Owner and operator Minor Hotel Group, in partnership with Dubai developer Nakheel, is developing a 500-guestroom Avani hotel in Dubai, set to open in 2018.

Avani Deira Dubai Hotel will be located in Deira Islands, a waterfront entertainment, tourist and residential destination being developed in alignment with Dubai Vision 2020, a strategic roadmap with the objective of attracting 20 million visitors per year to Dubai by 2020.

Deira Islands comprises four islands situated adjacent to Dubai’s Deira district, with a total area of more than 15.3sq km (6sq m). Master-developed by Nakheel, it will feature a variety of beachfront resorts, hotels and residential communities, a shopping mall, a waterfront night market and an amphitheatre able to accommodate up to 30,000 people. Nakheel's Deira Islands coastal city will add 40km, including 21 km of beachfront, to Dubai's coastline.

The new-build hotel is the first Avani in the UAE. The brand currently has 13 properties in operation in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Seychelles, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Zambia, with a pipeline of further openings.

“Deira Islands is an impressive project and we are very pleased to have the opportunity to introduce Avani into the Dubai market in this new development,” said Dillip Rajakarier, CEO of Minor Hotel Group.

Nakheel plans to build five hotels at Deira Islands, including the Avani hotel and Dubai's first four-star all-inclusive beachfront resort under a joint venture with Spain's RIU Hotels and Resorts.

Kathryn Moore, group spa director of MSpa in Asia, said that there will spa at the property, but said the details are still being finalised.