Viceroy Hotels Checking In to Dubai

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Viceroy Hotel Group is planning its first hotel in Dubai, a $1 billion project the company is calling "one of its most important portfolio additions to date."

Viceroy Dubai Palm Jumeirah will be located on Palm Jumeirah, the man-made island. The hotel, which is scheduled to open in 2017, is owned by SKAI Holdings, a Dubai-based investment firm.

"This property marks our first foray into the Dubai market and is a milestone in our growth in the region," Bill Walshe, chief executive of Viceroy Hotel Group, said in a statement.

Viceroy's first project in the UAE was Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi, which is next to the F1 race course.

Designed by Yabu Pushelberg and NAO Taniyama and Associates, Viceroy Dubai Palm Jumeirah will offer 481 guest rooms and 221 residences. About 96 percent of the homes have already been sold, Patrick Hayden, a sales consultant at Allsopp & Allsopp, the broker for the properties, told Bloomberg.

The project will also include a beach club, a 100-meter pool, children's clubs and various entertainment and sporting facilities.

After prices fell more than 50 percent in many areas from 2008 to 2012, the Dubai housing market has shown signs of recovery in recent months. Palm Jumeirah weathered the storm better than most markets, thanks to its unique location and availability of large villas, which are hard to find in Dubai.

But Palm Jumeirah was still effected by the downturn. A Trump-branded hotel planned for the waterfront was never built.

Overall, though the hotel market has been one of Dubai's strongest performing sectors, posting high levels of occupancy and room rates.