Hotel Review: Ibn Battuta Gate, Dubai, top business choice
Posted on 09 September 2010 with 2 comments from readers
The Ibn Battuta Gate hotel opens on October 1st and ArabianMoney got a sneak preview of this fabulous new business property. It is run by Movenpick. But the very impressive Arabian interior design is light years away from the usual drab minimalism of this Swiss hotel chain.
Step into the Grand Hall or lobby and you have a massive space with 88 eastern-style lanterns dropping from a height of some 30 metres. It is also the gateway to six restaurants based around the travels of the 14th century Arabian adventurer Ibn Battuta.
Innovative restaurants
You have the spices of India, Morocco and Egypt as well as the delights of China and Italy. Each is making an effort to be something different and not just another typical Dubai restaurant. This travel theme is carried over into the 396-room interiors with a different nation represented on each of the 10 floors of this hotel from Morocco to China and Russia.
But this luxury five-star hotel is aimed squarely at the business traveler with the fast Dubai Metro for door-to-door connection to the Dubai World Trade Centre exhibition complex, and being handy for the Jebel Ali Free Zone companies up the Sheikh Zayed Road and also via the Metro. There are 10 meeting rooms, some with private dining rooms attached, and a ballroom for conferences of up to 250 people.
It also has easy access to the Ibn Battuta shopping mall and is bound to be a hit with the GCC leisure traveler who will appreciate both the retail and Arabian charms of this hotel. For the best accomodation choose one of the 29 guest suites again with a clear national theme, or the unusual option of three interconnecting rooms.
Roof top pool
On the roof is a large swimming pool and the hotel has a spa with an extensive range of treatments. When the two Movenpick properties on the Palm Jumeirah open later this year and next guests from the Ibn Battuta will have access to their beach facilities.
For this is just the start of a marathon opening season for Movenpick. Next will be the 216-room Movenpick Deira, again mainly for business guests. By the end of the year the 283-room Royal Amwaj Resort & Spa on the Palm Jumeirah will offer water villas in an Asian-inspired, low-rise luxury development.
To complete the Movenpick line-up the 324-room Oceana Hotel & Spa will open early next year on the trunk of the Palm Jumeriah, a contemporary beach property of stunning design. Its West 14th New York grill and bar opened this summer as a part of the new Oceana Beach Club.
Movenpick is promising highly competitive room rates for the rest of the year with a special corporate rate for Jebel Ali companies.
2 Comments posted by readers:
Does the market need all this supply of hotel rooms?
To answer your question M. Although not every room may be utilised that are available in Dubai. this does give everyone a great choice with the option to be able to bargain for a cheaper room through discount and eventually hotels may have to reduce its prices which in turn will bring more people to Dubai through reduced costs. Then the supply of hotel rooms will increase.