Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts has confirmed it will open 25 hotels under its new contemporary lifestyle brand – Venu.

Plans are underway for the first property – the Venu Bluewaters Island Hotel – which will open in Dubai in 2017. It will be operated by Jumeirah Group, along with adjacent serviced apartments, under an agreement with investor Meraas Holdings.

The Venu brand is targeted at millennials and includes fitness and spa facilities, as well as casual dining, meeting facilities and active lobby space.

The Dubai property will include 300 hotel rooms and 119 serviced apartments, and will be designed to appeal to the modern traveller whose expectations revolve around their own lifestyle with a "clean, contemporary, cool and effortless" vibe.

Bluewaters Island is a mixed-use development off the coast of Dubai. It will include Dubai-I the world’s largest Ferris wheel, along with retail, residential, hospitality and entertainment zones.

Matt Balcik, vice president of operations and brand development for Venu, told CLAD that the new hotel will reflect the spirit of Dubai, being bold, ambitious and full of energy. It will also mirror the “passion points” of millennials in relation to fashion, design and music.

Nicholas Clayton, CEO group operations at Jumeirah Group, said: “...coming to a Venu hotel will be an intuitive experience, built around and anticipating the needs of the modern, savvy traveller.”

He said Venu will be a “social catalyst – a social place where good things happen, where people feel welcome and at ease, surrounded by a crowd they love, a smooth machine that offers everything they need and nothing they don’t.”

The new brand will compete with Aloft, Kimpton and other four star, design-based concepts.

Jumeirah Group is part of Dubai Holdings.