As part of an on-going expansion and a strategic rethink Metropolitan Hotels International have changed their name to Habtoor Hospitality.
Metropolitan Hotels have been part of the Dubai hospitality scene since the Metropolitan Hotel Dubai first opened its doors in 1979, and since then three more Metropolitan hotels in Dubai and one in Beirut have opened. During this time the company’s name has remained the same and the well known logo of two palm trees joined at the bottom surrounding half a globe has graced all the hotels’ facades, business cards and stationary for the last 26 years.
"However," said Mr Rahim Abu Omar Assistant Chief Executive – Hospitality, Al Habtoor Group LLC, "there comes a time when you need to look to the future, rather than the past to drive your business forward. Our company has changed a great deal since those early years as has the public’s conception of hotel management in the Middle East. These days it is recognised that Dubai based companies can successfully own and manage large international hotels and thus we want the name to reflect both our Middle East background and heritage and still provide us with a vehicle that enables us to expand into new hospitality areas."
ATM will see the launch of the new logos across all the hotels and these will be implemented over the next few months throughout all the Habtoor Hospitality properties. Mr Rahim Abu Omar further commented: "with the opening of the Habtoor Grand Hotel Conference Center & Spa as well as the Habtoor Grand Resort & Spa this year we felt this was the ideal time to introduce new logos and give them a modern, life style feel. We have worked closely with gscs – a Dubai based design company – to produce them and are delighted with this new fresh approach. Initial testing with our guests has proved very positive."
Hotels within the group include: Metropolitan Hotel Dubai, Metropolitan Palace Hotel Dubai, Metropolitan Deira Hotel Dubai, Habtoor Grand Resort & Spa Jumeirah Beach (opens summer 2005), Metropolitan Palace Hotel Beirut, Habtoor Grand Hotel Conference Centre and Spa Beirut (opens May 2005, Monkey Island UK and Habtoorland theme park in Beirut.
