Dubai would soon have its first easyHotel.com property, following the recent launch of work on the first of the series of six such hotels at Al Karama.

Expected to open in early 2008, following a construction period of only eight months, the hotel, will offer 195 rooms in a six-storey structure.
The hotel is being developed by Istithmar Hotels, which has the master franchise for easyHotel.com in the Middle East, the Levant, North Africa, India and Pakistan.
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the entrepreneur who revolutionised air travel in Europe with low-cost carrier easyJet, was in Dubai recently to mark the start of construction.
“The site at Al Karama will be complete and ready to open early next year, by which time we will be well advanced on two further locations in Dubai. easyHotel.com is a brand that will grow with Dubai,” said Joe Sita, chief executive of Istithmar Hotels. The company is investing more than $ 400 million over the next five years, to build 38 easyHotel.com properties in 17 countries.
 easyHotel.com is a completely new concept for hotels in the region. Based on a model already launched in Europe, easyHotel.com provides safe, clean, private rooms, with en suite facilities at the best possible price and at a fraction of the cost of competitors.
The design for easyHotel.com rooms promises to be different. In a world first, the rooms will be pre-fabricated at a single manufacturing site as self-contained units, which are then constructed into a hotel using a “stack, connect and stick” building concept.
 This sees self-structured units stacked on top of each other, connected with pre-fabricated corridor and lift units, and founded on a concrete platform.
A 200-room hotel could be opened within 20 weeks of that concrete podium being completed.  Each room follows a common design, which ensures optimum use of space, while providing guests with what they want most.
“Over the past 10 months, we have invested more than $2.5 million in researching, designing and refining the core room concept. In approximately 15 sq m, each room provides everything that the guest will want - a well-sprung bed, a high pressure shower unit, a work cubicle, and an activity wall that includes flat screen television and broadband internet,” said Sita.
“The core concept is to deliver an absolutely first class ‘sleep and shower’ experience at an affordable price. Our research showed that this, ahead of anything else, is what our guests want from a budget hotel room,” Sita concludes.