The Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, the centrepiece of the $2.5 billion Bahrain Bay development, will open today (March 1), a report said.

It will be officially inaugurated by Deputy Prime Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, and the opening ceremony will be hosted by Four Seasons Hotels Europe, Middle East and Africa senior vice-president for hotel operations Christian Clerc and Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay general manager Greg Pirkle, reported the Gulf Daily News (GDN),our sister publication.

Pirkle expects this month's occupancy rate to reach around 60 per cent.

He told the GDN on opening day, the percentage of Bahraini staff would be 10 per cent.

"At peak capacity, the hotel will have 650 people working in it of which at least 15 per cent would be Bahraini," he added.

The five-star hotel features 273 guest rooms, seven options for indoor-outdoor dining and drinks including three outlets by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, five swimming pools, a spa with 17 treatment rooms, two ballrooms and a "Sky Bridge" with meeting rooms on the 50th and 51st floors.

Located on a man-made island in Bahrain Bay, the hotel has an H-shaped design with two 68-storey towers connected by the sky bridge.

According to GDN's sister publication, The Gulf magazine, the project is expected to have injected BD400 million ($1.061 billion) into the local economy.

However, Pirkle declined to reveal the investment made and said Four Seasons Hotels was the operator on behalf of property owner Bahrain-based Signature Hotel Management Company.

"We got involved in the project at the design stage itself and ground was broken in November 2011. From start to finish, the project has taken about three-and-a-half years, so we have pretty much kept to the schedule," he said.

The hotel's food and beverage outlets will be opened on March 18 in the presence of Michelin-starred chef Wolfgang Puck.

"The celebrity chef is also a partner and his offerings at Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay are: Asian Cuisine, a 50th floor nightspot - the Blue Moon Lounge and Cut by Wolfgang Puck, with the adjacent Cut Bar and Lounge," explained Pirkle.

He said the design and decor of the hotel incorporates a blend of local culture with international themes.

"We have works by Bahraini artists, including a series of ceramic tiles depicting the region's ancient Dilmun culture by Huda Al Saie," he said.

"Interiors are by Pierre Yves Rochon, inspired by ocean liners of the 1930s, with Art Deco accents and a calming colour palette, mainly blue, orange and green."

According to Pirkle, unique offerings at the hotel include a 226 sq ft "free form infinity pool" featuring an underwater sound system, the Vento Italian restaurant with motorised floating cabanas, and one of the largest spas in the Four Seasons global portfolio at 3,485 sq m. – TradeArabia News Service