Kempinski to open Bahrain luxury hotel

Kempinski will open a huge hotel in Bahrain this September as the kingdom is recovering from months of unrest.

The Kempinski hotel being built in Bahrain is very similar in look and feel to the one at the Mall of the Emirates, above.

Kempinski will open a huge hotel in Bahrain in September as the country struggles to restore order after months of unrest.

The property, which is more than two years behind schedule, has been developed by Majid Al Futtaim Group, the developer behind Dubai's Mall of the Emirates.

"In terms of the look and feel of the building [the Kempinski hotel] it's very, very similar to Mall of the Emirates," said Avsar Koc, Kempinski's regional director of sales for the Middle East.

The 460-room luxury hotel is connected to Bahrain City Centre, the country's largest mall.

"Instead of the Ski Dubai we have in Mall of the Emirates, the property is adjacent to an indoor waterpark, which is the largest in the region," Mr Koc said.

Bahrain's tourism industry has been hit hard by the country's unrest. The postponement of the Formula One Grand Prix, originally scheduled for last month, meant hoteliers missed out on the year's single biggest event for the industry, with the race generating about US$600 million (Dh2.2 billion) for the economy. Business travel to Bahrain has also suffered.

In February, a luxury Sofitel property opened in Bahrain.

In a report, the property adviser CB Richard Ellis said occupancy levels of Bahrain's hotels had fallen to between 5 and 10 per cent.

"It is hoped that this will be just a temporary setback, but several hotels previously rushing to meet the Formula One opening deadline in March have put back their formal openings until after the summer period," according to the report. "Retail malls have also been quiet."

Mr Koc said that the unrest had delayed the opening by "probably a few months".

"We always said second or third quarter," he said. "We've been waiting to enter the Bahrain opening for a long time, so it's very important for us to be there."

He said the development had suffered construction delays.

Kempinski is expecting about 40 per cent of its guests to come from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain's main source of tourists.

Meanwhile, the operator says it is planning to open its Kempinski Hotel & Residencesin Palm Jumeirah on July 1.

The property is next door to an unfinished Kempinski hotel being developed by EPG, which is on hold. Mr Koc said that because of this, the company had opted to rent out the residences on a short-term basis. The original plan was that they would be for mid and long-term rentals.

The 244 residences that are part of the hotel have already been sold.

"The people who have purchased the units have given them to Kempinski to manage it," Mr Koc said. "There are a few partners who have decided to live in the residences. There are already a few tenants in-house. All our efforts now in terms of making that property successful are to market it as leisure beach resorts."

Kempinski has three hotels under development in Saudi Arabia, which are expected to open next year and in 2013, and one property in Muscat being built as part of The Wave development.