Master developer Nakheel has awarded a Dh185 million ($50.3 million) contract to Parkway International Contracting for the construction of a 375-room hotel at Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai.

Avani Ibn Battuta Mall forms part of Nakheel’s Dh3 billion ($816 million) hospitality expansion under which the developer is bringing 16 new hotels and serviced apartment complexes - with 5,300 rooms - to Dubai, said a statement from Nakheel.

The hotel, which has a total project value of Dh240 million ($65.3 million), is the second at Ibn Battuta Mall and will be operated by Thailand’s Minor Hotel Group under its Avani brand.

With a built-up area of 278,000 sq ft, the 15-floor hospitality project features an all-day restaurant, pool, gym and car park for 135 vehicles. It is located next to the recently-opened link connecting the mall to the Dubai Metro, it stated.

The new property is part of a large-scale, phased expansion at Ibn Battuta that will turn the already highly-popular retail hub into a sprawling mixed-use community, said the statement.

It complements Nakheel’s first hotel at Ibn Battuta - a 372-room Premier Inn that opened last October, it added.-TradeArabia News Service