Hospitality Design - January/February 2014 - 89

Doha

> With a fast growing economy, the tourism authority given
the mission to develop the country into a leading meetings destination,
a massive investment program by the government that includes a new
airport and cruise ship terminal, and the 2022 World Cup on the horizon,
Doha, Qatar, is experiencing its own surge in development. According
to Bruce Ford, senior vice president of Lodging Econometrics, there are
25 new hotels in the construction pipeline with 15 under construction
and six openings planned for both 2014 and 2015. "It doesn't really sound
impressive, but with only 39 business class hotels open in the city, you are
talking about adding 17 hotels between 2013 and 2015. That's a 44 percent
increase in new room supply-it's significant," he explains, mentioning
that loosening developing restrictions has also fueled the growth.
"Doha is a rapidly developing city with one of the fastest growing hotel
markets in the Middle East, and its strategic location within the Gulf
makes it an attractive destination for both business and leisure travel," adds
Yoav Gery, chief development officer at Morgans Hotel Group.
Morgans is currently working on a 270-room Mondrian, which will
boast an indoor/outdoor rooftop pool bar. After opening a Sheraton, W, and
St. Regis in the city, Starwood Hotels & Resorts recently announced the
365-room Westin Doha Hotel & Spa, located downtown near the Museum
of Islamic Art and with interiors by DSGN. Rotana will soon add its second
property in the city center shopping complex with 287 guestrooms, 94
serviced apartments, and five F&B venues. In 2015, Pullman will enter
the West Bay area, the upscale business district of the city (which will
soon be home to a new convention center) with a 468-key hotel. Waldorf
Astoria will make its debut nearby in 2016, with 250 rooms and 80 serviced
apartments set within 42 stories. And both a 272-room Shangri-La and a
238-room Traders Hotel are planned for the commercial heart of the city.
"Doha is a world class city," says designer Jeffrey Ornstein, principal

1. A rendering of the
planned Hilton Erbil
Hotel & Spa.

Kurdistan

> After years of political unrest, oil-wealthy Iraq-
namely Kurdistan-is becoming a destination unto itself. According to a
study by HVS Dubai, some 2.2 million visitors traveled to the Iraqi semiautonomous region in 2012, representing a 30.2 percent increase over
2011. Much of this is land travel-66 percent of the total visitation was
from within Iraq-but at the same time, international travel increased
almost tenfold between 2007 and 2012. "Until the very recent happenings,
Kurdistan was considered a safe place in Iraq that has attracted increasing
foreign domestic investment (FDI) over the last couple of years. Other
parts of Iraq are still suffering political instability and negative economic
growth," says Hala Matar Choufany, regional managing director, HVS
Global Hospitality Services Dubai.
With only two internationally branded properties (there's a Rotana
and a Ramada) the area is ripe for development. And early adopters-
Hilton, Marriott, Kempinski, Sheraton, Best Western, and Hyatt have all
announced plans to enter the region-are confident the opportunities

1. Blue Restaurant at
the Grand Heritage
Doha.

of J/Brice Design, who has not only done work here, but also throughout
Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Egypt. His most notable Qatar project, the Grand
Heritage Doha Hotel & Spa, is one of the hotel anchors of the Aspire
Zone-the city's unique sports venue, which also features athletic health
and education centers. The hotel is unique as well: the Sheikh saw a
French chateau in South America and wanted to re-create it, coupled with
a classic London interior aesthetic. "A French chateau in the desert? I was
a little nervous at first. I thought it could look a little Disneyland. But the
quality of the buildout looks authentic, and it's become a destination for
local Qataris."
Ornstein's suggestion for doing work in Doha and the Middle East:
have patience. "You have to be on their [the owners'] agenda. They don't
move quickly and have no sense of timing. Part of that is they don't need
to finance the projects-they have the money themselves." And make a
local alliance, he adds. "I would not suggest going there if you don't know
someone who could open doors-you will get the runaround."

outweigh the challenges of this untapped market. "Kurdistan has really
flourished as a world-class business and tourism destination over the
past few years and is attracting travelers from around the world," says
Carlos Khneisser, vice president of development, Middle East and Africa
for Hilton Worldwide, which has three hotels in development to open by
2017-the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Erbil; the DoubleTree by Hilton
Sulaymaniyah; and the Hilton Erbil Hotel & Spa.
Much of the development is happening in Erbil. "Located in the
northern Kurdistan region, Erbil escaped the worst disruption caused by
the Iraq War and is now blossoming into a modern business and tourism
hub," explains Glenn de Souza, vice president of international operations,
Asia and the Middle East for Best Western International, which is opening
two hotels in Erbil.
A planned Marriott has been upgraded to a JW Marriott, thanks
largely in part to the contemporary design by Dubai-based LWDesign
Group. Expect a soaring 66-foot-tall atrium boasting 3D artwork, clusters
of hanging pendant lights, and decorative metal screens backed by smoked
mirror panels. Of the various F&B outlets, the hotel's top floor steakhouse
will be dark and ambient with horn-inspired chandeliers, high-backed
leather chairs, backlit custom wine displays, and walls imprinted with
branding stamps. A sense of place will be achieved in guestrooms through
a Mashrabiya-inspired carpet pattern and a Perspex box-encased artwork
based on the contours of Kurdistan's land with butterflies representing the
region's wildlife. "The capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region calls
itself 'the second Dubai' because of its many new shopping malls, hotels,
and skyscrapers under construction," explains Claudia Mitcham, an
associate with LWD Interiors, a division of LWDesign Group. "However,
unlike Dubai, humans have lived here for nearly 10,000 years making it
one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. With a beautiful
citadel in its center and stunning countryside, it has been capturing the
world's attention."

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