Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide will soon open a 172-guestroom Aloft hotel in Al Ain. This will be the first Aloft-branded hotel in the emirate. The property is a newly built one, and Starwood will operate the hotel in accordance with an agreement with Al Ain Club Investment Company. When the hotel is open (that will happen in 2016), Aloft Al Ain will become the second Aloft hotel in the UAE. The debut of the brand in the country happened in 2009, when Starwood opened Aloft Abu Dhabi.
Aloft Al Ain will be a part of a large mixed-use development with the total size of 500 000 sq.m. The complex is located close to the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium with 25,000 seats. In addition to the hotel, the complex will include retail and office space, residential apartments, entertainment and dining facilities. Having recently celebrated the opening of the 75th Aloft hotel, Starwood sees great potential in this brand and plans to expand it not only in the UAE, but also in the Middle East in general. Aloft is a modern brand, and the hotelier hopes it will become popular with tourists, sport enthusiasts and families. As the hotel is located close to the stadium, Aloft brand will offer a combination of “living, working and healthy lifestyle”. The hotel will have 170 modern guestrooms and two presidential suites. The hotel will also feature a cigar lounge, two meeting spaces, and an all-day dining restaurant.
In future, the company plans to open four additional Aloft hotels in the Middle East, namely hotels in Sharjah and Al Ain (the UAE), Erbil (Iraq), and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).