Marriott International to Add 16 Hotels, 3,515 Rooms in Middle East Over the Next Three Years

Marriott Announces 8 New Hotels for UAE Today; All 8 Hotels will Open in 2009.

Washington, MD Marriott International, Inc.’s (NYSE: MAR) Middle East lodging portfolio is expected to increase by 54 percent over the next 36 months as the company adds 16 hotels offering 3,515 rooms through 2010. The additions build on Marriott’s pledge at the 2006 Arabian Travel Market to increase its Middle East room supply by more the 250 percent over five years.

“Middle East tourism is expected to grow significantly over the next decade. We intend to share in this growth by offering a wide range of hotel choices for luxury, deluxe, upper moderate and extended stay travelers,” said Ed Fuller, president and managing director of international lodging for Marriott.

“Recently the World Travel & Tourism Council predicted that tourism will claim about 10 percent of all Middle East investment each year through 2016,” he added. “It is clear that local investors and developers have recognized that travelers prefer our hotel brands and that we have the strongest distribution channels and marketing muscle to virtually ensure a hotel being a success from Day One,” Fuller added.

The Middle East growth is part of Marriott International’s global strategy to increase its hotel portfolio by 85,000 to 100,000 rooms over the next three years with nearly 30 percent of this growth coming from outside the U.S. and Canada.

Half of Marriott International’s new Middle Eastern hotel openings will be in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In 2009, the company plans to open and manage eight hotels in the UAE and make its entry into the Emirates of Ras Al-Khaimah and Sharjah.

Announced today are the following eight hotels:

• The 300-room Ras Al-Khaimah Marriott Resort & Spa. The hotel will join the Marriott lodging system under an agreement with Azuri International FZC. The resort will be part of a large mixed-use development on a man-made bay and will have a 300-meter beachfront. The resort will offer an all-day restaurant, two specialty restaurants, a lobby lounge, themed bar with evening entertainment and a pool bar & grill. Other amenities will include a spa with seven treatment rooms, two outdoor swimming pools (one specifically for families), a kids’ play area with a shallow kids’ pool, two tennis courts, and a water sports and dive center. The resort will also boast a 6,000-square foot ballroom and four 500-square foot interconnecting meeting rooms.

• The 248-room Sharjah Marriott Resort & Spa. Owned by His Highness, Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohamed Al-Thani, the resort will be situated on a 20,500-square meter beachfront site on the “corniche”, close to the border between Sharjah and the Emirate of Ajman. The resort will have three restaurants and a non-alcoholic lobby lounge, a cigar lounge and a pool café and grill. Its lobby will feature Marriott’s new open-space “great room” concept. For social events and conferences, the resort will have 16,054 square feet of meeting space and six additional meeting rooms. Other amenities will include a full spa, a health and leisure club, an outdoor themed swimming pool for families with an adjacent kids’ playground/crèche area, and a water sports/leisure center.

• The 125-unit Marriott Executive Apartments (MEA) Sharjah. Also owned by His Highness, Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohamed Al-Thani, the property will offer residential-style living combined with the indulgences of deluxe hotel services. Each tastefully appointed apartment will have a fully equipped kitchen, washer/dryer, security safe and storage, dedicated work area and desk, double phone and fax lines with voice mail and private line, as well as TV and VCR. For dining and recreation, the property will share facilities with the adjacent resort but will also have an informal food kiosk with an internet café, a private residents’ lounge and a fitness room.

• The 170-room JW Marriott Hotel Dubai Lifestyle City. Owned by ETA Star Projects LLC, the hotel will be the second luxury-tier JW Marriott branded property in Dubai. It will be located adjacent to the Dubai Lifestyle City golf course and will include 102 chalets, 68 spacious guest rooms, three restaurants, a 400-square meter ballroom for social events and conferences and a 2,500-square meter spa.

• The 152-room Courtyard by Marriott Dubai Lifestyle City. Also owned by ETA Star Projects LLC, the property will be connected to the JW Marriott Hotel by an underground tunnel and will be situated next the Sports Academy. Serving upper moderate-tier travelers who require consistent, welcoming accommodations and an informal, warm atmosphere, the hotel will have an all-day dining restaurant.

• The 46-unit Marriott Executive Apartments Dubai Lifestyle City.The third Marriott International brand in ETA Star Projects’ Dubai Lifestyle City development will be located next to the Courtyard hotel and will be connected to the Courtyard by an underground floor. Like other MEAs, the property will be comprised of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and will have a small food and beverage outlet among its other amenities.

• The 356-room Renaissance Dubai Motorcity. Owned by Union Properties PJSC, the hotel will be situated on the southwestern part of Dubai Motorcity’s race circuit along Sheikh Zayed Road. It will be connected to a retail mall and will occupy the lower 22 floors of a 45-story tower. A deluxe category hotel designed for travelers for whom living life to the fullest is a primary objective, the contemporary and sleek Renaissance Dubai Motorcity will have 35 suites with balconies that face the race track. For dining and entertainment, the hotel will have three restaurants, a sports bar and a lobby lounge. Recreational amenities will include a health club, two swimming pools and a 14,000-square foot luxury spa. For social events and conferences, the hotel will offer 15,516 square feet of conference space.

• The 250-room Courtyard by Marriott Dubai Motorcity. Also owned by Union Properties PJSC, the hotel will be part of the Formula 1 Theme Park section of the complex and will be situated on the northeastern part of the race circuit. It will be enough like home to provide comfort, security and escape while also enabling guests to stay on top of their work requirements and to have easy access to connectivity.

“When these eight hotels open in the UAE, the Marriott International lodging portfolio will more than double in that country in terms of properties and rooms,” said Mr. Fuller.

Also opening in 2009 are the previously announced 171-unit Marriott Executive Apartments Cairo Nile Dolphin and the 300-room JW Marriott Aqaba Resort in Jordan.

Other Marriott International hotels scheduled to open in the Middle East over the next 36 months are the following previously announced properties:

• 190-unit Bahrain Marriott Executive Apartments (2007)
• 257-room Renaissance Doha Hotel (2008)
• 204-room Courtyard by Marriott Doha (2008)
• 123-unit Marriott Executive Apartments Doha (2008)
• 323-room Renaissance Bahrain Amwaj Island Hotel (2008)
• 300-room Renaissance Dubai Marina (2010)

The Marriott International lodging portfolio in the Middle East currently consists of 22 hotels in seven countries, offering 6,557 rooms, spanning five lodging brands. Marriott opened its first hotel in the Middle East in 1980, the 375-room Riyadh Marriott hotel in Saudi Arabia. These numbers do not include hotel and room counts operated by the company’s The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC which is a separate business unit.