Ground has been broken at first hotel complex on the Dubai Marina, to be named Grosvenor House Hotel and Apartments, West Marina Beach Resort by Le Meridien.
The new hotel and apartment project is scheduled to open to guests in late 2004. The pioneering, multi-use, 45-storey complex is owned by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Emirates Airline and President of Dubai Civil Aviation and is named Grosvenor House, after the legendary landmark Le Meridien Grosvenor House in Park Lane, one of London's most famous locations. Just as its London namesake, Grosvenor House is set to be the exclusive address in the upcoming Dubai Marina, which has been earmarked by developers as 'the lifestyle hub of Dubai'. "It is fitting that Sheikh Ahmed is behind the first hotel on the Marina," said Ali Al Mubarak Al Soori, head of the Chairman's Office and Facilities Management at Emirates Airline and the owner's representative of the Grosvenor House project. The Grosvenor House is set to establish new standards in the global hospitality industry. It will have 218 rooms and suites in the luxurious, self-contained hotel tower, as well as 206, one-, two- and three-bedroom butler-serviced apartments. All of the grand-deluxe accommodation will have sweeping views of the skyline, marina and the Arabian Gulf. According to Al Soori, Grosvenor House will stand among the most exclusive hotels around the world in terms of product and service offering. He explained: "Grosvenor House will be second-to-none, reflecting a position of sheer luxury and exclusivity in the hospitality sector."