Le Meridien flag flies over the Ritz Kuwait Hotel

Following an extensive nine-month renovation, the established Ritz Kuwait Hotel is to be rebranded as Le Meridien Kuwait. This is the first step for luxury hotel group Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts in a six-project, three-year expansion plan in Kuwait totalling almost 450 rooms plus a conference centre.

The 90-room, city boutique hotel is located on the main Gulf Road, near the landmark Kuwait Towers, with more than half the rooms offering a panoramic sea view.

The hotel is just minutes from the key business, banking and shopping district and 15 minutes from Kuwait International Airport. On price, the Le Meridien Kuwait will be offering five-star service at opening rates starting from KD 42 (effective immediately).

According to the hotel's new general manager, Hannes Yaghi, refurbishment and expansion is already underway with completion expected at the end of this year : "All rooms are undergoing renovation plus there is a restructuring of main restuartant, lobby and a façade enhancement."

The new Le Meridien Kuwait will comprise a multi-dining outlet and a café offering indoor and al fresco settings.

For private meetings and gatherings, a 650 square foot (65 square metre) compact meeting & banqueting room is fully equipped and supported by a state-of-the-art business centre. Meanwhile, a seasoned outside catering team is well-versed in servicing larger functions off-site. Leisure facilities include a health club, sauna and swimming pool.

The first phase of work will be followed in the last quarter of 2004 by the addition of a 120-room tower and a purpose-built conference centre - the first of its kind in the country.

A second 70-unit property in Kuwait City's Fahad Al Salem Street is on stream for a mid 2003 opening as a Le Meridien Art+Tech concept - a contemporary, business-driven environment launched by the group in 2001.

This property will mark the first Art+Tech hotel anywhere in the Middle East and will be followed by a second, 120-unit Art+Tech hotel in the Mubarakia area in 2004. In 2006, a Le Meridien Residence in Salmiya is also confirmed.

The development in Kuwait is driven by Le Meridien's new owning company relationship recently established with A'Amal Holdings, chaired by prominent Kuwaiti businessman, Ahmed Al Abdaly.

Le Meridien has more than two decades of hospitality experience in Kuwait, and with more than 140 hotels and resorts worldwide, the Middle East and West Asia inventory is now nudging 15 per cent per cent of the network total, with 20 properties.

The Middle East and West Asia is earmarked to play a key role in the group's strategy to double the number of hotels in the next couple of years, with suggestions mooting that this footprint could see 40 hotels under management by 2004.