITY in partnership with a world renowned branding agency, is updating its image, as well as redefining its brand quality tiers in preparation for the next chapter of its evolution and expansion. In addition to its existing 11 properties in operation across Dubai, Sharjah and India, FLORA HOSPITALITY’s new pipeline includes four new properties in prestigious locations around Dubai and with a total investment of more than AED 970 million, this will double Flora Hospitality’s inventory from a 1,415 bedroom inventory to 3,000 bedrooms by the year 2020.

Action Hotels, developer and asset manager of branded three- and four-star hotels in the Middle East and Australia, has selected Novotel as the brand partner for its new hotel, Novotel Melbourne South Wharf located at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The property marks Action Hotel’s fourth hotel in Australia and the third in Melbourne. It is pegged to open Q1 2018 with 347 rooms, 30 more rooms than originally announced, making it the second largest hotel in Action’s portfolio. Action’s total operating rooms and development pipeline now stands as 3,214 rooms. Action has built a long-term strategic relationship with AccorHotels and the Novotel Melbourne South Wharf is the 13th hotel together – nine are operating – and it is the second Novotel-branded hotel for Action. Novotel is one of AccorHotels’ midscale brands, comprising 480 hotels and resorts across 59 countries. Sheikh Mubarak A. M. Al Sabah, Founder and Chairman of Action Hotels said he is delighted to be partnering with AccorHotels once again. “The Novotel Melbourne South Wharf, which is ideally located to service the largest convention centre in the Southern hemisphere. We are very excited about this addition to our Australian portfolio and the potential of this hotel which will offer premium midscale accommodation with best-in-class customer service and quality in a highly sought-after business and leisure destination,” he said.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group announced that it will manage a second luxury hotel and branded residences in Dubai which is targeted to open in late 2020. The hotel, located in downtown Dubai, will complement Mandarin Oriental Jumeira Beach, Dubai, the group’s previously announced urban resort which is currently under construction on the beachfront and due to open in the fourth quarter of 2018. Both hotels are owned and developed by wasl Asset Management Group. The hotel will be the anchor of a 63-storey, mixed-use building, to be known as wasl Tower, located on Sheikh Zayed Road. The property will have direct access to the area’s business and leisure attractions, including Dubai Opera, Burj Park and Dubai Mall. The downtown Mandarin Oriental hotel will feature 257 spacious and contemporary guestrooms, suites and serviced apartments, which will be located on floors 16 to 38 of the tower, providing outstanding views over downtown Dubai and the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. The accommodation will be designed to reflect local culture, with features inspired by Mandarin Oriental’s Asian heritage. The Group will also manage 144 Residences at Mandarin Oriental, located on the tower’s upper floors, which will provide some of the most luxurious private homes in the city. The Residences will have their own private access, with dedicated facilities including a Resident’s Lounge, while also benefiting from Mandarin Oriental’s legendary service and direct access to the hotel.

Gloria Hotel Dubai has introduced online check-in facilities and several other tablet delivered services. Guests at Gloria hotels can now check in online prior to the arrival via the links they receive in the booking confirmation email and it will also be available in the Gloria Mobile App which will be launched this month (May). The guests can arrive at the hotel and simply collect their room key from a priority check in desk exclusively reserved for online check- ins similar to that in airlines. The new mobile App to be launched have used technology to push the business boundaries to ensure innovation and efficiency across the hotel and meeting the evolving needs of the guests.  This will further enable the guests the ability to make choices and instantly book available rooms at great prices to ease the booking process and further boost reservations. Area Manager Freddy Farid stated, “we are hoping to showcase Gloria hotels and Resorts in a multitude of different ways and lead the different markets to experience comfort living – a Gloria concept of stay in all properties. The use of digital marketing to expand our brand communication and it has become an effective tool over time. Today’s travellers are constantly connected but they have time constraints. They want information instantly and they value services that save time, we have introduced a number of ways that allow our guests to use smart devices to speed up the decision making and booking process as well as cutting down on administrative tasks related to registration and payments thus ensuring their overall experience.”  

Duetto, a hotel optimization technology provider, announced that it will implement its cloud-based Revenue Strategy application, GameChanger, and Revenue Intelligence solution, ScoreBoard, for First Central Hotel Suites, located in the heart of Dubai. Under the agreement, Duetto will provide the property with unprecedented market intelligence, the benefits of Open Pricing, and the ability to fully optimise revenue and easily analyse property performance. The partnership is Duetto’s first in the vibrant Dubai hospitality market and in the Middle East. CEO Patrick Bosworth of Duetto said, “We are very happy to announce this partnership with First Central Hotel Suites. Our GameChanger application will help First Central scale quickly by implementing a Revenue Strategy with optimal pricing and distribution management. ScoreBoard adds the ability to understand property performance and make more efficient operational decisions. We are excited to partner with First Central Hotel Suites, as we continue our expansion in key markets around the world.” By adopting Open Pricing, the core element of Duetto’s GameChanger application, the property will now be able to yield rates more rapidly and with greater flexibility, drawing on web shopping regrets and denials data to better measure price sensitivity and forecast unconstrained demand. Duetto’s recent integration with the Protel Air PMS will help First Central maximize its use of GameChanger, ScoreBoard and the hotel’s full tech stack. Ammar Kanaan, Group General Manager for Central Hotels, and Wael El Behi, First Central Hotel Suites’ general manager, added: “We are pleased to be working with Duetto, which brings an altogether new and innovative approach to Revenue Strategy. We look forward to a great working relationship in the years ahead.”