Ottoman Palace to bring Turkish flavour to Dubai

Rixos Hotels is a Turkish hotel brand that was founded in 2000 and currently operates five hotels in its home country and three in Central Asia.

The $350m Ottoman Palace, which the company will manage for Dubai-based Zabeel Properties, will be Rixos's first hotel in the Middle East market.

The company is keen to establish a foothold in the region despite the fact that the global economy is facing its worst downturn since the Great Depression.

'It is unavoidable that the hospitality industry is also affected by the global economic slowdown, but we don't believe that we should stop expanding because of the crisis,' CEO Fettah Tamince told AME Info.

'This wouldn't be the right approach, especially not for the UAE.'

Hotel developments are not 'short term' investments, Tamince says, and any decision to enter a new market must be well thought out, which was the case with this property.

Minimising impact of crisis

'Therefore, we will continue with the hotel opening as planned, although necessary measures will be taken in order to try to minimize the negative impact of the crisis whilst we will be focused more and more on sales and marketing activities in terms of promoting the new property,' he said.

Housed in a 97,000 square metre plot that includes 50,000 square metres of landscaping and associated amenities, the Ottoman Palace site is fronted by sea on two sides. The resort will feature 410 rooms, plus family, business, executive and imperial club suites, two Imperial Suites and one Royal Suite.

It will also offer 38 residential villas that will afford owners full access to the resort's facilities. The villas will range in size from four, five and six bedrooms, and will be sold with the option of leasing them back.

One of the more unique features of the hotel will be its authentic Turkish spa, known as 'Hammam'. Covering 8,500 metres, it will be the largest Turkish spa in the world, and offer a range of ancient Turkish treatments with a modern twist.

The resort, which will also incorporate an entertainment venue for concerts and events, is scheduled to open by end of this year. 'The plan is for the hotel, villas, shops, show centre and spa to be open at the same time as the project is developing simultaneously,' he said.

Daunting challenge

Tamince concedes that he was initially daunted by the prospect of launching a development on the Palm.

'I should admit that at first I had some concerns when we started to build the hotel on the Palm, as it is a completely new and different location compared to the ones we are used to,' he noted.

'But on the other hand I have witnessed how much effort the Dubai authorities put into this location in order to make this unique place also an interesting one for investors as well as for hotel operators.

'We are experiencied in constructing buildings and hotels in different geographies all over the world, so we are used to working in severe conditions, and that is why it never discouraged us when we made the decision to start building on the Palm.'

Despite the economic downturn, Rixos is 'continously chasing new opportunities and investments,' Tamince says. In addition to the Ottoman Palace, the company plans to open the Rixos Marina West Bahrain in 2010, and is in the early stages of developing a project on Nakheel's World Island development in Dubai.