Conrad Dubai GM Mario Ferraro Conrad Dubai GM Mario Ferraro

Conrad Dubai, the first luxury Conrad-branded property from Hilton Worldwide planned for the GCC, is scheduled to open on December 12, 2012, the general manager Mario Ferraro told Hotelier Middle East.

The 552-room hotel, which is located on Sheikh Zayed Road next to the 10-year-old Fairmont Dubai, will target a mix of business and leisure clientele as well as contribute to the growth of the emirate’s appeal as a MICE destination, said Ferraro.

Speaking at a general managers’ roundtable, he said: “We’re targeting the end of Q4. Right now the building is about 80% complete, back of house is completely done. The contractor is starting to work on the finishings, within the next two weeks we will have air conditioning on site, this will be the stage where we start to bring in the furniture.

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“The furniture is already here in Dubai and we expect complete handover including all the certifications from the local authorities approximately end of August, middle of September. From that stage onwards we’ll do the fit out, the training, the opening simulation — the objective is to open 12 December,” Ferraro revealed.

He said the aim was for Conrad Dubai to become “an ambassador of our brand in the region”.

“We have a large conference centre with two ballrooms [of] 1500m², [and] 1000m², 30 meeting rooms, a large collection of F&B outlets, a unique pool deck of 5500m² on the seventh floor and innovative design,” said Ferraro.

The hotel, originally expected to open in 2011, is owned by PPM, Private Property Management, Abu Dhabi.

Please see the July issue of Hotelier Middle East for a full report from the roundtable.