World's tallest hotel reaches for Dubai

While dwarfed by the Burj Khalifa, currently Dubai’s and the world’s tallest manmade structure at 830 meters, it will be the tallest building entirely dedicated to a hotel and will become the world’s 12th tallest manmade structure once it opens phase one in the fourth quarter of 2012. Phase two will open in 2014. But it will not be the world’s highest hotel. That accolade goes to the Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong, which occupies the top floors of the 488-meter tall International Commerce Center. The JW Marriott Marquis Dubai will hope to tap into the MICE market (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), a market that in the United States is worth about US$106 billion, according to JW Marriott. Rupprecht Queitsch, general manager for the new property, said: “The hotel will fill a long identified gap in the market where groups, meetings and conventions of up to 1,000 people can meet, sleep and dine under one roof … Until now, Dubai has not had a single location of this size to accommodate this type of group.” The hotel will include 1,608 rooms, two ballrooms, 24 meeting rooms, nine restaurants, five lounges and entertainment venues and a 1,500-square-meter Saray Spa. The Vault Lounge, on the 71st and 72nd floors, will give panoramic views of the city and the restaurants will include a steakhouse and Indian, Italian and Arabic cuisine.