THE newly launched Mena Hotels & Resorts owned by Sami El Hokair and CEO Fadi Mazkour, is looking to expand around the GCC, Middle East and north African markets.
“We opened our first property in Riyadh called the Mena Hotel Riyadh,” said Mazkour. Since then, the hotel has witnessed room occupancies “of 80 to 82 per cent since their opening and we expect to close 2009 with an average of 90 per cent.”
The hotel consists of 164 fully equipped rooms with 92 premium rooms, 23 executive rooms and 49 congress suites.
The brand has several developments underway in markets including Abu Dhabi, Dubai and more properties within KSA. “When we launched last year, we had set a target of opening 30 hotels by 2015 around the GCC, Middle East and North Africa. Given the current market recession, there might be some delay, but we plan to continue to grow steadily into these markets,“ said Mazkour. Other markets that are under negotiation include Oman, Lebanon and Jordan.
The new brand undertakes a “hands-on approach of high level of service and outstanding attributes that promise excellence in an innovatively fused lifestyle and high technology operations” says Mazkour.
Focussing on comfort, guest rooms are between 28-32 sq m. Rooms also have all the luxuries of modern technology including interactive satellite televisions, Wi-Fi and fax points.
“Mena Hotels & Resorts represent simple luxury. We realise that today’s travellers are used to certain lifestyles and we want to provide them with a home away from home experience when they stay at our hotels. This will definitely help us find a niche in the market place,” he added.
“Our property in Riyadh has seen an equal mix of business and young couples from international markets like Germany and UK as well as from around the Middle East region” says Mazkour.
Mena Hotels is a premier independent lifestyle boutique hotels with four to five star category hotels specialising in hospitality management services including acquisition, development, technical services, sales and marketing.