Anantara to Open on Doha Island Early Next Year

 

Minor Hotel Group is expanding in the Middle East with the announcement of its first hotel in Qatar. When it opens early next year, Anantara Doha Island Resort & Spa will be a 141-room five-star resort in the Arabian Gulf, just off the coast of Doha

Minor Hotel Group is partnering with the Qatari-owned company Al Rayyan Hospitality for its first property in the country. The new hotel will be part of the Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas portfolio, which is already established in the UAE with three properties in Abu Dhabi.

Located on a 13-hectare island, the new resort will be accessible by speedboat from Doha’s downtown area and from The Pearl, both journeys taking between 20-30 minutes. Anantara Doha Island will be the sole off-shore escape for both Doha residents and visitors alike.

The new island resort will have 96 guest rooms, 34 pool villas and 11 two- and three-bedroom over-water pool. There will be four restaurants and bars, including a contemporary Japanese restaurant and an Arabic beach club. A total of four pools will be spread throughout the resort’s grounds, including a large lagoon pool, directly accessible from many of the family guest rooms, a surf pool with wave machine and hydro exercise pools. For spa fans, the resort will offer both an Anantara Spa and an extensive Wellness & Holistic Centre. A 24-hour fitness centre and tennis court will be available for those wishing to keep up their fitness regimes. The island will also be home to a marina accommodating up to 50 boats.

For business guests, the resort will offer a ballroom accommodating up to 250 people for a banquet. There will also be two meeting rooms for up to 50 delegates and an outdoor event space with a capacity to host up to 100 people. 

Family activities will include a kids club, a dedicated family beach with access to beach volleyball and water sports, a nine-hole golf putting course, a ten-pin bowling alley and a cinema. An off-shore reef is also being developed, and the resort will be home to a reef conservation center, giving guests the opportunity to plant their own coral and learn more about the underwater environment. There will be a fully equipped diving center.

When the new resort opens early next year, Qatar will be the second country of operation for Minor Hotel Group in the Middle East. The group currently has five properties currently in operation in the UAE – three Anantara properties in Abu Dhabi and two Oaks serviced suites, one in Dubai and one recently added in Abu Dhabi, with three further Anantara properties under development to open in the UAE this year – two villa properties on Sir Bani Yas Island in Abu Dhabi and the group’s first resort in Dubai. In addition, 2014 will see the group opening in neighbouring Oman.