Manama: Bahrain’s only villa-styled five-star resort hotel has major expansion plans lined up in partnership with Avenue Ventures, led by Esam Janahi and
Imaad Zuberi, it has emerged.
The $80 million expansion plan includes enhancement of resort amenities at the Al Areen Palace and Spa and new features at the Lost Paradise of Dilmun water park.
While the resort will increase its wellness centre services and offer a wider variety of holistic treatments, new features to be built include “Bahrain’s longest cascading pool with mini slides”, a children’s pool and alfresco dining and bar along the pool, a statement said.
The Lost Paradise of Dilmun water park will expand by adding new water attractions including rides, slides, restaurants and various other infrastructure improvements to the waterpark.
GDN had earlier reported that multi-million-dollar expansion plans at the resort include
new hotel rooms, a multipurpose hall and serviced apartments.
The report quoted Al Areen Palace and Spa Bahrain general manager Pierre Vasseur as saying that the management has decided to build hotel rooms as a part of the new focus on the corporate market as villas are not ideal for the
hosting of events and conventions.
Spread over 32 acres, the resort currently features 78 luxury villas ranging in size from 660sqm to 780sqm (22 Royal Pool two-bedroom villas and 56 Desert Pool one-bedroom villas) each with a marble courtyard, private gardens, a private pool with underwater lighting and jacuzzi.
Concurring with Mr Vasseur, US-based investor Imaad Zuberi has said that Al Areen Palace and Spa and Lost Paradise of Dilmun have been achieving healthy double digit “revenue generating index” increases in the last two years.
“This has impacted positively, the local tourism sector, with several luxury properties having recently opened in Manama.”
Mr Zuberi said Al Areen Palace and Spa has the highest RevPAR – revenue per available room – in Bahrain.
According to him, the Lost Paradise of Dilmun, is already Bahrain’s biggest water park with more than 20 rides, pools and slides catering to all age groups and demographics, especially families.
“The expansion will allow it to offer more attractions and the addition of a new multi-level parking building will better accommodate the growing number of guests.”
About 25pc of the resort’s guests and water-park visitors are of local origin, with Saudi Arabia (45pc) and Kuwait (30pc), having much larger shares, particularly during public holidays.
Under Esam Janahi of the holding company, the chairman of the project company, Rashad Janahi is actively involved in all the recent development and renovation plans, such as the new Al Areen road, the sustainability programme, the “Go Green campaign” and water recycling plant, as well as future projects.
Mr Rashad said that bahrain and its leadership has been credited for securing an attractive investment climate and safety at all levels which contribute to the investment flow.
“This partnership is based on the good reputation of Bahrain.”
avinash@gdn.com.bh
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