Jumeirah strikes deal for third London hotel

Dubai: Jumeirah, the Dubai-based luxury hotel operator, will manage a new 261-room hotel in the £600 million Beetham Tower in London.

This will be Jumeirah's third property in London, to be opened by 2011, before the London Olympics in 2012.

On Thursday, Jumeirah signed an agreement with Beetham Organisation to create The Jumeirah Hotel at Beetham Tower, the new £600 million slender curved glass landmark for London, about to be built on London's South Riverbank at the junction of Blackfriars Bridge and Blackfriars Road.

The tower will stand 180 metres high, with the hotel's planned observation deck sitting 45 metres higher than the famed London Eye.

In London, Jumeirah currently manages Jumeirah Carlton Tower and Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel.

“We are on very much on track to operate 40 hotels by 2009 from the current 12 properties that we already operate,'' Bill Walshe, Jumeirah's corporate director of sales and marketing, told Gulf News.

He said Jumeirah has already established its mark in the global hotel industry.

"We are in close negotiations with a number of properties to operate and manage hotels,'' he said, without giving details.

The residential apartments and penthouses above the hotel will be offered the opportunity to avail of services offered by the hotel. There will be onsite provision for 32 affordable homes in an adjacent building.

Gerald Lawless, Chief Executive Officer of Jumeirah Group, said, “Jumeirah's brand essence is expressed in two words — ‘Stay Different' — and this tremendous project enables us to work with the developers to plan for and ultimately deliver what will be one of the world's most unique luxury hospitality experiences.''

The Jumeirah Hotel will be located in the lower half of Beetham Tower and will have 261 spacious rooms and suites, a huge ballroom that will accommodate large-scale conference and banqueting events catering for up to 800 people, plus a number of smaller meeting venues.

The hotel will have a variety of restaurants and a spa, health and leisure facility that will be located on the 26th and 27th floors. It will open in 2011.

The new tower, designed by Ian Simpson Architects, will also have public facilities, including a new plaza wrapping around its base.