Movenpick to operate Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel

Dubai: A new five-star hotel is scheduled to shortly open its doors in Dubai. The Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel, near Jebel Ali Village, will add 396 rooms to Dubai's hospitality market, in addition to a number of restaurants.

The building's design, which its owners said was inspired by the travels of the 14th century Arabian explorer Ibn Battuta, is expected to officially open to the public as of October 1.

It will be operated by Movenpick Hotels and Resorts, who said they believed that its location next to the Ibn Battuta Mall and Ibn Battuta Metro station would be a prime driver of its occupancy rates.

Michael Scully, Managing Director of Seven Tides, the real estate developer of Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel, said: "The fact that we are close to Abu Dhabi, Dubai Media City and the free zones is key for us."

Opening room rates start from Dh695. Scully told Gulf News that research had revealed that hotels in the areas had the highest bookings in October and November.

Buoyant period

"We're very fairly priced and we believe Dubai will be very buoyant over the September, October and early December period," he said.

The Ibn Battuta Gate is also expected to serve as a strong link between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, he said.

"Bearing in mind that there's a lot of traffic between Abu Dhabi and Dubai and that some of the shopping centres are recording 60 per cent of their weekend credit card receipts from [people who live in] Abu Dhabi," Scully said.

He also said that the hotel would be better positioned in the market because it was themed. Visitors from the GCC countries and Europe would be more attracted to the Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel than a regular five-star hotel, he said.

Guy Epsom, Director of Business Development at Movenpick Hotels and Resorts, told Gulf News that the key target markets for the hotel's guests would be the surrounding business area, Abu Dhabi and the GCC markets.

"We're utilising e-marketing on various platforms to reach out to those markets," he said.

The Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel is to be part of a multi-million dollar complex which includes 460,000 square feet of office space and 150 apartments.