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Pearl Dubai drives talks for McLaren brand hotel, homes | thenational.ae

The developer of the Dubai Pearl mixed-use project is in talks with the Formula One racing group McLaren to brand a hotel and homes on the site. Abdul Majeed Ismail al Fahim, the chairman of Pearl Dubai, which is developing the Dh15 billion (US$4.08bn) project, said the initial terms of the deal had been agreed, although a contract had not been signed. The alliance would be announced when “the time is right”, he added. The proposed venture would follow a similar deal struck earlier this year with MGM Mirage, the Las Vegas leisure operator.

James Robert Wilson has been appointed as General Manager at Dusit Thani Dubai

In 2000, Mr. Wilson joined Dusit International taking on his first challenge as the General Manager of Pathumwan Princess, Bangkok. With his strong leadership and guidance, the hotel became the first of Dusit International’s hotels to receive an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 Certification, certifying a quality management system. Pathumwan Princess has become one of the group’s top performing hotels. Mr. Wilson pursued an enduring career with Dusit International. In 2005, he was awarded as Thailand’s “General Manager of the Year” by Jacobs Creek & Thai Hospitality Magazine. After six years of outstanding performance, he was appointed as Vice President of Operations who oversaw the restructuring, renovation, hotel operations and new openings for all Dusit Princess Hotels & Resorts, which eventually led him to overlook all Dusit International’s five brands. His responsibility extends from developing standards and implementing procedures to supporting new projects being welcomed to the Dusit International chain. Graduating in Hotel Catering and Institutional Management Association from the University of Ulster, UK, with a postgraduate diploma in Administrative and Legal Studies, as well as graduating as an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators (ACIS), Mr. Wilson established a career in prominent international hotels such as the InterContinental Hotels Group, Swallow Hotels, and First Stop Hotels International. He first became General Manager at the young age of 32 for Swallow Hotel, East Kilbride, Glasgow UK.

Serge Zaalof has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer and GM Atlantis, The Palm at Atlantis, The Palm

In his new role, Zaalof will be responsible for overall operations of Atlantis, The Palm, and will be actively involved as a member of the executive management team in the strategic growth and development of Kerzner International. An accomplished hotel executive, Zaalof was most recently Chief Executive of wasl Hospitality, owner and operator of 7 hotels in Dubai, totaling 2,200 rooms, including the flagship hotels Grand Hyatt and The Westin. Prior to that role, Serge spent 10 years with the Jumeirah Group. He will be based in Dubai and will report directly to Mr. Leibman. Mr. Zaalof spent 10 years with the Jumeirah Group, building both the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and the Madinat Resort into leading resorts. He began his career with Jumeirah as General Manager of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel in 1998.

Dubai hotels incentives pay off as visitors return

Dubai hotels experienced a substantial improvement in performance last month following sharp declines in revenues in the first half of the year, as promotional efforts start to have an effect. Occupancy levels for Dubai hotels increased last month compared with June, but were down from last year. Occupancy was 65.1 per cent last month compared with 71.7 per cent in July of last year.

All about the Hydropolis Underwater Hotel, Dubai | designbuild-network.com

Currently under construction in Dubai, Hydropolis will be the world's first luxury underwater hotel. It will include three elements: the land station, where guests will be welcomed, the connecting tunnel, which will transport people by train to the main area of the hotel, and the 220 suites within the submarine leisure complex. It is one of the largest contemporary construction projects in the world, covering an area of 260 hectares, about the size of London's Hyde Park.

Hartmut Noack has been appointed as General Manager at Best Western Premier Creek Hotel

Mr. Noack did his initial hotel training at the Professional College Hotel Industry Wuppertal, Germany. Today, he has over 30 years experience in hotel operations and is also a former holder of Ramada International’s Asia-Pacific General Manager of the Year Award. He was most recently General Manager at the 252-room Hanoi Horizon Hotel in Vietnam. Previously he was general manager of Ramada Hotel, Dubai, UAE, and Okan Intercontinental Astana, Kazakhstan. He has also held senior positions with Crown Plaza, Shangri-La and Hilton. Mr. Noack’s other distinctions include the fact that he is an ISO 14001 certified auditor and has particularly well-developed human resources management skills. He cites sports, computer, travelling and reading among his passions when not on the job. Reporting to the Director of Operations Asia, Mr. Noack will assume his duties effective May 30, 2009.