British multinational hotels company InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Dubai’s Al-Futtaim have signed an agreement for management of the largest Holiday Inn hotel in the UAE.
The 520-room Holiday Inn Dubai Festival City, a mixed-use waterfront community, is expected to be completed towards end-2017.
The new hotel, the first branded mid-market hotel in the area, will connect directly to Dubai Festival City Mall.
The hotel will also feature an adjoining café and restaurant, a rooftop grill, health club, four meeting rooms and a conference centre with a capacity to seat 200 people.
“This new hotel compliments the existing luxury and upscale offerings at Dubai Festival City perfectly. This signing is pivotal to IHG’s growth plans in the region as there is growing demand for mid-market hotels in the UAE, especially in Dubai,” Pascal Gauvin, chief operating officer, IMEA, IHG, said.
Chris O’Donnell, group director, Al Futtaim Group Real Estate added: “This hotel marks our sixth project with IHG and with our collaboration thus far has resulted in great success; we are confident our continued partnership will be one the enablers of our growth ambition in the Middle East.”
The two companies recently launched an 5,000 square metre arena located on the grounds of Al Badia residential area which can cater for large-scale events with a capacity of up to 5, 000 people.
IHG operates 78 hotels across five of the company’s brands in the Middle East region with a further 26 in the development pipeline.