Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, a major Swiss hospitality firm, recently signed an agreement to manage its second property in Riyadh, marking its second hotel in the Saudi capital and its 13th in the kingdom.

Set to open in 2017, the 353-key Mövenpick Hotel Financial District Riyadh will be located in the heart of one of the kingdom’s most ambitious developments to date, home to several financial institutions and multinational corporations, a statement said.

“King Abdullah Financial District is tipped to become Riyadh’s new business hub and our upscale hotel will be well placed to tap into the substantial corporate and meetings industry business this ‘city-within-a-city’ will generate,” said Andreas Mattmüller, chief operating officer, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Middle East and Asia.

“The property’s diverse inventory, spanning 264 rooms, 85 apartments and four bungalows, will meet the demands of short-term guests attending meetings and conferences and long-stay executives.”

Additional facilities will include four dining outlets including two speciality restaurants, meeting rooms, a banquet hall, health club and gym.

Mövenpick Hotel Financial District Riyadh will follow hot off the heels of Mövenpick Hotel Riyadh’s opening this year, which will mark the hospitality firm’s debut in the Saudi capital, the statement said.

The KAFD property will also take Mövenpick’s Saudi footprint to a total of 13 hotels, spanning some 4,826 rooms, by 2017 – one of the biggest inventories managed by any one single hotel operator in the kingdom.

The Swiss hospitality firm currently operates 3,456 rooms across nine properties across Saudi Arabia, with the four upcoming properties accounting for 1,370 additional rooms.

This will contribute to the 36,865 hotel rooms that STR Global estimates are currently under contract in Saudi Arabia.

In addition to the two new Riyadh properties, Mövenpick will also open its third hotel in Jeddah this year and its third in Al Khobar in 2016.

The five-star Mövenpick Hotel City Star Jeddah will feature 228 upscale units, including 53 suites and 35 executive rooms, and the Mövenpick Residences Al Khobar, located close to the city’s corniche and commercial districts, will offer 270 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. – TradeArabia News Service