Dubai Coaxes Corp. Travel With Lodging Development
Dubai's business and political leaders are continuing the expansion of a city-state that, they predict, within five years will be home to more quality hotel rooms than New York City.
"We have 32,000 rooms and occupancies, even in August, are 90 percent and greater," said Eyad Ali Abdul Rahman, spokesperson for the Dubai department of tourism and commerce marketing.
One problem confronting Dubai was that a growing number of convention planners "want to meet here, but are held back by our lack of available hotel space. That's why we expect more than 17,000 new rooms to be available within three years, with 70,000 likely not long after 2010," the spokesperson said.
Other projected efforts include a new airport and an elevated rail system, similar to Bangkok's Skytrain. Both cities share a need to relieve ever-more-congested car traffic.
Pacing recent Dubai hotel development is the August debut of the 225-room Park Hyatt Dubai, a waterfront retreat adjacent to the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club. This opening means Hyatt, for the first time, has one of each of its brands—including a Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regency—operating in one city.
Park Hyatt assets include 35 suites, six restaurants, five meeting rooms including a 9,000-sq.-ft. ballroom, and extensive spa facilities.
The Shangri-La Hotel, meanwhile, has installed wireless connectivity throughout the property.
The state-owned Jumeirah hotel company has added a 115-unit desert resort, called Bab al Shams, less than one hour's drive from downtown Dubai. The interiors of the nine-month-old property, consisting of 16 low-rise buildings, resemble a traditional Arab home. Cushion-bedecked rooms are stuffed with art and artifacts, including baskets and saddlebags, a desk lamp in the shape of a boot, and kilim rugs. Bab al Shams features bathrooms with "rainforest" showers and a fully equipped business center.
Its Al Forsan restaurant offers Western and Middle Eastern choices. After sundown, the nearby, open-air Al Hadheerah Desert Restaurant presents a buffet, featuring traditional ethnic cuisine, as well as live-cooking stations that feature wood-fired ovens, spit roasts and Arabic bread ovens.
Nearer to the city, Jumeirah choices include Madinat Jumeirah, a beachfront resort including two boutique hotels, extensive conference facilities, and its own, air-cooled "souk" or marketplace.
Adjacent is the 202-room, all-suite luxury Burj Al Arab, with over-the–top prices, security and, depending on your taste, either glamorous or ostentatious interior design. Its "sail" is one of Dubai's most familiar landmarks.
Closest to Dubai's banks and offices is Jumeirah's Emirates Towers. It features two equilateral triangles: a 1,150-ft. office tower and a 1,000-ft., 400-bedroom hotel tower joined by a central podium, containing a shopping center with covered car park.
Among the more intriguing new future Dubai hotels is the Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates. Opening next spring, the 415-room property will include 50 duplex ski chalets with clear views of what are promised to be the world's longest indoor ski slopes. Other views will focus on the Persian Gulf.
Other properties soon to bow include the 342-room Al Habeoor Resort, and the Grosvenor House featuring 218 rooms and suites and 206 apartments. By the end of 2006, the first of a planned 20 Holiday Inn Express properties will open for business.