Cairo Dusit to be 'top two' in the city, says CEO

The new Dusit Thani Lakeview Cairo will be one of the best in the city, according to Dusit International chief executive Chanin Donavanik.

“I think the market is quite strong and I think we also have a very good partner there. I think our hotel should be one of the top two, top three, top four in the whole of Cairo. It’s a top luxury hotel. It’s going to be better than many of the traditional major chain hotels,” said Donavanik.

The hotel opened in the first week of January and is the first of two Dusit Thani hotels to open in the region this year.

Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi is scheduled to open by the end of 2010 and this would be “quite a big hotel also with 500 rooms” said Donavanik.

Dusit International regional vice president Middle East Sam-Erik Ruttmann added: “It’s opposite the Al Jazira football stadium, next to the men’s college and the new Abu Dhbai police head quarters. It will be catering to a lot of government business, visitors to sports event at the Al Jazira football stadium and it’s the first hotel from the airport. It has a residence factor – 400 hotels rooms and 100 apartments”.

The company also has Dusit Thani-branded properties under development in Jeddah and Bahrain, both due to open towards the end of 2012.

Donavanik said he was also looking to manage properties elsewhere in the Middle East.

“We like Oman. We have been looking at a few projects there. Hopefully in the next three months we can finalise something there. We would like to find something in Qatar and that would cover most of the Gulf states.

“In North Africa, we like Morocco,” added Donavanik.