Luxury hotel group Marriott International will open its third property in Jordan this month.

Located 400 metres below sea level, the lowest point on Earth, The Jordan Valley Marriott Resort & Spa will open on October 20.

The resort is owned by Business Tourism Company Limited (BTC), an affiliate of Arab International Hotels Company Limited (AIHC), which also owns the Amman Marriott Hotel.

"We are thrilled that the Jordan Valley Marriott Resort & Spa is joining the Amman Marriott Hotel and the Petra Marriott Hotel," said BTC and AIHC chairman Nadim Muasher.

"We appreciate Marriott's high quality and professionalism in managing our properties and we shall soon embark on the development of the fourth Marriott property in Jordan, the Aqaba Marriott Resort on the Red Sea."

The Jordan Valley Marriott Resort & Spa features views of the Dead Sea from each of its 216 guest rooms and from nearly every facility and restaurant on the property. The resort, a 40-minute drive from Jordan's capital city of Amman, is set along the mineral-rich sea, which has been revered for its healing powers since ancient times.

For recreation, the resort offers beach volleyball, a tennis court and jogging areas. Children can play in the "mushroom pool" and on the water slide. They can also play the resort's video games or surf the Internet in the hotel's game room or watch movies in the two movie theaters.

The resort's three large, free-form swimming pools with four whirlpools are the central features of its outdoor area leading to the shoreline which also includes beach-front terraces and an entertainment amphitheatre overlooking the Dead Sea. One of the pools even includes an invigorating stand-up water massage.

The 3,000 sq m spa at the resort offers guests a menu of treatments and facilities to unwind and reinvigorate.

Guests can choose from a variety of treatments, including the Jordan Valley "Signature Treatment," in which the body is exfoliated with local loofah and natural Dead Sea salts and then swathed with healing Dead Sea mud. The spa's restaurant, Nectarines, serves healthy dishes.

For dining and entertainment, the resort offers 12 food and beverage outlets. Additionally, the resort has live entertainment in the lobby lounge and beach area.

For meetings, conference and events, the resort has four meeting rooms and a large ballroom, which is divisible into two rooms and can host 450 guests. There are two cinemas, which seat 75 people each and can be used as auditoriums.

Philip Papadopoulos is the general manager for the resort which is offering opening rates of $92.

Marriott's other Jordan properties include the 268-room Amman Marriott Hotel, which recently celebrated its 20-year anniversary, and the 99-room Petra Marriott Hotel. The Aqaba Marriott Hotel & Resort is scheduled to open in 2004.