A joint venture between Dubai developer Nakheel and Spanish hospitality group RIU Hotels & Resorts has released a construction tender for an 800-room, beachfront resort and water park at Deira Islands.
With an investment value of AED670 million ($182.4 million), the resort – RIU’s first in the Middle East and one of the biggest in Dubai in terms of hotel rooms – is set for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2019, Nakheel said in a statement.
The RIU resort at Deira Islands will bring a new hospitality concept to Dubai, offering mid-scale, family-orientated, all-inclusive beachfront accommodation, it added.
Located on a prime beachfront plot at Nakheel’s new 15.3 sq km Deira Islands coastal city, the resort will feature seven F&B outlets, three swimming pools, a fitness complex, children’s club and water park.
The joint venture is one of 18 projects in Nakheel’s AED5 billion hospitality expansion programme, which will deliver 5,800 new hotel rooms and apartments across Dubai in line with the Government of Dubai’s tourism vision for 2021.
RIU Hotels & Resorts has almost 100 hotels, with around 45,000 rooms between them, in 19 countries.
Nakheel said it has already awarded over AED7 billion worth of contracts at Deira Islands, with more on the way. The waterfront city, which is expected to have a population of 250,000 and to create 80,000 jobs, will add 40km of coastline, including 21km of beach, to Dubai.