Barceló expands in the Middle East with the signing of a 230-room hotel in the center of Dubai

Barceló Hotel Group does not stop its pace of expansion and is once again betting on the Middle East to expand its portfolio with a new hotel located in Dubai. As part of its international growth strategy, the hotel chain has agreed with the Swiss developer Foritmo Group to transfer the hotel until now known as Hotel Revier, a 230-room establishment located in the Business Bay business district, near the city center.

The hotel, which opened last 2021, was designed by local architecture firm Edge and has been operated under the seal of the Swiss company Revierwhich has hotels in Austria, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. The developer has entrusted the sale of this asset to the London consulting firm Knight Frank, which has guided the operation, the nature and official amount of which have not been revealed at the close of this article.

Located four kilometers from the Burj Khalifa, the establishment has modern facilities aimed at both leisure tourism and business travelers, including an outdoor pool, gym, several meeting rooms and a gastronomic offer consisting of a restaurant, bar and cafeteria. It also has spacious rooms and suites with views of the Dubai Canal and good connections to the main commercial and financial areas of the city.

For the Balearic chain, the operation is part of its desire to expand its portfolio at a rate of 20 openings per year, as it is undertaking this year. After strengthening its presence in the Maldives, Bahrain, Portugal, France, Cape Verde and Malaysia, Barceló is making a name for itself in Dubai, where in recent years it has taken control of hotels such as Dukes The Palm, Barcelo Al Jaddaf, Barcelo Residences Dubai Marina and Western Grand Sharjah.

In recent meetings with the media, the CEO of the hotel division for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Raúl González, already envisioned opportunities in this region, both as a sending and receiving market. However, the group does not take its focus off of Europe, where it has just put together a joint venture with the German group KanAm to explore new investment opportunities in the hotel markets of Western and Northern Europe. According to the terms of the agreement, the tandem will pay special attention to four- and five-star business and leisure hotels to convert operations that can range from the repositioning of assets to the conversion of offices into hotels.

“The idea is to grow in the countries where we were already present because we are in many countries with a testimonial presence, but we also grow in markets where we are not because we see good opportunities,” González himself highlighted a month ago about his expansion. At the end of the year, Barceló plans to have invested around 500 million euros in the acquisition of new assets and renovations of existing properties. Under this rhythm, the group hopes to bookend 2025 as another record year for its business after earn 300 million in the last year supported by the great performance of its hotel division