EXCLUSIVE: Wyndham to open third Ramada in Bahrain

Wyndham Hotel Group has revealed that a 140-room Ramada hotel has recently been signed and is expected to open by the third quarter of next year, marking the next stage in the Middle East expansion of the group’s powerhouse brand.

The Ramada Manama City Centre, Bahrain will join Ramada Hotel Bahrain, Ramada Palace Hotel Manama and the Days Hotel Manama, as well as the Wyndham Grand, the group’s upscale brand debuting in Bahrain next year.

Located next to Bahrain City Center Mall, the hotel is to include two food and beverage outlets, comprising one all day dining restaurant and one lebanese restaurant. Other plans for the hotel include a pool, a gym and two meeting rooms. The 140 keys will include superior rooms, deluxe rooms and suites.

Wyndham Hotel Group regional vice president, MEA, Bani Haddad said: “We’re gearing up for the opening of the Wyndham brand in Manama, and a new Ramada in Bahrain. Our priorities really are preparing for these openings we have within the next 12 months in addition to building up our pipeline across the various segments.”

Rui Barros, Wyndham Hotel Group SVP & managing director, Europe, Middle East & Africa, added that expanding the already established Ramada and Wyndham brands would be done in parallel to raising awareness of budget brand Super 8 and Days Inn, as well as long-stay brand Hawthorn Suites, which made its Middle East debut in Dubai in Q4 2013.

Barros commented: “There is definitely an opportunity to expand – we have 15 brands, everything from economy to luxury so that’s one of the competitive advantages that we have so we’ve found that in this particular market there’s an opportunity to introduce economy solutions and extended stay solutions – again it ties to what’s the market demand and do we have a solution to meet that demand.”

The expansion plans, according to Barros, underline a move by Wyndham to increase global awareness of Wyndham’s brands.

A global umbrella marketing campaign that launched earlier last month in North America is aimed at building consumer awareness of Wyndham through its powerhouse brands such as Ramada. It marks the first time the hotel group has invested in a multi-brand television and digital campaign.

There are currently 28 Ramada hotels across the Middle East,  including 10 in the UAE and 10 in Saudi Arabia. In addition to the Ramada Manama City Centre Bahrain, three more Ramada hotels are in the Middle East pipeline, in Makkah, Jeddah and Abu Dhabi.

Wyndham hotel group has 7,500 hotels worldwide and seven of its 15 brands now operate in the Middle East.