Sharjah: A 343-room hotel is to be built along Al Khan beach in Sharjah at a cost of Dh650 million. A local architect will help add Islamic elements to the project, according to Ara Christo Andereas, design manager of the project and co-owner of QHC Architect and Engineers in Sharjah.
A ceremony was held at the Sharjah Shooting and Golf Club to mark the signing of the contract between the owner of the project, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Salim Al Qasimi, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah, and Emco Building Contracting.
Shaikh Sultan Bin Abdullah endorsed the contract on behalf of his father and Amer Eisa Al Amiri, chairman of Emco. The project is to be completed within 30 months.
The state-of-the-art hotel will include eight floors of rooms with the top floor reserved for VIP facilities.
Andereas told Gulf News that the concept of the hotel was inspired by the local environment and the materials to be used in facades and interiors would be sourced locally as far as possible.
"Negotiations are under way with a number of leading international hotel operators to manage the facilities once the construction is completed in August 2012," he said.
Tourism boost
"The rooms include a royal suites, 2 presidential suites, 40 junior suits and 299 ordinary rooms. It will have four restaurants,two ballrooms that can accommodate 700 and 300 guests [respectively] at once in addition to the beach swimming facilities," he said.
Andereas said the hotel will represent a considerable enhancement to Sharjah tourism capabilities and cater to a perceived shortage of five-star facilities in the emirate.
He said the economic downturn was the right time for such a project because it would be ready by the time the market revives in two to three years.
The hotel will also boast a unique golf simulator, he added.
Usama Hanna, assistant general manager of Emco, told Gulf News the project represented a crowning achievement for the company in its 47 years in the contracting business.
He thanked Shaikh Abdullah for the trust he had placed in the company to complete a major project and pledged that Emco would spare no efforts to take the project forward in accordance with international standards.
