Action Hotels, a leading upscale property developer in the Middle East and Australia, plans to invest $8 million in the opening of its first hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The 130-room property, which will see the conversion of an existing office building into a three-star hotel, is ideally located on Olaya Street in the Olaya district, the fast-growing financial and hospitality heart of Riyadh City.

"There is great potential for Action Hotels in the kingdom, and in Riyadh in particular.  Although the Riyadh hotel market is a mature market, there is considerable demand for mid-economy branded hotels from the corporate segment, yet this segment is currently under supplied," said Alain Debare, CEO, Action Hotels.

The conversion project is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2016.

Moreover, Action Hotels has signed a 20-year operating lease agreement, and is finalising the terms of a long-term management agreement with a leading hotel brand.

The addition of this hotel in Riyadh brings the brands development pipeline to nine hotels with 1,514 rooms and a combined operating hotels and committed pipeline to a total of 3,002 rooms.

Sheikh Mubarak A M Al Sabah, founder and chairman of Action Hotels, said: “Saudi Arabia is an attractive market for us, being the largest country in the region and having recently undertaken a widespread, long-term strategy for non-oil economic diversification driving business travel. This new hotel is a great addition to Action Hotels’ portfolio and the prime location of the property is a very strong statement for our first hotel in Saudi Arabia’s capital city.” – TradeArabia News Service