Dubai: Hotel apartment rates nearly double ahead of Expo 2020

Dubai - Prices could jump up to Dh16,000 a month, if not more, said an industry source.

Hotel apartment rates in Dubai have nearly doubled ahead of Expo 2020, driven by inflows of foreign visitors as well as UAE residents and expats seeking a safer and regularly-sanitised place to live in amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Industry executives and analysts say that people with a long stay of more than six months are opting for hotel apartments. These apartments are also finding favour with residents looking for worry-free accommodation, as compared to tenancy contracts that could lock them in for up to a year.

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Ayman Ashor, general manager, Al Bandar Rotana and Al Bandar Arjaan by Rotana, said hotel apartments are an attractive proposition.

“Clients get fully-furnished apartments including furniture, kitchen, washing, dishwashers, cleaning facilities and, importantly, bigger space as well. The offer is attractive for those who are looking for a six-month stay or more. As a result, the occupancy level at hotel apartments has been seeing an uptick, despite the Covid-19 challenges, and reaching, at times, up to 95 per cent," said Ashor.

He said UAE and GCC nationals and expatriates of Arab origin make up a large chunk of those clients who opt to stay in hotel apartments.

Ashor revealed that a fully-equipped hotel apartment used to cost Dh5,500 during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has since escalated to around Dh12,000, as life gradually returns to normal.

The demand for hotel rooms and apartments have grown exponentially ahead of Expo 2020, when millions of visitors from abroad will flock to Dubai from October 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022.

“Wait until Expo and the prices could jump up to Dh16,000 a month, if not more. Rates are going up because life is getting back to normal. Consumers should also understand that hoteliers have to pay utilities and other daily expenditures,” he said.

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James Wrenn, associate director for hotel consultancy services at Colliers, Middle East and North Africa (Mena), noted that since the onset of Covid-19 and a dip in tourist arrivals, many of the serviced apartments in Dubai have been focusing on medium (read: monthly) and long-stay, which, is, typically over six months.

“The long-stay business has been competing with the private residential market. The upcoming Expo 2020 event is expected to increase demand for serviced apartments — especially across the short stay and medium stay business segments. Both these segments will cater to a range of delegate types from those visiting for a limited time to those travelling to work for the duration of the event,” said Wrenn.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai