Abu Dhabi's Rotana sees delay of hotel openings

A trio of Rotana hotels due to open at Abu Dhabi's US $2.3bn Capital Centre development by mid-2012 will launch later than planned, the architect overseeing the three properties has said.The four-star, 300-room Capital Centre Rotana was slated for completion in June, but a series of construction delays has pushed it back to May 2012, said Nabil Reaidy of Ghazi Awad (GA) Architects and Engineers.The Centro Capital Centre Rotana has seen a three-month setback, putting the expected opening date back to January 2012, Reaidy told Hotelier Middle East.The Abu Dhabi hotelier’s third property, the Capital Centre Arjaan by Rotana, has seen building delayed by up to three months.“A three-month delay in construction is common,” Reaidy told the magazine.A spokesperson for Rotana declined to comment.The hotelier said in June it planned to open 25 mid-market hotels across the Middle East by 2015, in a bid to tap into a growing demand for high-quality but modestly-priced rooms. The expansion would create about 3,000 jobs, said Rotana CEO Selim El Zyr. Privately-held Rotana said in December it would launch seven properties in 2011 representing an investment of $800m and making it the UAE’s largest single hotel player with 33 hotels under management. From / Arabian Business News