New & Coming Soon to Dubai
• The Voco Dubai will open its doors in the first quarter of 2019, making it the first Voco hotel in the Middle East. Located on Shaikh Zayed Road, which is home to most of Dubai’s signature skyscrapers, Voco Dubai will be located in what is currently the Nassima Royal Hotel. Designed for both business and leisure travelers, the re-branded hotel will have 471 guest rooms that overlook either Sheikh Zayed Road or the beach. Amenities will include a business center, an outdoor swimming pool, a gymnasium, a spa, three restaurants and over 10,000 square feet of meeting space. Read more here.
• The Indian Hotels Company Limited, India's largest hospitality company, has signed an agreement to open its fourth Taj hotel in Dubai, increasing its inventory to more than 1,000 rooms in the city. The new Taj hotel, slated to open in early 2022, is being developed at Deira Creek. Read more here.
• Set inside the mixed-use The Opus complex, in a dramatically sleek and undulating glass structure designed by starchitect Zaha Hadid, the ME Dubai, part of Spanish hospitality brand ME by Meliá, will offer 93 guest rooms and suites, as well as 98 serviced apartments. The hotel features 6,000 square feet of event space as well as fine-dining outlets, retail space, a bar, a swimming pool and a spa. The work of local artists is showcased in the lobby and within a mini gallery with original pieces available for purchase.
• The Stella Di Mare Dubai Marina Hotel will offer 369 deluxe rooms (all done up in a gorgeous art deco design) spread over 31 floors set in the waterfront Dubai Marina district. Features include a multipurpose ballroom that can accommodate up to 250 attendees, an expansive rooftop terrace and a number of culinary offerings, including Italian cuisine at Leonardo, an international buffet at La Fontana and the views from the Skyland rooftop bar.
• Caesars has recently announced plans to open its first non-gaming resorts via a pair of luxury hotels — Caesars Palace Bluewaters Dubai and Caesars Bluewaters Dubai — as well as the Caesars Beach Club with indoor and outdoor beachfront pools. Together, the two properties will offer 479 rooms, a wealth of meeting space and a wide range of attractions, including six restaurants and bars, more than 150 shopping and entertainment outlets, and the Ain Dubai, billed as the world's largest observation wheel.
• Preparations are well underway for Expo Dubai 2020. Set to launch Oct. 20, 2020, the first World Expo ever to be held in the Middle East will run for six months, featuring 190 country pavilions and three themed districts will be hundreds of restaurants, countless arts and cultural experience. Most of the event's business programming will take place in the under-construction Dubai Exhibition Centre. Offering 45,000 square meters of event space, it will include two multipurpose halls and theaters, all about 15 minutes from the city's downtown hotels. Read more about these plans here.
• The Millennium Al Barsha Hotel and Apartments will soon be opening its doors, offering 299 guest rooms (as well as 109 serviced apartments) with all modern amenities and design elements. It will include a number of F&B features, such as the House of Colors all-day buffet and regional cuisine of Moroccan Kitchen. Its range of meeting and conference rooms will be able to accommodate groups of both small and medium sizes, with high-tech equipment and a dedicated events team.
Hotel & Venue Additions
• The beachfront property closest to Dubai's financial and business districts, the Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, Dubai, has opened its doors as a "luxurious urban resort" with 256 rooms and suites and a 7,500-square-foot glass-walled ballroom complete with terrace overlooking the beach. On-site are four light-filled, divisible meeting rooms equipped with high-performance A/V equipment and more. Read more here.
• W Dubai – The Palm has opened its doors, with 350 rooms and suites (including the largest suite in Dubai) offering uninterrupted views of the Dubai skyline. The hotel, the first W brand property in the destination, includes more than 6,500 square feet of event space promises incentive groups unconventional design and luxurious accommodations for their next visit to Dubai. Amenities include six dining outlets, a private beach and watersports. Read more here.
• To significantly boost visitor-arrival goals, the country has waived a bank-guarantee requirement for inbound and outbound tourism companies based in the emirate. The measure is in keeping with the government’s 2022-2025 tourism strategy and vision to make Dubai the world's most visited destination. Read more here.
