Complete refurbishment of Jebel Ali begins

A refurbishment of the hotel’s rooms and facilities is set for completion in December 2009

Dubai’s pioneering resort hotel Jebel Ali Hotel, a legend in the hospitality industry, is currently at the centre of a major refurbishment programme to restore and renovate the rooms, restaurants and meeting facilities.

While the existing structure and lobby of the hotel will not be changed, almost everything else is being stripped down and redone to reflect current contemporary interior design.

Jebel Ali Hotel is situated within the 128-acre Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa and while its refurbishment programme continues, the rest of the resort and Palm Tree Court & Spa hotel remains fully operational and open for guests. The 260 revamped rooms, outlets and conference facilities of Jebel Ali Hotel will open again in December 2009 in time to welcome guests for the festive period.

“We are extremely excited about this project and look forward to an impressive outcome. The refurbishment is great news for our repeat loyal guests and we’re sure the new rooms will also attract new guests which would like to experience Jebel Ali Hotel’s great value for money and access to the vast resort facilities,” said David Thomson, General Manager of Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa.

Originally opened in 1981 Jebel Ali Hotel was the first hotel to be built in the beach resort now known as Jebel Ali Golf Resort & Spa. Over the next decade and a half the resort facilities gradually grew as horse riding stables and a private marina were added in addition to the Jebel Ali Shooting Club, which opened in 1995 and later hosted the World Shotgun Championships.

The 9-hole championship standard golf course, the only 9-hole course to have been played by the world’s greatest golfers then opened in 1998. Palm Tree Court, the resort’s second hotel featuring luxury suites and junior suites, opened in the same year to which was added a world class spa in 2003.

In 2005 two state-of-the-art football pitches were added to the sporting facilities at the Jebel Ali International Centre of Excellence which rapidly became the preferred warm weather training centre for many top European clubs.

The resort further expanded its facilities in 2007 when it commissioned a Bio Garden as an environmental experiment to grow its own fresh quality produce and help reduce the resort’s carbon footprint. Originally started with an area of just 120sqm, the Bio Garden is now over 1,000sqm and has resulted in the resort being self-sufficient for all its herbal requirements and a fair amount of vegetables. The fresh ingredients are currently included on the menu at the award-winning Signatures restaurant, which was launched in 2008 as a contemporary dining venue serving ‘cuisine with a conscience’.

The resort’s latest offering is a dive centre operated by Al Boom Diving, which follow in the footsteps of Seawings who operate seaplane flights from the resort’s marina.