St Regis Opens In Dubai, Four Seasons Follows Suit, New Holiday Inn For Manhattan & More

St Regis Dubai Palm

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A brief round-up of some of the hotel news that’s been making the travel headlines recently – Starwood opening new hotels in Dubai and Australia, IHG expanding in New York and Four Seasons opens reservations for its second Dubai hotel.

St Regis Dubai Now Open

The St Regis Dubai recently opened it’s doors to the public as the first of three Starwood hotels due to open next to the Dubai Canal project at the heart of the Al Habtoor City entertainment and hospitality development. The 1,000-room Westin and the 356-room W Hotel are planned to open in the first part of 2016.

St Regis Dubai LocationScreenshot from Google Maps (click to enlarge)

The hotel is described as being a “European-style palace of refined opulence; an oasis of refreshing comforts, where uncompromising quality and innovation enhance a guest’s stay.” – but it has more than a whiff of Las Vegas about it:

St Regis Dubai

The hotel holds 182 guest rooms and 52 suites, including a Bentley Suite and its signature 3-bedroom Royal Suite. With 8 restaurants, an outdoor rooftop pool, 24-hour butler service and its own helipad the property is hardly understated….but I wouldn’t be in too much of a rush to book just yet.

As open as the hotel is, everything else around it is a building site and with the breadth of choice travelers have in Dubai, why would you choose to visit a hotel in the midst of a giant development zone?

The St Regis Dubai is a SPG Category 7 hotel which means award nights start at 30,000 Starpoints and Cash & Points rates are 15,000 Starpoints + $275.

Cash prices during the “tolerable heat” month are in  the order of  $500-$600/night + taxes/fees and those trop into the $300-$400/night + taxes/fees range during the hottest months of the year.

Starwood Announces A Second St Regis Property In Dubai

Before the first St Regis in Dubai has finished its first month of trade Starwood have announced a second St Regis to be built in the Emirate.

The St Regis Dubai – The Palm is planned for completion in 2018 and will form part of Palm Tower, a 52-storey mixed-use development at the centre of Palm Jumeirah island.

The newer St Regis will be home to 289 guestrooms, including 23 suites, occupying the first 18 floors of The Palm Tower, while the upper floors will be made up of over 50o luxury apartments.

St Regis Dubai Palm

The hotel will feature two swimming pools, including one of the world’s highest infinity pools on the 50th floor, over 700 ft up! The pool will face all four sides of the building, offering views of Palm Jumeirah, Arabian Gulf and the Dubai skyline.

If the pool isn’t your thing but you’d like to see the view that’s fine as there will be a public rooftop viewing deck on the 52nd floor.

The Sheraton Adelaide Hotel Announced

The Sheraton Adelaide will stand at the center of a mixed-use development featuring luxury residential apartments, office and retail space located at 88 O’Connell Street.

Sheraton Adelaide LocationScreenshot from Google Maps (click to enlarge)

The Sheraton Adelaide will feature 160 guest rooms and two restaurants along with a range of leisure facilities, including a state-of-the-art fitness center and indoor swimming pool. Business guests will have a variety of work spaces and meeting rooms to choose from, including a 3300 square foot ballroom and more than 7500 square feet of function space, as well as an additional pre-function area.

Per the press release:

Located on one of Adelaide’s most affluent boulevards, Sheraton Adelaide sits within a new luxury residential, retail and hotel development at the long-vacant former Le Cornu site on O’Connell Street – a hub of restaurants, cafes, pubs and boutiques, lined with striking Victorian architecture. Set to be an iconic development, 88 O’Connell Street includes the new Sheraton hotel and a 16-story apartment tower, along with a diverse mix of retail stores and restaurants, all spread over eight buildings linked by a piazza and gardens. The development will bring a new and dynamic environment for locals and visitors alike, to work, play and relax amongst the sophisticated surroundings of North Adelaide.

The hotel is scheduled to open in 2019.

IHG Opens A New Holiday Inn In Manhattan

IHG have announced the opening of their 271-room Holiday Inn New York City – Times Square property in central Manhattan.

Holiday In Times SquareImage courtesy of IHG

The 35-story Holiday Inn New York City – Times Square features 120 king and 151 double-double rooms, 24-hour business and fitness centers, flight check-in kiosk and Guest Link technology, which provides guest room charging and TV connections.

Guests can also enjoy breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night bites at Rattle N Hum West Craft Beer Bar & Kitchen, which offers various casual dishes and 49 microbrews on tap. Up to four kids 12 and younger may eat free when ordering from the kids’ menu in the hotel restaurant and accompanied by a dining adult.

If their website and prices are anything to go by I’m less than impressed.

First of all, if you’re announcing a new hotel you really should have more photos available than the one of a sparse, brown, 1970s-throwback guestroom (see above).

Secondly, when I can book the Grand Hyatt New York for $399….

grand-hyatt-new-york

…IHG probably shouldn’t be calling their $396.20 rate (for the exact same dates) “low”:

holiday-inn-times-square

Still, at those prices, the IHG rewards rate of 35,000 points looks good value:

holiday-inn-times-square

Bearing in mind that you can purchase IHG points for 0.7 cents each that would bring the cost of the room down to $245/night including taxes.

Four Seasons Taking Reservations For Second Dubai Location

The existing Four Seasons property in Dubai opened in 2014 and sits on the ever-popular Jumeirah Beach but this new Four Seasons should be very different.

Situated in the heart of Dubai’s financial district the contrast between the Four Seasons at the beach and this, new Four Seasons, is apparent.

The Four Seasons Dubai International Financial Centre (not the quickest name to say!) will have just 106 guestrooms, including 28 suites (half the number of rooms of its sister property) and walkways connect the hotel to the numerous offices eateries and retail outlets that the Dubai International Financial Centre offers. 4 restaurants, lounges and bars, 5 spa treatment rooms and a rooftop pool with 360 degree views round off the property’s offerings.

Four Seasons has put together a short video to showcase its new Dubai property.

The hotel is now taking reservations from 15 April 2016 with rates for the entry-level room (superior room) coming in at around AED 1,350/night + taxes/fees ($367/night + taxes and fees).