Ayla banking on 'shop and stay' at Bawadi hotel

The general manager of the upcoming Ayla Bawadi Hotel is banking on a strong flow of tourists looking to ‘shop and stay’ at the Al Ain property.

The hotel, which will have 90 rooms and 15 one-bedroom suites, is located next to Bawadi Mall, which has more than 150 shops.

Ayla has confirmed that, with some work on the hotel still ongoing, its opening has now been pushed back until after Ramadan. It had been due to open this month, after previous delays.

Speaking to HotelierMiddleEast.com at the recent Arabian Travel Market, general manager Mohamed Soussan explained the target market for the hotel.

“Our main target market is GCC people, mainly Emiratis. But if you look internationally, we are looking at our neighbourhood, including Oman. The concept is very simple: shop and stay.

“You stay in the hotel and at the same time you shop. This is what we are trying to develop as a vision for our hotel.”

When it opens, the hotel will have one all-day dining concept, a tea lounge, a gym with Jacuzzi and a rooftop swimming pool. It will also have a business centre and meeting rooms.

While around 65% of guests are expected to be leisure tourists, Soussan is also hoping for a strong base of business visitors to the hotel.

“We are expecting corporate business as well because in the area there is a lot of commercial and trading and there is a couple of factories. So there are a lot of companies which might help us to fill up the hotel.”

Soussan also detailed how the company’s first property, Ayla Hotel, had been performing well, with 93.5% occupancy rate for the year-to-date, building on the 85% it registered in 2013.

The company owns and operates its hotels and is set to add a third property to its portfolio with the opening of Ayla Grand by the end of the year. It will be a five-star property with 220 rooms.