Dubai-based Ramee Group of Hotels plans to invest more than BD40 million ($106.1 million) in Bahrain this year.

Work on a BD20 million hotel has started in Seef, and work on another BD20 million hotel will be launched in Juffair by the middle of this year, said group general manager Shantaram Shetty.

As part of the group's continuous investment, a first-class Kerala restaurant, the first of its kind in Bahrain, was opened at the Ramee Baisan International Hotel in Hoora.

Called Nattinpuram, the restaurant has been decorated in Kerala style with boats and village scenes, by bringing in traditional materials from the southern Indian state.

More than 250 people, including Indian community leaders, attended the opening ceremony.

"The restaurant, which has a seating capacity for more than 120 people, replaces the Al Hoora Banquet Hall in the hotel," said Shetty.

"We have already invested BD75,000 to develop the new outlet. We shall continue similar investments in other parts of Bahrain. Despite recession gripping the region, we are confident in the future of Bahrain as a tourist and investment destination."

Ramee Group has 37 properties in the Gulf and India.

"We started our operations in Bahrain in 1996, and since then our business has been growing steadily," said Shetty. "Currently, we have 10 properties in Bahrain - six hotels and four furnished apartments."

"The hotels and the apartments together offer around 750 rooms," said Shetty. "This will increase to more than 1,000 when the two new four-star hotels are opened."

The new hotel in Seef will have 120 rooms and 40 apartments, and the project is scheduled to be completed by end 2010, said Shetty. "The new hotel in Juffair is in the tendering stage. It will have 120 rooms and 34 apartments," he added. "We recently invested BD350,000 for opening new lounges in Ramee Palace and Baisan." -TradeArabia News Service