The Dubai Festival City – a waterfront ‘city-within-a-city’ being built on the banks of Dubai Creek – has chosen the InterContinental Hotels Group to manage its planned marina-view conference hotel.

The 500-room InterContinental Dubai Festival City Hotel, to be built at a cost of Dh600 million ($163 million),  is scheduled to open in January 2007. The high-rise hotel tower will also have 100 executive apartments and 3,000 sq m of conference and banquet facilities.
The InterContinental Dubai Festival City Hotel will be an integral part of the project’s ‘Crescent’ – the 2.5 million sq ft retail and entertainment destination due to become a focal point for downtown Dubai.
The Crescent, due to open in 2006, will also have 400 shops, cafes and restaurants, as well as 10 international flagship stores. It has a unique architectural concept, dominated by generous civic plazas and waterfront experiences, says a spokesman for the Al Futtaim Group, one of the UAE's leading trading firms and a developer of the project
“The Crescent, which is now under construction, will be the jewel in the crown of Dubai Festival City with a Festival Square reminiscent of some of the premier marketplaces in the world,” said Omar Al Futtaim, chief executive of the Al-Futtaim Group.
“This is the first hotel offering to be developed as part of Dubai Festival City’s three hotels, which all form part of phase I. Dubai Festival City will boast in excess of 1,000 hotel rooms in its phase I development, with an additional 1,000 rooms expected to be developed as part of its remaining phases,” said Futtaim.
“The InterContinental Hotels Group was selected among many other hotel operators for its reputation for operating some of the world’s most preferred hotels. This conference hotel will help meet a growing demand from the international meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions sector for world-class facilities in Dubai,” he added.
“This property, as with the project, will be a centreplace destination in Dubai allowing guests access to a range of sporting, retail and entertainment facilities just two kilometres from Dubai International Airport.”
Two other hotel properties are planned for the first phase of Dubai Festival City. Among them is a 170-room boutique hotel to be built within the project’s Al Badia Golf Resort.
The Al Badia Golf Resort is to have an iconic clubhouse and academy overlooking the ninth and 18th greens, with spectacular waterfall views.
Designed by the celebrated Wimberley Allison, Ton & Goo (WATG) – a premier design consultant for the hospitality, leisure and entertainment industries of the US – the clubhouse will feature an atrium spike outlet and indoor dining terrace, a formal restaurant, lounge and mezzanine bar, academy sports outlet, patio, function room, a presentation and dining terrace as well as a viewing and function terrace. It is due to open in April 2005 with a temporary clubhouse in place until then. Rice, Perry Ellis has been appointed as local project architects.
The clubhouse is designed in a wrapping form of golden roofs, stone and blue glass culminating in a central atrium, where an interior oasis is planned and there will be extensive water features throughout. The lower roofs sweep around the terrace providing shade and the use of palm trees perfectly matches the Al Badia theme – ‘Land Of The Bedouins.’
“This is more than just another clubhouse; it will be a focal point of the Al Badia community. The grand atrium is surrounded by amenities, including the restaurant, bar, lounge, pro shop and banquet facility – all having dramatic surrounding views of the course and lakes,” said Roger Morris, general manager, Al Badia Golf Resort.
The academy will have a driving range and chipping green, pro shops and a hi-tech swing analysis rooms. Sports and leisure facilities will be available in the boutique hotel on the course.
The entire landscaping of the Al Badia course is due to be completed by the end of May – transforming the Creekside setting.
“We have three distinct landscaping themes running throughout the course which gives it great variety,” said Morris. “There is a coastal theme for the waterfront area, an inland theme, which is reminiscent of forestry, and a stream theme, which reflects tranquillity.”
The Al Badia course has been designed to capture an oasis feel with the expansive use of water features and a touch of the desert created by Robert Trent Jones II’s unique ‘Rivers of Sand’ concept.
Dubai Festival City is being developed on 1,600 acres on the banks of Dubai’s historic Creek. Comprising 15 distinct development zones, Dubai Festival City  is the Middle East’s largest, privately-funded mixed-use real estate project. It will comprise a unique mix of entertainment, dining, shopping, edutainment, sport and leisure facilities, automotive dealerships, hotels, a marina, residential and office components.