UNITED ARAB EMIRATES IHG is partnering with Action Hotels to develop two Staybridge Suites properties in the United Arab Emirates.
Staybridge Suites Ras Al Khaimah, scheduled to open in 2012, is an 80-key conversion of an existing building located close to the city’s commercial district. The 112-key Staybridge Suites Abu Dhabi Rawdhat will open in 2014 as a new-build hotel in a prominent area of the capital catering to the business and leisure communities.
“These new signings reflect our commitment to growth in the Middle East and our confidence in the region,” says Kirk Kinsell, IHG’s president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “We entered this market more than 50 years ago with the InterContinental brand. Since then we’ve introduced a further four brands, including Staybridge Suites in 2009 which opened on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
“The combination of the strength of IHG’s brands, our marketing channels, our scale, size and our people make IHG a compelling investment opportunity. These signings demonstrate the confidence Action Hotels has in us.”
Action Hotels has a third IHG property under development—the 176-key Holiday Inn Seeb in Muscat, Oman, set to open next year.
There are 188 Staybridge Suites hotels around the world and 101 in the development pipeline, including three in the Middle East. IHG opened its first hotel in the UAE in 1975 and has expanded its portfolio to 16 hotels across five brands including InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites.