Marriott eyes luxury brand Bahrain hotel in 2016

Marriott International said it was planning to open a hotel in Bahrain under its luxury brand JW Marriott in 2016. The JW Marriott Manama will be part of the Bahrain Bay development and is under a management agreement with owner Khaleejcapita. The hotel will have 274 rooms and suites and 102 residences in Bahrain Bay, close to Bahrain Financial Harbour and opposite the diplomatic quarter. The 50-storey hotel tower is part of the $2.5bn bay development master planned by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The project is designed by renowned architect Yousif Daoud Al Sayegh and Associates who designed the Six Senses Hideaway Zighy Bay, Oman. "The JW Marriott Bahrain will be a spectacular addition to the Bahrain Bay development," said Abdul-Aziz Al-Rabban, chairman of Khaleejcapita. "Bahrain has an under supply of luxury 5-star hotels and we are confident that the project will be a great success," he added. He said that the project represents the first entry for the group in the hospitality field and that many other hotel and resort projects are in the pipeline for Bahrain and Qatar. "Our currently open hotels in Bahrain, the Marriott Executive Apartments and The Ritz-Carlton, have been tremendously successful, and we believe that this JW Marriott Manama is ideally located for a luxury hotel in Bahrain's commercial and financial center," said Ed Fuller, president and managing director of International Lodging for Marriott International. "Our JW Marriott brand is reserved for select luxury hotels in key gateway cities around the world, and Bahrain is certainly one of these." The JW Marriott Manama Bahrain Hotel will be the first JW Marriott property in Bahrain and the fifth JW Marriott hotel in the Middle East/Africa region. Marriott International will also open a 78-unit Residence Inn by Marriott in 2012 and the 318-room Renaissance Bahrain Amwaj Island Hotel in 2013.