3 Dec 2007

Interserve, the services, maintenance and building group, has just completed a brand new, five star hotel, the first for the Raffles Hotel Group, in the Wafi development in Dubai.

The hotel opened in November 2007 and is located in Wafi City, adjacent to the Wafi Mall and just 10 minutes from Dubai International Airport. The prominent landmark is built in the form of a stunning pyramidal structure and is a striking feature on the Dubai skyline.

Interserve's associate company in Dubai, Khansaheb Civil Engineering, was the main contractor to hotel owner, MKM Commercial Holding LLC. Construction started in 2005. At the peak of activity Khansaheb had 2,500 employees involved on the site. The project features a 101m-tall structure with a central core and three wings, making a pyramid-shaped hotel with car parking for more than 1,000 vehicles.

Ian Gordon, Interserve General Manager in Dubai, said: "This was our sixth major development in Wafi City. The 19-storey construction of the hotel provided us with a challenging engineering project."

Raffles Dubai has 255 rooms in total. The hotel's interiors draw design elements from both the Middle East and Asia. Columns intricately carved with Egyptian hieroglyphs decorate the hotel's lobby, continuing the ancient Egyptian theme that inspired the hotel's pyramidal structure.

Each of the 248 rooms at Raffles Dubai occupies at least 70 square metres and has a private balcony with panoramic views of the city.  The hotel also includes Raffles Hotels & Resorts' lifestyle concept, Raffles Amrita Spa and nine restaurants and bars. For meetings and conferences there are seven large meeting rooms, a ballroom for 600 guests and a Business Centre.

Interserve's recent projects in Dubai include the Mall of the Emirates and Bab Al Shams Desert Resort and Spa.