• Dubai International Airport has a new offering on its playlist, a Hard Rock Café. This new outpost of the famous franchise opened last month in Terminal 3 on Concourse B, with a restaurant, grab-and-go eats, Rock Shop merchandise and memorabilia including Michael Jackson’s spangled jacket, Jimi Hendrix’s fringed leather vest and Shakira’s pants. Hungry travelers with time to spare can dine on delish dishes including hickory smoked beef ribs, a hand-pulled lamb sandwich on a soft brioche bun or a hot-fudge brownie smothered in vanilla ice cream. Harried flyers can grab signature burgers, wings and nachos at the express counter, or salads, fresh fruit and sandwiches from the grab-and-go counter. The new Hard Rock adds to DXB’s many leisure and entertainment offerings, which include over 100 dining outlets.
• Inspired by the palaces of 18th century Europe, the 391-room Emerald Palace Kempinski Dubai, which swung open its doors in November 2018, offers carefully curated experiences on a private beach on the Arabian Gulf. It features eight restaurants and bars, a 23,000-square-foot event space, a spa, wellness center and yoga studio, and the largest private cinema on Palm Jumeirah. Rad more here.
• The 145-room Aloft Dubai South, the Aloft brand's fourth property to open in Dubai this year, has swung open its doors near the city's Al Maktoum International Airport. It is the first hotel to open in Dubai South, a developing business and trade district. Read more here.
• The E2 Dubai South Event & Exhibition Center has debuted a 360-degree virtual-reality tour tool that allows prospective meeting planners to explore the venue’s event space as if there in person. Planners can now get a closer look at the staging, A/V offerings, food and beverage, and custom branding capabilities of E2’s more than 130,000 square feet of exhibition space, its main hall and more.
• Al Seef Hotel by Jumeirah has opened in Dubai's Al Seef, a bustling destination on the south bank of Dubai Creek. It offers 180 rooms and 10 suites decorated with historic artifacts, rotary dial phones, hanging oil lanterns and framed photographs of the souk (market) and creek through the years. What's more, the Emirati-inspired design are spread across 10 clusters of Arabian bayts (homes), in the midst of the souk, similar to old neighborhoods of the past.
• The Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Waterfront, set in the new Business Bay District on the Dubai Water Canal, opened earlier this year. Features include 432 rooms and suites and a number of meeting venues, including a ballroom, 11 versatile meeting rooms and an expansive outdoor terrace overlooking the Burj Khalifa. The dining options also impress, with choices ranging from the Nordic inspired Larder restaurant and Scottish bar Makar to the down-home (Dubai-style) Fire Lake Grill House and Cocktail Bar.
The Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, Dubai, will soon open its doors, offering groups the closest beachfront resort to the city's financial and business district.• At 1,168 feet high, the Gevora Hotel, the world's tallest hotel, opened in February in the city's World Trade Centre. This dizzying tower offers 528 luxurious accommodations, from deluxe rooms to two-bedroom suites, all decked out in gold-covered art deco splendor. It also provides guests with a fitness room, a pool and a Jacuzzi, as well as three restaurants, with two more to open by the end of 2018, including the Highest View Restaurant on, of course, the rooftop. The Business Centre is on the 12th floor and includes a 12-person boardroom and a range of services.
• The 504-room Lapita Hotel, which opened in January 2017, brings a Polynesian theme to its architecture, landscaping and culinary offerings. On-site is a ballroom that can hold up to 600 guests, along with seven meeting rooms and an outdoor gathering space. As the only hotel within Dubai Parks and Resorts, the property connects directly to theme parks such as Legoland and Motiongat, including their numerous event spaces.
• The Rixos Premium Dubai opened last year in the heart of the Jumeirah Beach Residence complex overlooking the Arabian Gulf (and the soon-to-open Dubai Eye Ferris wheel). The hotel has 443 rooms and suites; 10 meeting rooms, the largest of which can accommodate up to 150 people; and the Diamond Ballroom, which can hold up to 700. When it's time to unwind, attendees can work out in the RixGym fitness center, with floor-to-ceiling views of the Arabian Gulf, or enjoy a hammam treatment at the Natureland spa.
• The Renaissance Downtown Hotel, Dubai, opened in October 2017 with 298 stylish modern rooms and suites as well as expansive views of the Dubai Canal and Burj Khalifa. The property includes a business center and six event rooms able to host events of up to 300 attendees and equipped with cutting-edge A/V and high-speed WiFi.