Hoteliers in capital reap reward as F1 week nears

Abu Dhabi's top hotels are approaching full occupancy for Formula One week despite the addition of hundreds of rooms in the capital, including those at the new Jumeirah Etihad Towers.

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The Jumeirah property, which has 382 rooms and 199 serviced apartments, opens tomorrow and is expecting to benefit as sports fans head to Abu Dhabi for a packed series of events that kicks off with the Formula One race on November 13.

The hotel, operated by the Dubai company that manages the Burj Al Arab, will offer the first public access to the five-tower mixed-use Etihad Towers development on the Corniche, on which building work started five years ago. It is the operator's first hotel in the capital.

"The city of Abu Dhabi should end up with the heaviest season now in November and December," said Doris Greif, the general manager of the Jumeirah Etihad Towers hotel. "[For] Formula One [it] is fully booked."

She said the hotel was opening about 40 per cent of its rooms for the motorsport event.

Abu Dhabi will get hundreds of new rooms in the next week with the opening of the Park Hyatt and St Regis resorts on Saadiyat Island in addition to the Westin and Rocco Forte hotels. The Westin resort, which will open at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club next week, is expecting to run a full house for race week.

"Over the Formula One period we are close to fully booked," said Klaus Niefer, the general manager of the Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort and Spa, which is set to opennext Monday.

"Anecdotally, from what I've heard, again the town is going to be full for Formula One," said Lawrence Franklin, the director of strategy and policy at the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority.

"The other thing that's important with Formula One is we know that there's a dedicated base of fans, repeat vistitation, and I think that's really helping."

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Events surrounding the Volvo Ocean Race also start at the end of the year. Celebrations surrounding National Day are also expected to bring many guests to hotels.

Rotana said its Centro Yas Island was already fully booked for this year's Formula One even before last year's race. The company's nine other hotels in the capital have also filled up for the Formula One event. The company operates more than 3,000 rooms in the capital.

"Most of [Rotana's] hotels are 100 per cent fully booked," said Adrian Deegan, the area sales and marketing director at Rotana Hotels.

He said room rates for the event were up marginally on the same time last year and averaged about Dh2,000 (US$544.51) in the city. The operator is launching a hotel under its budget Centro brand in downtown Abu Dhabi tomorrow.

"We're quite optimistic about the hotel market, even considering the additional hotel openings," Mr Deegan said, adding that he expected occupancy levels to drop just slightly in the capital as a result. "The fourth quarter is still very strong. The leisure business is very strong. The Christmas and New Year period we have a lot of Russian tourists."

An observation deck in Etihad Towers, which is linked to the Jumeirah hotel, will be managed by the luxury operator. The deck is 300 metres up at level 75 of Tower 2, the tallest of the five towers. This will be the highest observation point yet operational in Abu Dhabi. The ticket price for the attraction has yet to be decided, Ms Greif said.

"There will be a cafe at the top of the building, and there will be a mini theatre with 12 seats. There will be information on … the history of Abu Dhabi."

rbundhun@thenational.ae