The Latest in Luxury Resort & Real Estate News

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Marriott to Open New Abu Dhabi Hotel Projects

(ABU DHABI, UAE) -- Marriott International announced today that it has signed agreements with Real Estate Group LLC, a subsidiary of Bloom Properties, to manage two properties in Abu Dhabi, UAE.  Opening in 2014, the hotels are the 315-room Abu Dhabi Marriott Hotel and 64-unit Marriott Executive Apartments Abu Dhabi City Center

They will be part of Bloom Central, a mixed-use development including 16,200 square meters of office and residential space on Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum St. (Airport Road), one of Abu Dhabi's main access roads to the city's central business district. The site is a 20-minute drive from Abu Dhabi International Airport.

"We are delighted to introduce our upscale Marriott Hotels & Resorts and Marriott Executive Apartment brands in Abu Dhabi and by the continued expansion of our lodging brands portfolio in the United Arab Emirates," said Ed Fuller, president & managing director of international lodging for Marriott International. "The Middle East continues to be one of the most attractive tourism areas in the world and we are confident these two properties will be welcomed additions to the hospitality sector of the market."

Designed to inspire and energize, the Abu Dhabi Marriott Hotel will feature contemporary and stylishly appointed interiors that blend the latest in residential design, bold color, dramatic lighting and real comfort. Guest rooms will have Marriott's renowned plush bed and bath amenities, internet access and flat screen television.

Its restaurants and lounges will focus on modern classics with quality ingredients, foundational cooking and updated presentations.  For dining and entertainment, the hotel will have a casual restaurant serving three meals daily, a specialty restaurant, a lounge that will flow into a spacious, open lobby area and a roof-level pool-bar. Its recreational amenities will include a health and leisure club that will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week with a variety of cardio, strength training and stability equipment and an outdoor, roof-top swimming pool, spa and fitness center.

The 64-unit Marriott Executive Apartments Abu Dhabi City Center will offer the convenience of five-star, full service hotel facilities with the space, ambience and privacy of residential living and the assurance and security of a Marriott hospitality experience.   The property will provide a range of tastefully furnished one-, two- and three-bedroom units that will include a full kitchen and laundry, flat screen television, internet access and in-unit safe. Guests will also have access to a private resident's lounge for relaxing or private entertaining and a separate swimming pool and fitness center as well as a number of other amenities such as private storage, weekly maid service and shopping service.

The Abu Dhabi Marriott Hotel is part of a continued global expansion of Marriott International's original, iconic business and leisure hotel brand, designed for frequent travelers who want to make the most of every opportunity presented by travel. Currently there are more than 500 Marriott branded hotels in 60 countries globally.

Marriott Executive Apartments are all located outside of North America and are designed for executive expats staying in a destination for 30-plus nights, usually on temporary assignment or relocation.

The Marriott International lodging portfolio in the UAE today consists of seven properties including the JW Marriott Hotel Dubai, the Ritz-Carlton Dubai, the Ritz-Carlton Dubai Financial Center, the Dubai Marriott Harbour Hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott Green Community, the Marriott Executive Apartments Dubai and the Marriott Executive Apartments Green Community.

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Vietnam's Danang Golf Club Opens New Clubhouse

(DANANG, VIETNAM) -- Danang Golf Club, the only course in Vietnam built in the spirit of the world's oldest links, has deepened its connection to the game's history with a clubhouse that's as much a shrine as it is a sanctuary.

Erected over 10 months at a cost of close to $5 million, the 4,044-square-meter facility recently opened  with not one space that pays homage to golf's early days, but five: the Persimmon cafe, Gutta Percha function room, Niblick bar, Featherie restaurant and Hickories rooftop lounge.

"If you're going to have a course like the Dunes -- a course that looks like it was transported from the home of golf -- then it only makes sense to stay true to the old-world feel that already exists here," said Howie Roberts, general manager of Danang Golf Club. "Just don't expect to find creaky floor boards or antique furniture -- this is KuDeTa cool."

Similarities to the hip Bali beach club -- Roberts spent several years running golf clubs in Indonesia -- are everywhere apparent in the tri-level clubhouse, the brainchild of award-winning Australian architectural firm Hassell.

Upon entry, guests make their way through a wide corridor flanked left by a spacious, glass-walled pro shop and right by cases of memorabilia honoring Dunes Course designer Greg Norman. Overhead, a deep brown Asian motif provides contrast to the high white ceiling.

From the reception area that marks the end of the hallway, there are five options:

• Bank left into Gutta Percha, a stylish, multi-purpose room with 42-inch plasma TV.

• Pivot right into Niblick, featuring a liquor shelf display with red backlighting that evokes "a posh hotel lobby bar," says Roberts.

• Continue past Niblick into Featherie, a sleek dining venue capable of accommodating up to 140 people at a time.

• Go on through to Persimmon, illuminated during the day by natural light that streams in through the floor-to-ceiling windows; at night that job falls to hanging red and orange silk lanterns synonymous with nearby UNESCO World Heritage town Hoi An.

• Or turn around and venture a few paces to the left toward a stairwell that provides access to the clubhouse's other two levels.

One floor down, golfers encounter three expertly appointed locker rooms. The men's is called the Sandwich Room and the members' is called the Turnberry Room -- a nod to the two British Open venues where Norman hoisted the Claret Jug, the prize for winning one of golf's four major championships.

Upstairs, Hickories beckons with an expansive, open-air terrace offering bird's-eye views of the rugged, seaside course, massive practice green and shapely Marble Mountains.

Danang GC members already know their way around, but this is a resort course. Accordingly, mounted placards mark the entrance to all titled rooms and venues, each with a short description of where the name comes from.

"Golf is new here in Vietnam -- not everyone can pick Norman out in a picture even," admitted Roberts. "We're game to be part of the education process, though. The plaques are testament to this effort."

The Dunes Course at Danang Golf Club opened on Liberation Day last year, celebrated annually in Vietnam on April 30. Less than eight months later, the track was hailed by GOLF Magazine as one of the top 15 courses to open worldwide in 2010.

Norman's first creation in Vietnam weaves its way through (while seamlessly blending into) rough-hewn sand dunes that trundle down to a stretch of beach Forbes magazine voted one of the world's 10 most luxurious in 2005. In fact, the course's signature hole -- the par-3 16th -- backs right up against it.

When complete, Danang Golf Club will also feature a comprehensive, technologically sophisticated golf academy; four- and five-star hotels; and multiple residential enclaves totaling up to 300 luxury homes.

VinaCapital Group, Vietnam's leading asset management, investment banking and real estate consulting firm, owns the property.

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