Hilton and King Faisal Corniche Development (KFCD) have signed an agreement to open Bahrain’s first Hilton Hotels & Resorts property in 2020.
The $66m, 210-room Hilton Bahrain Bay Hotel & Residences will be situated within The Avenues, Bahrain.
Developed by KFDC, a venture between Bahraini investors, M H Alshaya Co, and Mabanee, Phase 1 of The Avenues, Bahrain retail and leisure development is scheduled to open later this year.
Chris Nassetta, chief executive officer of Hilton, and Mohammed Alshaya, chairman of Mabanee and KFCD, met in Dubai, UAE to sign the hotel deal. In addition to Hilton Hotels & Resorts’ Bahraini debut, the partnership will see the opening of a Waldorf Astoria and a Hilton Garden Inn at The Avenues, Kuwait, which is also owned by Mabanee.
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Rudi Jagersbacher, president of Hilton Worldwide’s Middle East, Africa, and Turkey operations, said: “It is very exciting for us to be bringing our core Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand to Bahrain for the first time.
“This represents a significant commitment to the market for us, and we are doing so with a trusted partner in KFCD at a location that is set to become one of the country’s premier attractions for both visitors and local residents.”
Located in Manama’s Bahrain Bay area, Hilton Bahrain Bay Hotel & Residences will be directly attached to The Avenues, Bahrain. Hotel guests will have direct access to both the mall and a new 1.5km-long stretch of the Corniche.
Phase 1 of The Avenues, Bahrain, which will offer a range of retail and food and beverage (F&B) outlets over gross leasable area (GLA) of 40,000m2, is scheduled to open in Q4 2017. Phase 2 will see the addition of 30,000m2 of GLA.
Construction of Hilton Bahrain Bay Hotel & Residences is underway. Once completed, the resort will feature 150 apartments, 60 studio suites, four stand-alone dining outlets, a swimming pool, and spa and fitness facilities.
Hilton Bahrain Bay Hotel & Residences will form part of the hotel company’s 120-strong pipeline of properties in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey (MENAT) region.
Hilton has more than 16,000 rooms currently under construction in the GCC.
Bahrain is hoping to add 15 new hotels and beachfront resorts by 2020. The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) said the country’s hotel and restaurant sector is witnessing growth. The planned hotels and beachfront resorts will have a collective investment value of more than $10bn, Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported.
Hotelier Middleeast
May 04