Time Hotels signs JV in Saudi Arabia with Al Fahd

Devina Divecha, May 18th, 2016

UAE hospitality brand, Time Hotels Management, has signed an agreement with Saudi-based Al Fahd Investments to form a joint venture (JV) hospitality company.

Under the terms of this agreement, Time will operate hotels in Riyadh and Al Qurrayat and provide consultancy services on the hotel portfolio.

“Al Fahd Hospitality has a budget of over US $600 million, to fund its present and future pipeline of properties which currently consists of seven mainly mid-market hotels, which are all due to open within the next two years,” said Mohamed Awadalla, CEO, Time Hotels.

“Al Fahd Investments decided to form a joint venture with Time Hotels because we were very impressed with the way they managed and have grown their own branded hotels. They have exceptional regional experience and recognise the international standards we must achieve, for our hotels and apartments to succeed in the Saudi market,” said Ahmed Al Fahd, vice chairman, Al Fahd.

The 26-storey, three-star King Fahd Road project in Riyadh has 96 rooms and suites, an all-day restaurant, indoor/outdoor café, three meeting rooms and a health club. The hotel is expected to open in June 2017.

The second four-star hotel in Al Qurrayat, which is due to open later this year, consists of 137 rooms and suites, an all-day restaurant, café, health club and two meeting rooms.

“More significantly, Al-Hadithah Port is the largest and one of the most important land ports in the Kingdom, located just 30 kilometres away from Al Qurayyat. That crossing provides a strategic link to the neighbouring countries of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey, as well as an entry point for pilgrims coming to perform hajj and umrah from Turkey, Russia and Chechnya,” said Awadalla.

A recent Tophotelprojects report estimated that out of the 49,000 hotel rooms under development in Saudi, many were in the mid-range category. “Given the current stalemate between OPEC members over production quotas, and short term economic outlook, this trend is set to continue,” said Awadalla.