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Dubai: Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, which manages nine hotel brands, will open four hotels in the Middle East this year.
Four Points by Sheraton on Shaikh Zayed Road, Westin at Mina Seyahi Beach Resort and Marina Dubai, W in Doha, Qatar, and Le Meridien Makkah Towers, Saudi Arabia, will be the first of 16 hotels that the company will open by 2011. Together the four hotels will add 1,635 rooms and 154 apartments to the hotel industry in 2008.
Currently with 48 hotels across the Middle East, Starwood is bringing hotel W to Festival City and the Palm in 2010. Their new brand Luxury Collection hotel will be launched in Ras Al Khaimah in 2011. With 300 rooms that include 40 suites, the hotel will offer 43,000 square feet of indoor meeting space. The hotel will be operated within the Saraya Islands, a mixed-used destination between the Hajjar Mountains and the Arabian Gulf.
Starwood is also bringing the Aloft hotel to Abu Dhabi in 2010 and four W hotels are in the pipeline for this region.
"The new brands Aloft and Element are for mid-range customers for which there is a great demand," Kip Horton, vice-president for sales at Starwood said.
"The Middle East makes for about 8-10 per cent of global revenues," Horton said.
Offering a wide range of hotels, there is growth for every segment, according to Horton.
Starwood is expanding in the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar, where they currently have 20 hotels operating and another 10 in the pipeline.
"The Middle East is important for customers and developers. Our growth is smart and need-oriented," he said.
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