The W Hotel at Abu Dhabi's Al Bateen Wharf, which had announced it would open its doors this year, is still four years away, its parent group Starwood said yesterday.
"It is a complex project with residential, office, retail and family spaces," said Guido de Wilde, the senior vice president and regional director of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Middle East in Dubai.
The Abu Dhabi-based Belbadi Enterprises would develop the luxury property.
"Over 95 per cent of our hotels worldwide are owned by investors," said Frits van Paasschen, the chief executive of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. Those include sovereign wealth funds, ultra high net worth individuals and financial institutions.
While Mr de Wilde acknowledged that while there were some market pressures from oversupply, especially in the luxury segment, occupancy rates were holding up in the capital.
The rate was close to 70 per cent, while in Dubai it was 84 per cent. There was an effort from the Government to drive new events into Abu Dhabi along with new conferences, he said. The St Regis Hotel in Abu Dhabi, close to Jumeirah Etihad Towers, would open in August, adding 280 rooms.
W Hotel in Abu Dhabi was now scheduled to open four years down the line, instead of 2013, he said.
There are currently 12 hotels planned for the Emirates, with six in Dubai adding 2,880 rooms. That includes two W Hotels in Dubai - one on Palm Jumeirah, scheduled to open in 2016, and the other on Sheikh Zayed Road in 2017. A Le Méridien would open near Dubai airport in the first quarter of 2014.
"The dynamics of this region is extremely strong," said Mr de Wilde. Even in 2009 and 2010 during the economic downturn, he said, the hotel chain registered 82 per cent occupancy in Dubai.
As a country, the UAE is ranked 28th globally when it comes to competitiveness in the travel and tourism industry in the region, according to the 2013 World Economic Forum Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report.
But there had been some other delays for Starwood, apart from W Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The hotel chain announced in 2007 that a 350-room W Hotel would be built in Dubai. The property, planned for Dubai Festival City was scheduled for 2008.
Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Starwood announced that it would open 50 hotels in the next five years in Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. Of this number, 20 were expected to open by the end of 2015. Starwood currently has 82 hotels in MEA, including 21 in the UAE and 14 in Dubai. The majority are operated under Starwood's Sheraton and Le Méridien brands.
While the hotel chain is increasing its portfolio, two of its luxury-end brands W and Element, are not yet operating in the UAE. Element would debut in the Arabian Gulf with a hotel in Muscat in 2016.
"In the last five years we have doubled our luxury footprint with the Luxury Collection, St Regis and W Hotels," said Mr van Paasschen, referring to the Middle East region. "There is an increasing demand for luxury."
Each of their Middle East guests spends on average US$521 (Dh1,913) per stay, "which is well above our global average", Mr de Wilde said. Starwood has nine brands: St Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Westin, Le Méridien, Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft, and Element.
Belbadi Enterprises has interests in development, construction, project management, joinery, carpentry, information technology, health, environment, energy, oil and gas, fashion, trading and education.
ssahoo@thenational.ae
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Ammar 808:
Maghreb United
Sofyann Ben Youssef
Glitterbeat
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
MATCH INFO
Austria 2
Hinteregger (53'), Schopf (69')
Germany 1
Ozil (11')
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
Kill%20Bill%20Volume%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Quentin%20Tarantino%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Uma%20Thurman%2C%20David%20Carradine%20and%20Michael%20Madsen%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%204.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Jordan cabinet changes
In
- Raed Mozafar Abu Al Saoud, Minister of Water and Irrigation
- Dr Bassam Samir Al Talhouni, Minister of Justice
- Majd Mohamed Shoueikeh, State Minister of Development of Foundation Performance
- Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research
- Falah Abdalla Al Ammoush, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Basma Moussa Ishakat, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Ghazi Monawar Al Zein, Minister of Health
- Ibrahim Sobhi Alshahahede, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Environment
- Dr Mohamed Suleiman Aburamman, Minister of Culture and Minister of Youth
Out
- Dr Adel Issa Al Tawissi, Minister of High Education and Scientific Research
- Hala Noaman “Basiso Lattouf”, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Mahmud Yassin Al Sheyab, Minister of Health
- Yahya Moussa Kasbi, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Nayef Hamidi Al Fayez, Minister of Environment
- Majd Mohamed Shoueika, Minister of Public Sector Development
- Khalid Moussa Al Huneifat, Minister of Agriculture
- Dr Awad Abu Jarad Al Mushakiba, Minister of Justice
- Mounir Moussa Ouwais, Minister of Water and Agriculture
- Dr Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education
- Mokarram Mustafa Al Kaysi, Minister of Youth
- Basma Mohamed Al Nousour, Minister of Culture
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
