Jannah Hotels and Resorts, the Abu Dhabi hotel operator and developer, will debut in Dubai later this year and expand operations in Abu Dhabi next year.
The 115-room Jannah Place Dubai Marina is expected to open in November, and the waterfront four-star 213-room resort Al Seef Andalus will open in February next year on the Eastern Ring Road. Both are funded privately.
It is also looking to open another property in Dubai Marina in 2016 with 133 hotel apartments targeted at people travelling alone, branded as Solo.
Both the Dubai Marina properties are owned by the Abu Dhabi-based family business Bin Rubayeh Group, according to Nehme Darwiche, the chief executive of Jannah Hotels and Resorts.
Currently the company manages Eastern Mangroves Suites by Jannah in Abu Dhabi, comprising 88 units.
For Abu Dhabi, the occupancy rate at serviced apartments was at 80 per cent, in the year to April, up from 74 per cent a year earlier. Average rates during this period reached US$124, up from $121, according to Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority.
While the current figures for Dubai were not available, the hotel apartment occupancy rate in the emirate was 82 per cent last year, up 6.5 per cent from 2012, according to Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing.
“Earlier the Abu Dhabi market was oriented mostly towards corporate business and everybody was fishing from the same pond,” said Mr Darwiche. “Now Abu Dhabi has opened up to leisure tourists and in the next three years we would have some nice theme parks, museums, medical tourism with Cleveland Clinic opening and new airport, so we are looking at growth for the next few years.”
Also, while a majority of the supply in the resort segment is in the five-star category, a big bulk of tourists is four-star oriented, according to Mr Darwiche.
“They are not interested in five pools, but whether it is next to the sea, mountains, or shopping malls,” he said.
The Jannah Place brand caters to medium-stay guests for a few weeks, and targets corporate travellers.
Despite the increasing supply of hotel rooms in Dubai, demand continues to give confidence.
“With the announcement of the Mall of the World, we are only going to go forward,” Mr Darwiche said. “It gives confidence to investors that their investment is safe for the next 10 years, and gives confidence to people interested in the long term. During the Eid break, try finding a room on the Palm or the Jumeirah Beach Residence. It’s mission impossible.”
The two-year-old company plans to focus on expanding in the UAE for the next three years.
By 2018, it expects to have a 200-room property in Fujairah and is in the process of leasing a plot of land on the beach there. It is also in talks with developers in Oman for at least two properties in that country.
The company is also looking to develop a brand called Jeunesse, which would be housed in trendy, restored historic buildings.
“We are looking at Lebanon and Morocco for this,” Mr Darwiche said. “But the options are limited.”
The company is also building a prototype of an “intelligent room” that it will debut at Al Seef Andalus and Eastern Mangroves Suites by Jannah in March next year. The system can be activated by voice from anywhere in the room, and can ask for services such as housekeeping or local information.
The company is in the process of registering its patent.
“It’s great to have a butler such as at Jannah but you don’t have that at select service brands,” Mr Darwiche said. “It will be available in three languages and in different accents and even different Arabic dialects.”
The technology has been in development in partnership with an American company for more than a year in the UAE.
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Euro 2020 qualifier
Croatia v Hungary, Thursday, 10.45pm, UAE
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
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Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
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Elvis
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Baz%20Luhrmann%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Austin%20Butler%2C%20Tom%20Hanks%2C%20Olivia%20DeJonge%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.
T20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
Results
UAE beat Nigeria by five wickets
Hong Kong beat Canada by 32 runs
Friday fixtures
10am, Tolerance Oval, Abu Dhabi – Ireland v Jersey
7.30pm, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi – Canada v Oman
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Eco%20Way%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20December%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ivan%20Kroshnyi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Electric%20vehicles%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Bootstrapped%20with%20undisclosed%20funding.%20Looking%20to%20raise%20funds%20from%20outside%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Turkish Ladies
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Singham Again
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Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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Director:Anthony Hayes
Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes
Rating:3/5
SPECS
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