Accor and Hiranandani Group to develop ibis Styles hotel in Dubai’s Business Bay

The new budget hotel will be the fifth Accor property under development in Dubai.

The French hotel operator Accor and Indian real estate developer Hiranandani Group are developing a budget hotel in Dubai’s Business Bay.

The ibis Styles hotel is expected to be ready in the middle of 2016. It will be owned by Hiranandani. It declined to disclose the cost of the project.

It will have 350 rooms, with two restaurants and three meeting rooms. Located close to an under-construction bridge between Business Bay and Dubai Downtown, it will target both leisure and corporate travellers.

The new hotel will be the fifth Accor property under development in Dubai. The group manages 15 in the emirate.

The Mumbai-based Hiranandani Group, which owns a three-star and a five-star hotel in India’s financial hub Mumbai, is known as a residential developer. It also has interests in corporate real estate, healthcare and education sectors.

A joint venture between Hiranandani and Dubai-based ETA Star Properties, Hircon International was behind the development of 23 Marina, a residential highrise in Dubai Marina. The Dubai property would mark its first foray into the hotels sector outside India.

Attractiveness of Dubai’s hotel scene is apparent from the figures from research companies.

During the first half of the year, occupancy rates at the emirate’s hotels were 84.6 per cent, down from 85.2 per cent last year, and average room rates at US$353.12, up from $334.20 last year, the highest in the Arabian Gulf region, according to TRI Hospitality Consulting Middle East.

The hotels in the emirate were also one of the most profitable in the region with a gross operating profit per available room at $258.10, up from $240.59 during the first six months of last year.

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