JAL Hotels is confident of meeting its December 2006 deadline to open its first UAE hotel, according to Chiyuki Fujimoto, director of JAL’s pre-opening office in Fujairah.
The company signed a hotel management agreement with Kuwait’s ACICO International Real Estate Development company to run the first Japanese-operated hotels in the UAE, the Nikko Fujairah Resort & Spa and Hotel Nikko Tower Dubai.
Located on the picturesque East Coast, of the UAE, the Nikko Fujairah is 75km away from Dubai and is tipped to be one of the best diving resorts in the Arab countries. Work on the project is on schedule and Fujimoto is confident the development’s traditional architecture fused with modern lines will attract guests from across the region and beyond, especially from Europe and Americas.
The five-star-resort hotel is being built on a 540m private beach with nine buildings including 262 rooms and a diving centre.
JAL’s Nikko Tower Dubai, set to open December 2007, is being built on Sheikh Zayed Road, a stone’s throw from the World Trade Centre. It will shape up as twin towers, one a 57-storey, 487-room hotel, the other 50 storeys of office space.
The company has received many expressions of interests to manage properties elsewhere in the region but it wants to establish itself in the region by first making the Fujairah and Dubai projects a success before considering other options, said Fujimoto.