Ossis to develop and own the 323-room property
Ossis Property Developers, the owner-developer of the $1 billion luxurious Amwaj Islands project, yesterday signed an agreement with Marriott International to manage a brandnew BD45 million, 323-room beachfront Renaissance Hotel to be built on the island next to Bahrain International Airport (BIA). The unique Renaissance property, the tallest hotel in Bahrain with 20 storeys and all rooms with a sea view, will be 100 per cent owned by Ossis Properties, Bahrain.
The agreement was signed by Ossis Property Chairman, Saud Kanoo, and Kevin P. Kearney, executive vice-president, Marriott International and Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, at the Amwaj Islands site. Present were Jameel A. Al Matrook, Ossis Properties managing director; Ossis Properties project director Karim M. Shamma, Anton Najjar, Marriott area vice-president, Middle East and Africa, and top executives from the hotel and the owner-developer.
Al Matrook told a Press conference that 95 per cent of the work on the project has already been completed, Ossis Properties has so far invested BD300 million with a projection of BD600 million in the next 10 years in various phases. He added: "Major projects, such as a 110,000-square-metre shopping mall and a school with capacity of 3,000 students will give a new dimension to the project."
The new Renaissance Amwaj Islands Hotel will be located on a series of manmade islands, reclaimed off the northern coast of Muharraq Island, approximately 5 kilometres from BIA, with easy access to central Manama. The property will be part of a 3 million-square-metre, multipurpose development consisting of residential apartments and villas, offices, a large waterfront shopping mall, an entertainment isle, additional hotels, serviced apartment buildings and a 140-berth, 240-metre-diameter circular marina. The hotel is scheduled to open in 2008 as part of the project's second phase.
The marina, shopping mall, entertainment and commercial centres and schools are also scheduled to open in 2008. When completed, the hotel will have 323 sea-facing rooms on seven floors, five restaurants and lounges and a 1,500-square-metre conference centre.
The architect and interior designer of the project is the international firm of Messieurs Davenport Campbell.
With offices established in Bahrain, the firm has designed and integrated the hotel to maximise its waterfront and marina location, enabling dramatic views that will be captured throughout the hotel interiors.
Managing director, Davenport Campbell, Louis Taurian, said: "Working closely with the developer and owner, Ossis Property Developers, and the manager, Marriott International, we have designed a distinctive signature hotel property for both the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Renaissance Hotel brand." President and managing director of international lodging at Marriott International, Ed Fuller, said: "The Amwaj Islands project is magnificent in scope and scale, and we fully expect the hotel to become our flagship Renaissance property in the Middle East."
© Bahrain Tribune 2005
