The 125-room Golden Tulip Al Barsha opened its doors in Dubai last month, with plans to quickly build a strong reputation before other hotels establish themselves in the quickly developing area.
General manager Michel Mandrea said the property, which has five F&B outlets, would tap into the local resident market for business as well as attracting guests.
royal tulip
“We hope to be very successful. Al Barsha is so ‘up-and-coming’ at the moment, and really there are currently only hotel apartments here with not a lot of facilities,” he said. “There are not a lot of places for people to relax at the end of work, so if we can get this right to begin with, we can be very successful.”
He said the hotel would attract mainly business guests, with occupancy forecasted “conservatively at 80%” in the first year of operation.
While Mandrea was positive about the hotel’s opening, he said because many of the sites surrounding the property were under construction, it could be difficult for guests to find it.
But the hotel’s management were talking to the authorities about the possibility of temporary signage, and would run shuttles between shopping centres and major exhibitions to assist guests.
“We are really flexible, and we have to be,” he said. “The world is becoming more and more demanding, and hotels can not say ‘no’ anymore.”
The latest property is one of several Golden Tulip has recently signed.
Business development manager MENA region Fadi Salamoun said the company had another 34 properties in its development pipeline, with the majority located in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Oman.
Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain and Qatar are also earmarked.
Several properties are scheduled to open next year, including a Royal Tulip and Golden Tulip property in the UAE, five Golden Tulip properties in Saudi Arabia, a Tulip Inn in Jordan, a Royal Tulip in Oman and a Golden Tulip in Kuwait, he said.
Follow us on
