Tuesday, Jan 24, 2012
(This story was originally published Monday.)
By Tahani Karrar-Lewsley
Of ZAWYA DOW JONES
DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--United Arab Emirates-based Al Habtoor Group is looking to build luxury hotels in Europe, while closer home it plans to demolish one of Dubai's oldest hotels and replace it with a $1.33 billion super luxury hotel complex, complete with cascading waterfalls and Las Vegas-style dancing girls.
"We are seeking opportunities all the time, if there is opportunity in London or Paris-- these are big capitals that are always busy," Chairman Khalaf Al Habtoor told Zawya Dow Jones in an interview at his office in Dubai's Jumeirah district.
Al Habtoor Group, a privately-held multi-line company with interests in real estate, hotels and resorts among others, owns hotels in the United Arab Emirates--including Habtoor Grand Beach Resort & Spa--and in Lebanon.
Last week, the company announced plans to demolish its long-standing Metropolitan Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai and replace it with the Habtoor Palace complex comprising three hotels, two towers and a plethora of luxurious facilities.
The Habtoor Palace, with 1616 rooms and suites, will cost an estimated $1.33 billion and will be financed by the company exclusively from its revenues, Al Habtoor said.
"We will attach a brand, we are negotiating with a few franchises and that will be announced in a few weeks time but it is an international company," Al Habtoor said, declining to name the companies that are in the running to manage the hotel.
Al Habtoor said his company hoped the new hotel, to be located opposite Safa Park, will become a landmark like Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab.
It will be distinguished by its quality customer service, 1,000-seat Broadway-style theatre, complete with water fountains and a moving stage, and a 400,000 square foot landscaped garden. "This new hotel will be a big complex and serve a lot of people and there will be Las Vegas theatre shows with dancing girls. Of course, we will have dancing girls," Al Habtoor said.
Work on Habtoor Palace will start in April this year and completion is estimated after 40-45 months.
After being hit hard by the global economic downturn, Dubai's hotel sector saw improved performance throughout 2011, according to real estate consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle. Hotel occupancy rates are expected to hold up in 2012 despite approximately 5,800 new rooms being delivered, it said. At the end of 2011, the total hotel supply in Dubai stood at approximately 53,600 rooms and about 2500 rooms were added in 2011 in Dubai.
Major hotel projects expected to come online in 2012 include Al Khor Rayhaan, Doubletree by Hilton Al Barsha, Fairmont The Palm, Jumeirah Creekside Hotel and Movenpick Jumeirah Lake Towers amongst others, according to JLL.
-By Tahani Karrar-Lewsley, Dow Jones Newswires, +9714 446 1698 tahani.karrar@dowjones.com
Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Co.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
24-01-12 0353GMT
