InterContinental Hotels Group strengthens its partnership with Al-Futtaim with the opening of the largest Holiday Inn hotel in the United Arab Emirates.

After Holiday Inn Express debut in Saudi Arabia, the hotel group continued its expansion and strengthened its alliance with Al-Futtaim with the opening of two properties: Holiday Inn Dubai Festival City and Staybridge Suites Dubai Festival City.

The new 508-room Holiday Inn Dubai Festival City features three food and beverage outlets, a rooftop bar, a pool and fitness center, four meeting rooms and a conference center with a capacity to seat 200 people. A city within a city, Dubai Festival City is a fully integrated mega project which combines shopping, hotels, entertainment and lifestyle.

The newly signed 160-rooms Staybridge Suites hotel adds a new brand to IHG and Al-Futtaim’s joint hotel portfolio in Dubai Festival City. The hotel’s location provides business travelers with easy access to the airport, business districts as well as convenient access to the entire Dubai Festival City.

Staybridge Suites marks the fifth IHG hotel in the Dubai Festival City cluster and joins the InterContinental Dubai Festival City, InterContinental Residences, Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City.

Pascal Gauvin, Managing Director, India, Middle East and Africa, IHG said: “Dubai Festival City has solidified its position as an entertainment and business destination for travelers and residents alike, and with four operating hotels in the cluster and one in the pipeline, we are well positioned to cater to varied guests’ profiles with wide-ranging requirements.”

Abdallah Hageali, Group Director, Mixed Use Real Estate and Hospitality, Al-Futtaim Group Real Estate commented: “These recent developments complement our offerings in Dubai Festival City and further strengthens the cluster as an attractive lifestyle destination with outstanding facilities that comprise of retail, leisure and entertainment propositions, along with residential, hotels, commercial spaces and educational institutes.”

As of December 31, 2017, IHG has 164 hotels (37,370 rooms) under development in the EMEAA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia) including 52 Holiday Inn (13,209 rooms), 41 Holiday Inn Express (7,686 rooms) and 23 InterContinental Hotels & Resorts (5,701 rooms).