The Al Habtoor Group has unveiled three new projects worth AED 2.01 billion (US $547mn), including a polo resort and club, featuring a five-star hotel, as well as a four-star hotel and a residential complex.
The Metropolitan Sheikh Zayed Road will be a four-star boutique hotel with 334 rooms and suites, scheduled for completion in 2016.
A previous Metropolitan-branded hotel was demolished in 2012 to make way for the US $1.3 billion Starwood hotel complex as part of the Habtoor City development.
Commenting on the new Metropolitan, the group’s chairman Khalaf Ahmed Al Habtoor said, “We are pleased to bring back an old favourite. We started out in the hotel business in 1979 with the Metropolitan Hotel, so it is fitting as we approach our 45th anniversary that we should revive an established brand that is so much part of our heritage. I feel sure that the new Metropolitan will enjoy the same success as the original one and become embedded in the hearts of Dubai’s residents and visitors alike.”
The hotel will include a lobby café, an outdoor courtyard café, and all day dining restaurant, five meeting rooms, a business centre, and rooftop swimming pool.
The hotel will also see the revival of expat favourites Don Corleone Italian Restaurant, and the Red Lion. Al Habtoor added: When we closed the Metropolitan, which was our first hotel in Dubai, I promised our regular customers that I would one day revive the Red Lion. Today, I am delivery on that promise. I am not nostalgic, but I am conscious of what our customers want, and I am confident that this new hotel will become a new destination in Dubai.”
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A second hospitality project – St. Regis Al Habtoor Polo Resort & Club – is due for completion in 2017 and will include a 136-key five-star hotel in addition to 162 luxury bungalows. The project will be designed by British architects WS Atkins & Partners, and will feature a polo club, polo academy, and a riding school with 500 stables.
The six million square foot development will be located adjacent to Emirates Road and the Dubai-Al Ain Road, and close to attraction at Dubailand.
Al Habtoor Group vice chairman and CEO Mohammed Al Habtoor said: “The new Al Habtoor Polo Resort & Club will be a wonderful addition to the range of world class facilities that both visitors and residents can enjoy. We are proud of our heritage in supporting the UAE’s development as an aspirational place to live and vacation and by adding a dedicated resort for polo, the sport of kings, to our portfolio, we are demonstrating our intent to enhance further the quality and variety of our assets and services.”
A third project – a residential development in Jumeirah called Oasis Villas – will consist of 74 villas in four- five- and six-bedroom configurations. The complex will also include a gym, communal swimming pool, children’s play area, and a jogging track.
Commenting on the new projects, Khalaf Al Habtoor said: “In total our investments in the UAE over the past 24 months have amounted to in an excess of AED 15 billion. This shows how much we are growing.
“As our company motto states, ‘we are growing with the UAE’, and its economic fundamentals support this vision. We have been in business close to 45 years and with projects such as these being added to our portfolio, there is no reason why the next 45 years should not see us enjoy even greater success."
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