Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts continues to grow. On the heels of the company’s Downtown New York debut, it has announced more details for the upcoming Four Seasons hotel in Kuwait City.
The result of a partnership with Alshaya, the Kuwait-based retail franchise operator, the Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya will open in early 2017 as part of Alshaya’s new Burj Alshaya mixed-use development. The 284-room Four Seasons Hotel will be located in the 1.5-million-square-foot Burj Alshaya’s 22-story Eastern Tower.
The deal was originally announced more than a year ago. “Entering the market of Kuwait is a logical step for us following our recent openings in Dubai and Bahrain,” Christian Clerc, president, hotel operations - Europe, Middle East and Africa, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, said at the time. “The Burj Alshaya development is destined to become an exciting new landmark for the city.”
“Kuwait City is one of the most important commercial centers in the Gulf States, attracting regional and international business travelers, and a natural choice for Four Seasons as we continue to extend our presence across the Middle East,” J. Allen Smith, president and CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, said in a statement. “We are excited to partner with Alshaya and mark our entry into Kuwait as part of the Burj Alshaya complex.”
The 43-story Western Tower, set to open in 2018, will provide a new corporate headquarters for the Alshaya group of companies, including offices for employees of its retail franchise business - which operates 70 international retail brands in more than 3,000 stores across the Middle East, North Africa, Russia, Turkey and Europe, and which employs more than 46,000 people.
“The creation of this combined hotel-and-office development is a reflection of Alshaya’s continued investment in its home market of Kuwait,” Mohammed Alshaya, executive chairman of Alshaya, said. “We are delighted to be bringing the acclaimed Four Seasons brand to Kuwait, as well as creating a world-class office environment for our employees that will support our continued growth and expansion. We are proud to contribute to Kuwait’s future in a number of ways, not only through our real estate investment in this iconic development, but also through our commitment to growing Alshaya’s private sector and through the creation of employment opportunities for Kuwaitis.”
Kuwait has seen substantial hotel investment over the last few years, and just two months ago, Hilton Worldwide and Al-Rai Real Estate—owned by Mabanee—announced plans to open a development that will include Kuwait's first Conrad Hotel and Hilton Garden Inn in early 2019. The development forms part of an expansion project that will see almost $1 billion devoted toward improving The Avenues Mall in Kuwait City.