Jannah Hotels and Resorts, the Abu Dhabi hotel operator and developer, will debut in Dubai later this year and expand operations in Abu Dhabi next year.
The 115-room Jannah Place Dubai Marina is expected to open in November, and the waterfront four-star 213-room resort Al Seef Andalus will open in February next year on the Eastern Ring Road. Both are funded privately.
It is also looking to open another property in Dubai Marina in 2016 with 133 hotel apartments targeted at people travelling alone, branded as Solo.
Both the Dubai Marina properties are owned by the Abu Dhabi-based family business Bin Rubayeh Group, according to Nehme Darwiche, the chief executive of Jannah Hotels and Resorts.
Currently the company manages Eastern Mangroves Suites by Jannah in Abu Dhabi, comprising 88 units.
For Abu Dhabi, the occupancy rate at serviced apartments was at 80 per cent, in the year to April, up from 74 per cent a year earlier. Average rates during this period reached US$124, up from $121, according to Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority.
While the current figures for Dubai were not available, the hotel apartment occupancy rate in the emirate was 82 per cent last year, up 6.5 per cent from 2012, according to Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing.
“Earlier the Abu Dhabi market was oriented mostly towards corporate business and everybody was fishing from the same pond,” said Mr Darwiche. “Now Abu Dhabi has opened up to leisure tourists and in the next three years we would have some nice theme parks, museums, medical tourism with Cleveland Clinic opening and new airport, so we are looking at growth for the next few years.”
Also, while a majority of the supply in the resort segment is in the five-star category, a big bulk of tourists is four-star oriented, according to Mr Darwiche.
“They are not interested in five pools, but whether it is next to the sea, mountains, or shopping malls,” he said.
The Jannah Place brand caters to medium-stay guests for a few weeks, and targets corporate travellers.
Despite the increasing supply of hotel rooms in Dubai, demand continues to give confidence.
“With the announcement of the Mall of the World, we are only going to go forward,” Mr Darwiche said. “It gives confidence to investors that their investment is safe for the next 10 years, and gives confidence to people interested in the long term. During the Eid break, try finding a room on the Palm or the Jumeirah Beach Residence. It’s mission impossible.”
The two-year-old company plans to focus on expanding in the UAE for the next three years.
By 2018, it expects to have a 200-room property in Fujairah and is in the process of leasing a plot of land on the beach there. It is also in talks with developers in Oman for at least two properties in that country.
The company is also looking to develop a brand called Jeunesse, which would be housed in trendy, restored historic buildings.
“We are looking at Lebanon and Morocco for this,” Mr Darwiche said. “But the options are limited.”
The company is also building a prototype of an “intelligent room” that it will debut at Al Seef Andalus and Eastern Mangroves Suites by Jannah in March next year. The system can be activated by voice from anywhere in the room, and can ask for services such as housekeeping or local information.
The company is in the process of registering its patent.
“It’s great to have a butler such as at Jannah but you don’t have that at select service brands,” Mr Darwiche said. “It will be available in three languages and in different accents and even different Arabic dialects.”
The technology has been in development in partnership with an American company for more than a year in the UAE.
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