Al Habtoor group partners with Hilton

Al Habtoor Group has partnered with Hilton Worldwide to convert two of its hotels in Beirut to the Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand and to develop the very first Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts property on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. The agreement, signed on Monday, would see the global hotelier developing the 324-room Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah, the first luxury resort by the Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts brand in Dubai, scheduled to open at the end of 2013. It would also will see Hilton Worldwide making its foray into Lebanon by converting the 195-room Habtoor Grand and the 183-room Metropolitan Palace to the Hilton Beirut Habtoor Grand and Hilton Beirut Metropolitan Palace, with both hotels due to open in early 2012.