Luxury hotel chain Sofitel may launch hotels under the So by Sofitel brand in Dubai in the coming years, according to Christophe Schnyder, general manager at Sofitel The Palm Dubai.

Under the brand are trendy boutique hotels built in conjunction with famous designers, he said. “In the future in Dubai, since it has a very trendy market clientele, I’m sure there will be one day a So…I could see this fit in the overall hotel scene in Dubai.”

Sofitel’s third brand, Sofitel Legend, which is comprised of historic buildings, is less likely to come to Dubai as these “are legendary buildings which are more than 100 years old — we don’t have that in Dubai.”

Sofitel are at the ATM (Arabian Travel Market) to discuss their new Dubai property Sofitel Dubai Palm Jumeirah Resort and Spa which is expected to open this summer.

The leisure-focused hotel, which has 361 guest rooms and suites and 182 fully serviced apartments, will open “Just before or during Ramadan,” Schnyder said.

“We are very excited for the opening. We believe the hotel will have a relaxed environment for meetings and social events,” he added.

The UAE will be home to four Sofitel hotels — three in Dubai (one in Jumeirah Beach Residence and the two planned, including the Sofitel Downtown due to open in the fourth quarter of this year), and one in Abu Dhabi.

Meanwhile in the GCC, Sofitel will have two new hotels in Saudi Arabia (planned for 2015 in Makkah and Riyadh) to add to the one in Al Khobar. Also, one is planned in Qatar, although the date is still unknown. “It’s difficult to say at this stage,” Schnyder said. Additionally, there is one in Bahrain.

Elsewhere in the region, there will be one hotel in Morocco which is due to open in 2014; and one in Abidjan which is slated for opening this year.

When asked why Sofitel does not have a larger number of hotels in the Middle East and Africa, Schnyder said: “Sofitel is taking an approach whereby it selects location very, very carefully, hence the reason why we have at the moment one property in Dubai. The new additions on the Palm Jumeirah and Shaikh Zayed Road are two fantastic locations,” he said.

Occupancy levels in Dubai hotels have shown strong signs of recovery since the financial woes of 2008. “They have recovered a 100 per cent. Rates are coming back nicely,” said Schnyder. Hotel occupancy in Dubai stood at 89.6 per cent this year, beating last year’s performance by 4.2 per cent.

In order to sustain this upward curve, “hotels need to keep their projects up to date and very competitive,” and “they need to be ready to cater to a very demanding clientele,” Schnyder said.

Sofitel is French hotel giant Accor’s luxury hotel brand. There are more than 3,500 luxury and budget hotels worldwide operating under Accor, including Pullman, Novotel and ibis. There are 120 Sofitel hotels in 40 countries across North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific.

Sofitel plans to open hotels in China, Germany, Ukraine and Singapore this year and in 2014.