Le Bristol Abu Dhabi to open H2 2013

The Oetker Collection’s first hotel in the Middle East, Le Bristol Abu Dhabi, is scheduled to open in the second half of 2013.

Being developed by National Corporation for Tourism & Hotels (NCTH), Le Bristol Abu Dhabi is inspired by Le Bristol Paris, one of five hotels in The Oetker Collection portfolio.

The Oetker Collection senior vice president development Middle East and Africa Samir Daqqaq said a relationship had been formed with the owning company when the chairman of NCTH, HE Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, visited Le Bristol Paris.

“HE came and stayed in our hotel Le Bristol and said ‘this is what I want’. They wanted to replicate that kind of luxury,” said Daqqaq.

“We believe that this kind of luxury has not been in this part of the world [before],” he asserted, describing The Oetker Collection’s approach to luxury as “sublime and divine” rather than “ostentatious”.

Daqqaq added: “In Dubai and the Gulf we’ve got so many of those luxury hotels but they lack service, the product is good but I think we lack the consistent service and the service we really believe should fit this kind of luxury that we talk about”.

The Oetker Collection opened its first hotel outside of Europe — The Palais Namaskar — in Marrakech, Morocco in April 2012.

The group is focused primarily on expansion in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.