Receiving the Best New Hotel Award on behalf of The Address Downtown Burj Dubai is Marc Dardenne, CEO, Emaar Hospitality Group, pictured with (left) AHIC co-organiser Jonathan Worsley, and (right) Clive Hillier, CEO, Vision Hospitality Asset Management, chairman of the judging panel, and Edmund o'Sullivan, AHIC co-organiser. — Photo by MEED (Middle East Economic Digest)
AHIC organisers pictured with judging panel chair, Cristina Lanao-Rossel, director of Business Development at WATG presenting the award for Best Hotel Innovation award to the Four Seasons Beirut. — Photo by MEED (Middle East Economic Digest)
Hyatt in Dubai scooped the award for Best Hotel Staff Accommodation at the AHIC Development Awards 2009, a recognition of the specific requirement in the region where the majority of the staff come from overseas. Sponsors and chair of the award were Arin Maercks, Executive Director of Gulf Housing Solutions and Nina Johnson Bennet, MD of Management Search Executive, pictured with the winner and AHIC co-organisers. — Photo by MEED (Middle East Economic Digest)

Dubai – On the final day of the Fifth Arabian Hotel Investment Conference (AHIC), awards were presented to regional hotels judged to have achieved excellence in the fields of design, innovation and staff accommodation.

Best New Hotel Award went to The Address in Downtown Burj Dubai, recognised for its integrity of design and service excellence, while the Six Senses Hideaway, Zighy Bay, Oman and Holiday Inn Express, Safa Park, Dubai received certificates of merit.

The award for Best Hotel Innovation was presented to the Four Seasons Beirut, opening later this year in the Lebanese capital. Unique properties of the waterfront hotel include earthquake design with a floating structure, an open-air pool 120 metres above ground, the highest sky bar in Beirut and direct tunnel access to a marina. Other contenders for this award were the Anantara Resort & Spa at Blue City, Oman and V...Greece, The World in Dubai.

A new award for 2009 was for the best staff accommodation in the region's hotels, and this was won by the Hyatt's Sahari Village in Dubai, a resort style accommodation complex for the company's three hotels in the city with a central entertainment village, concierge services and a range of social and sports activities from yoga to cricket tournaments. Certifications of merit were also presented to the InterContinental, Port Ghalib, Egypt; The Village, JW Marriott Dubai and The Fairmont Dubai.

The Arabian Hotel Investment Conference ran from May 2-4, 2009 at Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah Convention Centre and was jointly organised by Bench Events and MEED.

Details can be found on .

Diana Gregory
+971 (0) 4 375-7987
MEED (Middle East Economic Digest)

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