04 May 2006

Abu Dhabi and Dubai: Abu Dhabi will get the Middle East's first resort, spa and residences to be operated by Angsana Resorts & Spa, an affiliate brand of Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts chain, officials announced yesterday.

The properties will be part of a $110 million eco-spa resort which will transform 140,000 square metres of land in the capital's Eastern Mangroves district and which will be operational within three years.

DTIC's CEO Lee Tabler told Gulf News, "There will be no negative environmental impact whatsoever. The work will be outside the mangrove area, the foundations will not affect tidal flow and the rooms will be wooden and on stilted wooden walkways.

Announcing the project at ATM, he said: "Final design and construction will be carried out with sensitivity to the eco-balance of the natural mangroves of the district."

The site, which is currently accessible only by boat and will be linked to Abu Dhabi city by a new bridge, involves a one-year design phase before two years of construction."

The Angsana properties in Abu Dhabi will have three major components a five-star resort and spa with around 100 rooms, a 50-berth marina and 18 stilted water villas. There would also be 100 luxury apartments, which will make up the Angsana Residences and be serviced by the main resort.

He said Abu Dhabi's rulers wanted tourists to recognise the country as an environmentally friendly destination.

"The only way you can have tourists enjoying this environment is to get people close to it, not on top of it," he said.

The entire development will be designed and constructed with an eco-feel with elevated wooden trails throughout.

"These trails will give guests access to the magnificence of the Eastern Mangroves and its abundance of aquatic and bird life," said Tabler.

"The resort will be a haven of rest not just for tourists to the capital but to the many business executives who visit the city."

Concept design of the resort will be carried out in conjunction with Banyan Tree's Architrave design services.

"This close working relationship will deliver a resort totally in keeping with Angsana's maxim of living life and savouring time as it passes inexorably," said Bernold Schroeder, Senior Vice-President and Managing Director, Hotel Operations, Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts.

"Abu Dhabi is a welcome addition to our expanding but highly selective destination portfolio and we are committed to assist in the building of its inbound tourism base through the active promotion and cross selling of the UAE capital through our growing network."

Angsana Resorts & Spa is a member of Small Luxury Hotels Of The World and of the Leading Hotels Of The World.

New hotels: TDIC to play key role in boosting tourism

The Angsana properties and the recently announced Saadyat Island project in Abu Dhabi are the first of a growing portfolio of projects which will fall under TDIC's remit that will play key roles in delivering on Abu Dhabi's international tourism ambitions.

Abu Dhabi is planning to add 17,000 hotel rooms in a bid to increase tourism from almost a million in 2004 to more than three million by 2015. The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority has approved investment packages for 4,000 new rooms in the next three years.

By Stanley Carvalho and Robert Ditcham

Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.