Dubai is now home to six of the world’s seven tallest hotels as rising room rates encourage developers to restart stalled projects and reach for the sky.
More than four years after a property crash caused hospitality projects across the city to grind to a halt, cranes are appearing on hotel construction sites once more while architects and consultants report rising numbers of requests for proposals from clients.
“We have been asked to pitch for a number of projects,” said Stephen Flanagan, the director of professional services at Knight Frank, a global property consultancy.
“We’re getting back to 2007 and 2008 levels of activity which is very positive.”
The JW Marriott Marquis, which is preparing for its official launch this week, tops the list of the world’s tallest hotels at 355 metres.
It just pips Rose Rayhaan by Rotana to the top slot on the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat list of the world’s tallest hotels. The Burj Al Arab is in third position, followed by Emirates Tower Two, which claims fourth spot.
The next Dubai hotel to make it onto the top 10 list is the JAL Tower, which at 269 metres is the world's seventh tallest hotel.
Architects who thought the Burj Khalifa was the high watermark of the emirate's appetite for tall buildings are now reporting an increase in design requests.
"Tall buildings are a reflection of the ego," said Ashok Korgaonkar, the managing partner of Archgroup Consultants, which led the design of the Marriott Marquis and has worked on several other hotel projects. "The second benefit is the selling prices they command and the panoramic views that they offer."
scronin@thenational.ae
