First impressions
“It’s amazing when our corporate people come in they go ‘wow’,” says McCarthy. Both properties are linked to the mall, with the lobby on the third floor.

The five-star Al Ghurair Rayhaan by Rotana Dubai will feature 428 rooms and suites while Al Ghurair Arjaan by Rotana Dubai comprises 192 hotel apartments.

The hotel and hotel apartment complex, which will not serve alcohol, will feature four food and beverage venues including Liwan, an all-day dining restaurant; signature Persian restaurant Shayan; Buzz Deli Café on the mall level, and Yasmine Lounge in the lobby.

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“One thing you’ll have noticed is the hotel is extremely modern and contemporary. One of the things we have here is a fantastic all-day dining which is full of live action stations, it’s going to be more than 200 seats, plus a very big lounge and shisha terrace so that’s the main dining outlet,” says director of F&B Weller.

“We have our signature Persian restaurant but it’s not an old-fashioned Persian outlet people are used to in Dubai. It’s got a contemporary design, very modern and minimalistic, it’s beautiful.” Executive chef Joachim Textor adds that Iranian employees have been recruited for the authentic restaurant.

“And we have Buzz, a daily café where we can offer sandwiches and sophisticated small meals in the daytime.

Because we’re a non-alcohol property we put an emphasis on our non-alcoholic beverages so we have very modern creations on the juices side, plus health and wellness teas and fruit smoothies, blending spices and herbs. We want to stand out from the typical restaurants offered in the mall,” continues Weller.

“Then of course we have the poolside bars, room service, the meeting rooms. The entire lobby lounge is surrounded by a copper infinity pool — not the typical couple of upholsteries — it’s more of an oasis. There’s going to be a big difference as you walk from the mall into the tasteful lobby lounge,” continues Weller.

The four main outlets will be shared between Rayhaan and Arjaan and McCarthy estimates revenue from F&B to make up around a quarter of the hotel’s total revenue.
“We’re 620 rooms so that will be the great majority. There’s spa in there too which adds 3-4% of the revenue,” explains McCarthy.

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