GTC and Onyx to open Amari Doha on October 1

Four-star hotel brand Amari is scheduled to open in Doha, Qatar on October 1, 2012, marking the Middle Eastern debut of Thailand-based hotel management company Onyx Hospitality.

The 120-room Amari Doha, owned by Gulf Trading and Contracting Company (GTC), is located close to the Msheireb development — formerly known as Dohaland — and 15 minutes from Doha International Airport.

The hotel, which will target the corporate market, will feature a 24-hour restaurant, a cafe with deli and a rooftop lounge. It will also have a business centre, fitness centre, swimming pool and Breeze spa.

Onyx Hopsitality president and chief executive officer Peter Henley said it would be a “very classic, good Amari”.

“The slightly differentiating factor about it is that it will be dry — our first dry hotel,” said Henley.

“That’s what the owner wants and we’re quite comfortable with that. He understands that there’s a certain segment that won’t come to the hotel but there’s also a segment that wouldn’t otherwise do so.

“We were quite keen to do it because I think that will become more and more relevant in the Middle East, or to a segment of that marketplace,” said Henley.

Onyx Hospitality’s entrance to the Middle East is part of a major expansion plan targeting a total of 80 properties by 2018.

Currently, the group has 34 operating hotels and a confirmed pipeline of 11.

“We’re looking at signed contracts to go up to 45 in the next couple of years,” said Henley. “I have a 10 year plan – by 2018 to become a leading Asian hospitality provider.”