Qatar’s first Holiday Inn will share facilities with the Crowne Plaza Doha hotel next door, according to the project consultant.
Dorota Nazarewicz, head of interior design at Arab Engineering Bureau (AEB), said: “The plots will be interconnected; the idea is to save energy and materials, and to operate both hotels with a central preparation kitchen and laundry department.
"Both hotels are operated by IHG, so it makes sense to combine core functions,” she added.
The preparation kitchen at Crowne Plaza was designed from the outset to cater to more than just one hotel. Prepared food will be transported via tunnel to Holiday Inn Doha so the finishing touches can be added.
“Both hotels will still have their own kitchens, but all preparatory work will take place at the main facility,” said Nazarewicz. “The same goes for laundry. This arrangement is beneficial from both an engineering standpoint and an environmental perspective.”
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Holiday Inn Doha will feature three basement levels, a ground floor and a mezzanine, and 307 guestrooms spread across seven storeys. It will ultimately form part of The Business Park – a mixed-use complex owned by Qatar’s Sheikh Mohamed Bin Hamad Al Thani – and provide a four-star alternative to the five-star Crowne Plaza Doha.
“IHG has been evolving new standards for its brands, so we have participated in this rebranding,” said Nazarewicz, adding that AEB has had to accommodate a series of updated specifications, ranging from user-friendly finishings to high-efficiency sanitary fixtures.
“Holiday Inn Doha will achieve a higher standard than an equivalent project would have done in this market, say, three years ago; it will be more efficient. For instance, The Business Park was the first complex in Qatar to use LED lights exclusively.
“Furthermore, the hotel’s lighting and air-conditioning systems have been designed to operate according to room occupancy. The lights and AC will switch on and off depending on whether people are inside.”
The hotel is expected to hit its original July 2016 completion deadline.
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