Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing has approved the construction of the Sabah Rotana. RSG Properties and Rotana expect their upcoming hotel in Dubai will open in the second quarter of 2020.
RSG and Rotana teamed up in May 2017 to develop the 54-story property in Sufouh Gardens. Rotana agreed to manage the 553-room hotel and serviced apartments near the Burj Khalifa, Palm Jumeirah, Jebel Ali Central and UAE Exchange Metro Station.
The new property is included in Rotana's Dubai pipeline of eight new hotels scheduled to open by 2020. The hotel group is investing more than $850 million in the project to increase Rotana's inventory in the emirate by 2,668 rooms to 6,151. This will expand Rotana's portfolio in Dubai to 21 hotels as it aims to meet Dubai's goal to host 25 million visitors for the Dubai Expo 2020. "The emirate is estimated to require an additional 45,000 hotel rooms to meet anticipated demand during the six-month-long exhibition. Rotana, through its aggressive focus on building up its hospitality portfolio in Dubai, is looking to cater to this demand by bringing a diverse mix of hotel projects to life in time for the event," Omer Kaddouri, president & CEO of Rotana, said in a statement.
The next hotel slated to open in Dubai is the Al Jaddaf Rotana. Rotana will develop the new 338-room hotel in Dubai's cultural village Al Jaddaf ahead of its scheduled launch in Q4 2018.
Another eight hotels are scheduled to open this year across the MENA, increasing Rotana's current portfolio in the region of more than 100 properties. Three new hotels are set to open in Saudi Arabia in early 2018 under Rotana's Centro brand in Riyadh, Al Khobar and Jeddah. The Centro Olaya, Centro Corniche and Centro Salama will add 592 guestrooms to the kingdom's current stock.
Two new hotels in Istanbul, Turkey are also scheduled to open this quarter under the Centro and Arjaan brands. The Centro WestSide Istanbul will have 152 guestrooms in Istanbul's Günesli neighborhood with the 153-room WestSide Arjaan Istanbul by Rotana serviced apartments connected to it.
The Johari Rotana, Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania will be Rotana's first property in East Africa. The new hotel in the capital city will have 256 guestrooms and suites when it opens this quarter.
The 257-room Imam Reza Ryahaan by Rotana in Mashhad will be Rotana's first property in Iran when it opens in Q3 2018. The Slemani Rotana in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq will open during the same period with 240 guestrooms and suites.